Is John Roberts Up To a Senate Impeachment Trial?
The chief justice has a history of succumbing to pressure from the political class.
by David Catron
November 26, 2019, 12:09 AM
The Democrats have manifestly failed to build the national consensus necessary to remove a sitting president from office. The “impeachment inquiry†decreed by Nancy Pelosi in late September, combined with Adam Schiff’s inequitable conduct of the subsequent public hearings, have produced the reverse of their intended result. Several reliable voter surveys show that they weakened support for impeachment among Independent voters, particularly those in crucial swing states, while hardening support for the president among Republicans. Yet the Democratic leadership is clearly determined to pass articles of impeachment against Trump, without regard to the legal merits or the misgivings of “moderate†members of their own caucus.
When the Democrats pass their impeachment resolution, the sordid spectacle will move to the Senate, where Chief Justice John Roberts must preside over a trial that will determine if the president has actually committed an offense that would justify his removal. This should worry the president and his supporters. Historically, the role of the chief justice in these proceedings has been somewhat symbolic. Yet it will be necessary for him to rule on a number of important motions. The weak Democratic case against President Trump, combined with the Democrats’ penchant for manipulating procedural rules, all but guarantees that they will inundate Roberts with a tsunami of parliamentary maneuvers that he may be ill-equipped to manage.
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https://spectator.org/is-john-roberts-up-to-a-senate-impeachment-trial/
