On Thursday, three Republican senators – Ted Cruz of Texas, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Mike Lee of Utah – allegedly met with former President Donald Trump’s attorneys for indictment, according to Cruz and Trump attorney David Schoen.
Schoen called the three senators ‘very friendly’, a remark that raised eyebrows as senators are often tried as impartial jurors during prosecutions. In other criminal and civil hearings, judges are prohibited from meeting or openly speaking with attorneys involved in the case.
Schoen claims that the senators met with them to make sure they were ‘familiar with the procedure’ before presenting their opening arguments on Friday in rebuttal to the home manager’s case of accusations, CNN reported. Schoen considers the trial hearing appropriate and adds: “I think this is the practice of indictment … There is nothing in this case that has any semblance of the right process.”
Cruz, however, said the meeting was not just about procedure, but rather an opportunity to ‘share our thoughts’ on the defense’s legal strategy ‘in terms of where the argument was and where,’ The cup reported him.
“I think their job is to make clear how the home managers did not carry their burden of proof. They did not show that the president’s behavior meets the legal standard of high crimes and offenses,” Cruz said.
Newsweek reached out to House executives, Democratic representatives Jamie Raskin, David Cicilline, Ted Lieu and Madeleine Dean, for comment.
Andrew Harnik – Pool / Getty
In a tweet published Thursday night, Cruz also denies the idea that the senators are jurors, citing a January 2020 Washington Post opinion piece by former Democratic Iowa Senator Tom Harkin as evidence.
Harkin’s article refers to Article III of the Constitution, which reads: ‘The trial of all crimes, except in cases of indictment, shall be by the jury.’ Unlike jurors, Harkin pointed out, senators can ask questions, raise objections, discuss the case outside the courtroom with stakeholders and also impose a sentence.
“The Senate in charge is a court – a court made up of 100 judges, not 100 jurors,” Harkin wrote. “As judges, they have to make decisions on a wide range of issues – the facts, the public interest, how the actions taken by the president affect our democracy, fairness, history, proportionality and the Constitution.”
Before an indictment begins, senators are sworn in. The oath, led by Chief Justice John Roberts, reads: ‘You solemnly swear that you will impartially do everything pertaining to the trial of the accusation of Donald John Trump, which is now pending, justice under the Constitution and laws: Help then God? “
But despite this promise, accusations remain, according to Robert Peck, founder and president of the Center for Constitutional Litigation, an ‘inherent legal process’. As such, “senators are supposed to have political loyalty and even political interests that could influence their votes,” Peck told WUSA.
“[The Senators] was directly affected by the attack on the Capitol and is a witness to critical facts, “Peck continued.” They would not normally be able to serve as jurors in an actual trial, but are the only people responsible in the Constitution to hear an accusation. . “
Both Republican and Democratic senators have pointed to comments by members of the opposing party as proof that they want to break the oath of impartiality.
But even if a senator breaks their promise of impartiality, only one of the two consequences is faced: to vote out of office by their constituents or to sit with a two-thirds majority out of the Senate.