Timothy Snyder is a history professor at Yale, and he’s curious why there’s all this talk about Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell having any say over the shape of President Trump’s impeachment trial when it will be Chief Justice John Roberts presiding over it. Here’s his thread on the matter.
1/10. Why does Senator McConnell talk about how he will run the impeachment trial, and why do we listen? He has zero constitutional authority to decide its shape.
— Timothy Snyder (@TimothyDSnyder) December 22, 2019
2/10. John Roberts is in charge of the impeachment trial. The Constitution clearly states that if the president is impeached, the chief justice presides.
— Timothy Snyder (@TimothyDSnyder) December 22, 2019
3/10. Constitution: “The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside”
— Timothy Snyder (@TimothyDSnyder) December 22, 2019
4/10. The impeachment trial is a trial and the senators are all sworn jurors. No special role is foreseen in the Constitution for any specific senator.
— Timothy Snyder (@TimothyDSnyder) December 22, 2019
5/10. When you are a juror, you set aside your normal concerns and swear to be impartial. If you are a juror your obligation is to try a case, not advance your interests. The same is true of senators acting as jurors.
— Timothy Snyder (@TimothyDSnyder) December 22, 2019
6/10. Senators in an impeachment trial therefore have an exclusively legal responsibility, just as any citizen serving as a juror in a trial would.
— Timothy Snyder (@TimothyDSnyder) December 22, 2019
7/10. If we treat the impeachment trial as anything but a trial, we disregard the Constitution and endanger the rule of law and the Republic.
— Timothy Snyder (@TimothyDSnyder) December 22, 2019
8/10. If senators say that they regard an impeachment trial as political rather than legal, they have disqualified themselves as jurors.
— Timothy Snyder (@TimothyDSnyder) December 22, 2019
9/10. If senators reveal how they will vote before the impeachment trial has taken place, they have disqualified themselves as jurors.
— Timothy Snyder (@TimothyDSnyder) December 22, 2019
Yeah, we keep hearing that — which is why all of the senators running for the nomination in 2020 ought to be disqualified. They’ve already declared President Trump guilty on the debate stage, even before the articles of impeachment were written up.
10/10. Senator McConnell has no constitutional authority to lead an impeachment trial. His constitutional responsibility is to serve as a juror. From that he has disqualified himself.
— Timothy Snyder (@TimothyDSnyder) December 22, 2019
So McConnell has disqualified himself, but Warren, Booker, Klobuchar, Sanders, and Harris haven’t?
lol
— ?It's?Almost ⛄️Christmas? (@jtLOL) December 24, 2019
— Tony Schroeder (@schroedertony) December 24, 2019
This is untrue.
— rzrwiresunrise (@rzrwiresunrise) December 24, 2019
Seriously, at this point I think we need to shut down Harvard and Yale until we figure out what's going on. https://t.co/7CvTlQbO1a
— Baby It's Ordy Outside. (@OrdyPackard) December 24, 2019
He literally DECIDES the "shape" of the trial and has complete constitutional authority. You just put the "zero" in front of the phrase and claim that you are correct. You are ZERO correct in the tweet.
— Penny Swalwell (@PennySwalwell) December 24, 2019
You people can't be this ignorant. It's simply impossible. After the SHAM of an impeachment in the house, you guys come up with this. It is ridiculous. TOM DASCHLE did the same thing you are accusing McConnell of doing.
— Penny Swalwell (@PennySwalwell) December 24, 2019
Actually he has almost complete constitutional authority to decide how the trial will be conducted, along with his majority caucus.
Looks like someone needs to go back and read their US History 101 textbook from 8th grade.
— Neil Axelrod (@NeilAxelrod) December 24, 2019
CJ presides. Procedural rules are set by the Senate.
— Alan Bayer (@AlanBBayer) December 22, 2019
The Senate has sole power to conduct trials
— Statehood for DC and PR! Abolish the filibuster! (@bayofarizona) December 22, 2019
Would have surprised Senate Democrats in 1998 to know that they did not have any constitutional authority to determine how the impeachment was tried.
