Today comes word via Senator Rand Paul that Chief Justice Roberts will not preside over any Senate impeachment trial of President Trump: the text of the Constitution only requires the Chief Justice to preside over the trial of “the President.” Trump is no longer “the President.” Roberts’s presence is therefore not called for.
Trump is of course a private citizen at this point. The constitutional text does not appear to contemplate the impeachment or trial of a private citizen, although impeachments of former official took place once in the eighteenth century and once in the nineteenth. Former Fourth Circuit Judge Michael Luttig argues in this Washington Post column that a Senate trial of Trump would be unconstitutional.
Judge Luttig argues: “Once Trump’s term ends on Jan. 20, Congress
loses its constitutional authority to continue impeachment proceedings
against him—even if the House has already approved articles of
impeachment.” The Constitution’s impeachment clauses presuppose that
impeachment and removal of a president happen while in office............To Read More.....
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