BARR: A Motion To Dismiss For Lack Of Jurisdiction Should Swiftly End The Senate Impeachment FarceFormer Rep. Bob Barr
Contributor
January 25, 2021 9:55 AM ET
If there was perhaps one mistake our Founders made in drafting the Constitution, it was presuming that future members of the Legislative Branch would be sufficiently competent to actually read the document to which they all had sworn an oath. It is, however, increasingly clear that many – perhaps most — sitting United States senators cannot read the plain text of the Constitution.
The relevant wording in the Constitution is at the very end of Article II, establishing that a constitutionally errant “President, . . . shall be removed from Office†if he first has been impeached by the House and convicted by the Senate for “high Crimes and Misdemeanors.†Unlike other sections of the Constitution where clarity may be obscured by arcane wording, this particular provision is clear and concise, and it applies to “the President.†The language pointedly does not provide in any way, shape, or form that a “Former President†or an “Ex-President†may be similarly punished, only the President.
The 100-member Senate at this moment is split right down the middle between those who identify as Republicans and those who identify as Democrats. Democrat leader Chuck Schumer has declared openly and without hesitancy that as the self-styled “Majority Leader,†he will move forward within days to try Donald Trump. The goal of such a trial would be to find Mr. Trump guilty of the single Article of Impeachment passed on Jan. 13 by a majority of representatives on the other side of the Capitol Dome.
While many GOP senators remain openly opposed to Schumer’s plan, it appears that a number of Republican senators, notably including the most recent “Majority Leader†– Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell – have signed on to the notion that there will be a trial as demanded by Schumer.
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https://dailycaller.com/2021/01/25/barr-a-motion-to-dismiss-for-lack-of-jurisdiction-should-swiftly-end-the-senate-impeachment-farce/