As the Trump impeachment trial begins, his lawyers are set to argue that the entire trial is unconstitutional. The same argument has been repeated by numerous news outlets and political pundits. However, Adam Schiff who helped lead the first impeachment trial is attempting to pick apart Trump’s legal defense by arguing that there is in fact historical precedent for impeaching an elected official who no longer holds office. The issue? His argument is grounded on British history.
In a Twitter thread featuring clips from the wildly popular Broadway musical “Hamilton,” Schiff attempts to explain his reasoning. Schiff begins the story by noting that Americans adopted the impeachment process from the British, his strange way of arguing that because another country with a different Constitution impeached a former official over 200 years ago it somehow applies to today’s impeachment of Trump.
Throughout the thread, Schiff details an 18th-century event when British Parliament impeached two former officials.
Our Founders didn’t invent impeachment from scratch. Oh no.
According to Hamilton, they looked to Britain which provided “the model from which the idea of this institution has been borrowed.”
In the 18th Century, British Parliament impeached two men – both *former* officials. pic.twitter.com/ZAFHT8t6yX
— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) February 9, 2021
The Founders accepted this view of impeachment, and adopted it when drafting our Constitution.
They also recognized that impeachment had to have “teeth,” so no one could escape accountability by leaving office.
Disqualification from future office was always essential! pic.twitter.com/cTvDzFmU1J
— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) February 9, 2021
According to Townhall:
Senate President Pro Tempore Patrick Leahy will preside over the impeachment trial—another indication that Trump will not get a fair trial, his defense team argued.
“Can you imagine any American citizen considering it to be a trial in which the judge and jury has already announced publicly that the defendant must be convicted in this case?” Trump attorney David Schoen asked earlier this month. “And in fact, Senator Leahy called on, demanded that Senator McConnell vote for a conviction also … how can we possibly have a fair trial? Chuck Schumer, Senator Schumer promised a fair and full trial. You can’t, when you know that the jurors and the judge are biased going in.”
He went on to call the impeachment trial “completely unconstitutional” and “a very, very dangerous road to take with respect to the First Amendment, putting at risk any passionate political speaker which is really against everything we believe and in this country.”
Democrats argue that Trump committed an impeachable offense during his speech on Jan. 6th at The Ellipse, claiming he incited an insurrection by using violent rhetoric toward elected officials. However, in the defense brief, Trump’s legal counsel argues that Trump’s speech was political speech and therefore protected by the First Amendment.
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