Chief Justice John Roberts scolded both Democratic prosecutors and President Trump’s defense lawyers after fiery debate over the ground rules for the president’s impeachment trial.
“I think it is appropriate at this point for me to admonish both the House managers and president’s counsel in equal terms to remember that they are addressing the world’s greatest deliberative body,” Roberts said late Tuesday night on the Senate floor. “Those addressing the Senate should remember where they are.”
Roberts’s admonishment came after Rep. Jerry Nadler attacked Trump over his administration’s refusal to cooperate with subpoenas from the House and painted the lawyers defending him against charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress as liars.
Nadler “should be ashamed … for the way [he] addressed this body,” Trump impeachment lawyer Pat Cipollone said.
The debate, which came after midnight Tuesday, was over whether the Senate should allow Democrats’ effort to subpoena former national security adviser John Bolton. The measure was stalled, but the Senate approved rules for the full trial. Opening arguments in the trial are expected to begin Wednesday.
The impeachment centers on Trump’s relations with Ukraine and a July 25, 2019, phone call during which he asked the president of Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden. An intelligence community whistleblower reported the incident, sparking the House investigation.
After Democrats passed the articles, Nadler warned that not just Trump but “the Senate is on trial.”
“Chairman Nadler, talk about treacherous. At about 12:10 a.m., Jan. 22, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee at this body, on the floor of this Senate, said, ‘Executive privilege and other nonsense,'” Jay Sekulow, another member of Trump’s defense team, said. “Now, think about that for a moment. Executive privilege and other nonsense.”
He continued, “Mr. Nadler, it is not nonsense. These are privileges recognized by the Supreme Court of the United States, and to shred the Constitution on the floor of the Senate, to serve what purpose? The Senate is not on trial. The Constitution doesn’t allow what just took place.”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has indicated he would like to see a speedy end to what he has called a “slap-dash impeachment” with little merit. Trump has said he did “nothing wrong” during a “perfect” phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and called his impeachment a “hoax” that seeks to undo his victory in the 2016 election.
