U.S. Senator Roy Blunt is the co-sponsor of legislation condemning the lack of transparency and due process surrounding the U.S. House of Representative’s impeachment inquiry. The bill was introduced by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
The legislation calls on the House of Representatives, prior to proceeding any further with its impeachment inquiry, to vote to initiate a formal inquiry.
It also calls on the House to provide President Donald Trump with due process, to include the ability to confront his accusers, call witnesses on his behalf and have a basic understanding of the accusations against him that would form any basis for impeachment. And it calls for the House to provide members of the minority with the ability to participate fully in all proceedings and have equal authority to issue subpoenas and other compulsory process.
“House Democrats are running roughshod over historic precedent and basic due process in their impeachment inquiry,” Blunt said in statement emailed to media.
But since impeachment proceedings are rare, there’s not a lot of precedent—which has led to disagreement on the finer details of the early part of the process.
Brown University professor Corey Brettschneider, author of the book, The Oath and the Office: A Guide to the Constitution for Future Presidents, told NPR the president doesn’t have a right to due process or to confront his accusers at this point because this isn’t a trial.
According to Brettschneider, “it's not a question of reasonable doubt or even whether a crime has been committed, but rather about a kind of abuse of power.”
According to Brettschneider, the way of determining whether or not an abuse of power has occurred is up to the House and its speaker.
Copyright 2021 KSMU. To see more, visit KSMU. 9(MDA3OTgyNDI4MDEzMTM0MjQzMTZlNDI0Mg004))
