'The second impeachment of an innocent man': Mark Levin sounds off on 'unconstitutional' Trump impeachment



From the nearly two-year, 32-million-dollar Trump-Russia probe to the Trump-Ukraine impeachment sham to the current impeachment charade, the "rabid, Trump-hating Democrats" have been using tax payer's dollars to cripple the Trump presidency with subpoenas, document requests, witness hearings, criminal investigations, and private allegations, since day one — and time after time, they've come up with nothing, BlazeTV's Mark Levin said on "LevinTV" Tuesday.

Levin noted that Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), who claimed during the first impeachment hearings to have seen "overwhelming evidence" of the then-president's alleged impeachable conduct, is now acting as witness, juror, and judge in the current Senate impeachment trial, due to Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts' decision not to preside over the first trial of a former president in U.S. history.

"This man is going to sit as the presiding officer, in lieu of the chief justice of the United States, overseeing the second impeachment of an innocent man," Levin said of Leahy. "The second unconstitutional impeachment of an innocent man," he added.

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Sen. Rand Paul will force a Senate vote to declare impeachment trial unconstitutional



Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) on Tuesday told BlazeTV host Glenn Beck that he will act to force a procedural vote in the Senate on whether the impending impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump is constitutional.

The trial is currently scheduled to begin the week of Feb. 8. Senators will be officially sworn in as jurors today, but before that Paul intends to make the argument that an impeachment trial of a former president is unconstitutional.

"Republican leadership has made a deal. And wants to make a deal with Schumer, to allow a Democrat to preside over this hearing," Paul told Beck, referring to Monday's announcement that Senate president pro tempore Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) will preside over the trial, not Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts. "But my point is, if you're impeaching the president, the chief justice needs to be there. But if the person is no longer president, he's a private citizen. It is an impeachment."

"If someone has committed a crime, and they're no longer the president, the Department of Justice has to accuse them of a crime that you go to a court," Paul continued. "But this is only for impeaching somebody. And the Constitution says, when you impeach and later on, you can disqualify. But it's 'and.' It isn't 'or.'

"If you can't impeach him any longer, we're doing something that's never been to a president before. It's going to divide the country further. It's a huge mistake."

Paul speculated that Chief Justice Roberts and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) have had conversations about the impeachment trial, suggesting that Roberts may have told Schumer he will not preside over the impeachment trial because Donald Trump is no longer the president, and therefore Roberts is not constitutionally obligated to do so.

"It goes to the very nature and legitimacy of this thing. With John Roberts not showing up, the chief justice not being here," Paul said. "I think this is an illegitimate process, from top to bottom."

Former President Trump was the first president to be impeached twice and would be the first ex-president to be tried by the Senate after he has already left office. The uniqueness of Trump's situation has triggered legal and scholarly debate over whether the Senate has the constitutional power to try Trump after he has left office.

Many Republicans like Paul argue the Senate does not have such power. George Washington University professor Jonathan Turley, former Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz, and other respected lawyers and judges have argued the Senate trial is unconstitutional. Still others like Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) argue that the trial is constitutional and that the impeachment power to remove a civil officer from office and disqualify him from future office are separate powers, meaning the Senate can still bar Trump from running for re-election in 2024.

Paul predicted that his maneuver to object to the impeachment proceedings will fail but was adamant that he still needed to stand up for what he believes is right.

"Today, if I don't say anything, Republicans and Democrats will agree by unanimous consent to install a Democrat to preside over this proceeding. An illegitimate proceeding with an illegitimate Democrat overseeing it. So I'm going to object to that and call out the double standard," Paul said.

"And I don't think we'll win," he added. "The Democrats will win. But I'll force them to vote on it. My hope is I get 40 Republicans to vote with me."

"If I do, that shows they don't have the votes to impeach at that point. And so basically, the trial is over," Paul said. "They can go through the manipulations, but if 40 of us vote that this is an unconstitutional use of the impeachment power, then they're done. They can do whatever they want. But we will show them. If I don't do this, our leadership will acquiesce with Schumer. There will be no votes. And they will go through the whole trial, as if this sham is actually a real impeachment. So I do say, we do to have fight them."

Watch:

Rand Paul: Trump Impeachment Push is 'Most Divisive Thing' Dems Could Do youtu.be

Republicans object after Sen. Leahy announces he, not Chief Justice Roberts, will preside over impeachment trial



As the Senate prepares to conduct an impeachment trial for former President Donald Trump, Republicans are criticizing the procedural development — that Chief Justice John Roberts will not preside over the trial.