— Baseball Guy from Cali (@baseball_cali) December 24, 2019
Yet @SenatorLeahy argues in NYT that the Senate decides: "How the Senate conducts the trial will be up to 51 senators, not simply one or two." "the duration and scope of the trial, including whether to call witnesses or compel document production, will be decided by" the Senate.
— Dr. Rebecca M. Townsend (@RebeccaTownsend) December 23, 2019
Any of the rules governing the trial can be changed!
… "unless otherwise ordered by the Senate" appears eight different times in the rules. It basically means that these rules exist until a simple majority of senators vote to change them.https://t.co/dOT02qYcgq
— Michael Epling (@MAEpling) December 22, 2019
An impeachment trial is not a criminal trial & while Senators act as jurors they are still Senators. They make motions & they vote on those motions. As majority leader McConnell leads a group of 53 Senators who often vote as a bloc. He is the de facto leader of the Senate.
— Bruce Duck (@BruceDuck2) December 23, 2019
If McConnell gets 50 other GOP Senators to vote with him on a motion, that motion is carried. He can even overrule Chief Justice Roberts that way.
51 Senators voting together can run the impeachment trial, although it takes 67 votes to convict and remove.— Bruce Duck (@BruceDuck2) December 23, 2019
Everybody is a constitutional/legal expert, even history profs. Judges "preside" at trials, but don't make the rules of evidence & procedure that they apply. Legislators make laws & agencies promulgate regs & rules pursuant to laws. The Senate makes rules for impeachment trials.
— MongoLikeU (@MongoLikeU) December 24, 2019
Every decision by Chief Jusice Robert's can be overruled by a simple majority. 51 votes. Republicans have 53 Senators.
— brett irwin (@brettirwin15) December 24, 2019
Since impeachment isn’t subject to judicial review, the Senate can do whatever the hell it wants, just like the house Democrats did.
— Manu ad Ferrum (@legiones_redde) December 24, 2019
Absolutely wrong.
The Chief Justice shall preside, but the Senators still have the sole power to set their trial procedures. This is supported both in law and precedent.
During Clinton's impeachment, they voted 100-0 to approve the rules of the trial.https://t.co/oR08OfYRoT
— Steven Wright (@StevenJayWright) December 23, 2019
Sigh, see Clinton impeachment precedent
— Sergio Magafornia (@Red1Echo) December 24, 2019
So could Chief Justice Roberts chime in and lay out the rules for the trial?
— Jack (@Genghis_Juan) December 22, 2019
No in simple terms
— wesisavet (Bill S.) (@wesisavet) December 22, 2019
The Senate holds many more powers in these trials. They vote on witnesses, on evidence presented or not presented, etc. They can also vote to overrule the judge’s rulings. A senator can also make a motion to dismiss the charges. Jurors have none of these powers in a legal trial.
— Jason Furtado (@wxjay) December 23, 2019
Where exactly in the constitution does it mention “juror”?
— Comsen (@Comsen21) December 24, 2019
"Critically, and contrary to common mythology and parlance, the chief justice is not the “judge” in an impeachment trial. The Senate itself is both judge and trier of fact, and the chief justice serves as its presiding officer."https://t.co/yBAQ5paHDw
— DanWalterTwitmoLifer (@DanTwitmo4) December 22, 2019
Is a constitutional body that controls its own rules and procedures. The Chief Justice does not rule. The senate rules. The senators are not jurors. If they were to act this way, they would not sit, a jury would. The constitution recognizes this is a political process.
— roy fletcher (@indiegop) December 24, 2019
cc: @BadLegalTakes
— Jeremiah Ward (@WardJerryR) December 24, 2019
— Francis Buzz Bruno (@buzz_liteyr) December 24, 2019
Liberal professor offers his take lol
— Alison ?? (@lubin_alison) December 24, 2019
Because most people don’t have a damn clue what happens during an impeachment. America needs to have a civics lesson. Multiple. And he knows until that happens he can say shit that’s not true.
— S.M. (@wickediamond) December 22, 2019
Related:
Totally objective Dem Rep. Jackie Speier says ‘we’re going to have to call for a mistrial’ because Mitch McConnell said he’s ‘not an impartial juror’ https://t.co/YbrOQTO4jm
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) December 17, 2019
