Why is Sen. Leahy overseeing Trump’s impeachment trial and not Chief Justice Roberts?
When former President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial started Tuesday, it marked another first for the country.
In the wake of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to impeach Trump — who continuously made false claims that the election was fraudulent — on charges of inciting an insurrection, making him the first president to be impeached more than once.
Now, the Senate is holding a trial on whether to convict Trump on those charges, marking the first time the Senate has tried a former president.
And with that comes another change: the person presiding over the trial.
U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts oversaw Trump’s first trial in 2020, during which Trump was acquitted. But this time, Senate President Pro Tempore Patrick Leahy, a Democrat from Vermont, has taken over the role.
Trump’s lawyers are mounting their defense on Friday, saying Trump’s remarks at the rally did not incite an insurrection and arguing that Trump’s speech is protected by the First Amendment. They also said Trump encouraged his supporters to exercise their constitutional rights “peacefully and patriotically” before the Capitol attack.
Why is Leahy presiding and not Roberts?
Because Trump is no longer president.
When sitting presidents are tried, the Constitution requires that the chief justice of the Supreme Court preside while senators consider evidence and witnesses and then vote whether to convict, which Rep. David Cicilline, a Democrat from Rhode Island and one of the House impeachment managers, pointed out during the trial.
Chief Justice William Rehnquist oversaw former President Bill Clinton’s trial in 1999 and Chief Justice Salmon Chase presided over former President Andrew Johnson’s in 1868.
But when non-presidents are tried — as is the case for Trump — the president pro tempore of the Senate has “historically presided,” Leahy said in a statement.
The Senate trial opened with debate on the constitutionality of trying a former president.
In January, all but five Republican senators voted in favor of an effort led by Sen. Rand Paul to declare the trial unconstitutional. But Democrats have maintained they have precedent to support trying former officeholders as the Senate tried Secretary of War William Belknap in 1876 after he resigned.
After Tuesday’s debate session, the Senate voted to confirm the constitutionality question with a 56-44 vote, thus allowing the trial to continue as planned.
Leahy’s role
The role of Leahy, the longest serving Democrat in the U.S. Senate, is unprecedented, The New York Times reports.
At the same time he’s presiding over the trial, he’ll also serve as a juror and will participate in voting, including on whether or not to convict Trump.
Some Republicans have argued his role creates a conflict of interest because he voted to convict Trump during his last impeachment trial, The Hill reports.
But Leahy said in the statement that he “takes an additional special oath to do impartial justice according to the Constitution and the laws.”
“When I preside over the impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump, I will not waver from my constitutional and sworn obligations to administer the trial with fairness, in accordance with the Constitution and the laws,” he wrote in the statement.
Sources familiar with Leahy’s preparation for the trial told CNN he was looking into how Roberts and Rehnquist presided over previous trials to determine how he would enforce procedures, maintain decorum and avoid “driving the arguments of either side.”
On Wednesday, House impeachment managers played previously unseen footage of the Capitol attack as evidence while recounting the events that led up to the siege. The footage showed rioters smashing windows and breaking into the building, lawmakers having close encounters with the mob, an officer being beaten and staffers running into a room to barricade themselves.
Managers on Thursday further argued their case and presented what they called additional evidence of Trump’s role in inciting the riot.
Both House impeachment managers and Trump’s lawyers have 16 hours over two days to present their side. Senators will then have up to four hours to question both sides, NPR reports, and House managers will also be able to call for a debate and vote on whether to call witnesses.
The trial is likely to end in Trump’s acquittal, as conviction would require a two-thirds majority and therefore 17 Republicans and all Democrats to vote in favor. If Trump is convicted, the Senate can bar him from holding federal office in the future with a simple majority vote.
This story was originally published February 9, 2021 at 3:02 PM with the headline "Why is Sen. Leahy overseeing Trump’s impeachment trial and not Chief Justice Roberts?."