Instead, Senate President Pro Tempore Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) will preside over the trial. Leahy, the most senior Democrat in the chamber, announced Monday he will hold the gavel and pledged to deliver "impartial justice."

"The president pro tempore has historically presided over Senate impeachment trials of non-presidents. When presiding over an impeachment trial, the president pro tempore takes an additional special oath to do impartial justice according to the Constitution and its laws. It is an oath that I take extraordinarily seriously," Leahy said.

"I consider holding the office of the president pro tempore and the responsibilities that come with it to be one of the highest honors and most serious responsibilities of my career. 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."

When presiding over an impeachment trial, the president pro tempore takes a special oath to do impartial justice ac… https://t.co/Sx6hGfzQ2Y
— Sen. Patrick Leahy (@Sen. Patrick Leahy)1611605506.0

The Hill reports that the procedures for the trial are currently being negotiated by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

"Leaders have been negotiating all process issues about the trial, and all along we have deferred to them for any announcements about this and all other process matters," a spokesman for Leahy told The Hill.

Several Republican senators have spoken out against the decision to have Leahy preside, given that he's previously voted to convict Trump the first time the Senate impeached the former president. Some have raised constitutional objections.

"There's only one constitutional process for impeachment and it is of the president, not a president," said Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.). "It requires the chief justice to preside."

Article I, Section 3, Clause 6 of the U.S. Constitution states:

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: And no Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two thirds of the Members present.

Leahy's statement explains there is historical precedent for having the Senate president pro tempore preside over impeachment trials as a "neutral arbiter" for impeachment cases that do not involve a U.S. president. Because Trump is no longer the president, the logic goes that Chief Justice Roberts is not lawfully obligated to preside over the trial. And because what the Senate is doing is unprecedented, there's plenty of room for the Senate to interpret its own rules.

However, that does not preclude Republicans from complaining. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) told The Hill that having Leahy preside over the trial "really undermines the legitimacy."

"The Constitution requires that the chief justice preside over the impeachment trial of a president but that's not what we're doing. To me that's indicative of the fact that we're in uncharted waters," he said.

"I just think it looks very petty and vindictive and I understand there are a lot of people who are mad but the process itself already looks like a railroad job," Cornyn added.

"If the chief justice doesn't preside, I think it's an illegitimate hearing and really goes to show that it's not really constitutional to impeach someone who's not president," said Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.).

Leahy defended his role in the process, claiming that it's not his job to present evidence for or against Trump but to simply ensure that procedures are followed and that the trial is civil.

"I have presided over hundreds of hours in my time in the Senate. I don't think anybody has ever suggested I was anything but impartial in those hundreds of hours," Leahy said.

"I don't think there's any senator who over the 40-plus years I've been here that would say that I am anything but impartial in voting on procedure."

Sen. Kevin Cramer: There are no GOP 'wimps' who will vote to impeach Trump just because Mitch McConnell might



Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) on Wednesday told CNBC's "The News with Shepard Smith" that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) doesn't have the power to sway how he or other Republican senators will vote concerning President Donald Trump's second impeachment.

Earlier Wednesday, the House of Representatives voted to impeach the president on charges of inciting an insurrection against the United States government for his inflammatory rhetoric disputing the results of the 2020 election. On Jan. 6, a mob of the president's supporters, believing his claims that the election was stolen, stormed the U.S. Capitol as lawmakers were in the middle of a debate on certifying the results of the Electoral College.

On Tuesday, the New York Times reported that Majority Leader McConnell was "pleased" by the Democrat-led effort to impeach the president, claiming that McConnell viewed impeachment as an opportunity to "purge" Trump from the Republican Party. Anonymous sources that spoke to CNN claimed that if McConnell supports convicting Trump in an impeachment trial, other Republicans will follow.

"If Mitch is a yes, he's done," one Senate GOP source reportedly said.

Cramer disagrees.

"Mitch McConnell has a lot of influence, I don't know that he has a lot of power," Cramer said during an interview with Shepard Smith. "He has a lot of power over the schedule, obviously, and the process, but I don't know many wimps in the United States Senate who are going to vote one way or another just because Mitch McConnell does.

"This would a vote of conscience for sure. Hopefully it would be a vote based on facts and evidence that might be presented," he added.

“Mitch McConnell has a lot of influence, I don’t know that he has a lot of power,” Sen. Kevin Cramer says, adding t… https://t.co/yZR0zIYphQ
— The News with Shepard Smith (@The News with Shepard Smith)1610653537.0

Responding to speculation in the media, McConnell said Wednesday that he had not yet made a decision on how he would vote during a second Senate impeachment trial for Trump.

"While the press has been full of speculation, I have not made a final decision on how I will vote and I intend to listen to the legal arguments when they are presented to the Senate," McConnell said.

In a statement he squashed a Democratic effort to rush through the impeachment trial before Trump leaves office on Jan. 20, indicating that the trial will take place after President-elect Joe Biden is sworn into office, if at all.

Cramer was doubtful that the Senate has enough votes to convict the president.

"It seems unlikely to me that 67 people would vote to impeach," he said.

Cramer added that in his opinion, under "a clear reading of the Constitution, it even seems a little bit iffy" as to whether Congress can even impeach a president after he has left office.

Samuel Corum/Getty Images

'I will vote to impeach the president,' says GOP Rep. Liz Cheney



Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming became the second House Republican to announce support of the impeachment of President Donald Trump after a congressman representing New York's 24th congressional district became the first.

Rep. John Katko of New York was the first House Republican to announce support Tuesday afternoon.

"On January 6, 2021 a violent mob attacked the United States Capitol to obstruct the process of our democracy and stop the counting of presidential electoral votes. This insurrection caused injury, death and destruction in the most sacred space in our Republic," Cheney said in her statement

"Much more will become clear in coming days and weeks, but what we know now is enough. The President of the United States summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack," she continued.

"Everything that followed was his doing. None of this would have happened without the President. The President could have immediately and forcefully intervened to stop the violence. He did not," Cheney said.

"There has never been a greater betrayal by a President of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution," she added.

"I will vote to impeach the President," Cheney concluded.

Katko, a former federal prosecutor, gave similar reasons for his support of impeachment.

"To allow the president of the United States to incite this attack without consequence is a direct threat to the future of our democracy," Katko said in a statement. "For that reason, I cannot sit by without taking action. I will vote to impeach this president."

Prior to the announcements, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) reportedly told people close to him that he believed Trump had committed impeachable offenses over his encouragement of the rioting at the U.S. Capitol.

Democrats have drawn up an article of impeachment that accuses the president of inciting an insurrection.

Trump was first impeached by the Democrat-controlled House in December 2019 on two articles of impeachment related to a controversial call the president made to the president of Ukraine. The Republican-controlled U.S. Senate voted against convicting and removing the president.

Here's more about the effort to impeach Trump again:

House Democrats to begin impeachment process of Trump for 'incitement of insurrection' | WNTwww.youtube.com

Breaking: Nancy Pelosi says Democrats will impeach Trump for incitement of insurrection unless he steps down



House Speaker gave President Donald Trump an ultimatum to either step down from office or face a second impeachment from House Democrats.

Democrats said they would charge President Donald Trump on Monday with incitement of insurrection in one article of impeachment over the rioting at the U.S. Capitol.

"Today, the House Democratic Caucus had an hours-long conversation that was sad, moving and patriotic. It was a conversation unlike any other, because it followed an action unlike any other," said Pelosi in a statement on Friday.

"It is the hope of Members that the President will immediately resign," she added. "But if he does not, I have instructed the Rules Committee to be prepared to move forward with Congressman Jamie Raskin's 25th Amendment legislation and a motion for impeachment."

Fox News reported that the impeachment article had 131 co-sponsors sign on.

Critics of the president say that he incited the violence by showing up at the demonstration and speaking to the protesters hours before some of them marched to Congress and forced their way in.

Others have defended the president and argued that his encouragement of the protest against the certification of the election results were disconnected from the subsequent attack on Congress to stop the certification.

The attack on the US Capitol from pro-Trump rioters left 5 dead, including one woman who was shot by Capitol Police, three who died from other medical incidents, and a policeman who was died from injuries from the attack.

Democrats are likely to succeed in voting to impeach the president in the House of Representatives, where they have a majority, but it would be up the Senate to conduct a trial and vote to remove him or not. The Senate is controlled by the Republicans.

Trump has agreed to the transition process which should culminate in the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden on January 20.

Here's more about the plans for impeachment:

Second impeachment process for Donald Trump may start as soon as Mondaywww.youtube.com