Comments by "Faithless Hound" (@faithlesshound5621) on "Trump Lawyer Gets Laughed at on Senate Floor" video.

It was neither a civil nor a criminal case, but a Congressional impeachment. Although the "jurors" had the option of listening to the evidence and making up their minds, they did not have to sit through the whole trial and were free to collude with either the defence or prosecution. They were also named and open to threats from the defendant and his supporters. The "jurors" made up the rules of procedure themselves, or endorsed those agreed by both sides. So Trump's lawyer was wrong to say that he could insist on taking witness depositions in his own office. The only penalties available were administrative in nature: no fine or imprisonment, and certainly not execution for treason. That made the whole farrago more like a work-related disciplinary hearing, except that impeachment is traditionally also for those who have already resigned or been dismissed from high public office.
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@gj9736 Impeachment as such is not restricted to people who are still in office, though it can be used to remove someone who refuses to resign, and has in modern times mainly been used to remove judges. The requirement to have the chief justice in the chair applies only to a sitting US president. Impeachment is one of the legal processes inherited by the United States from England, where it was used between 1376 and 1807. Unlike an Act of Attainder the Royal Assent was not required, and a Royal Pardon could not prevent a trial or removal from office. The most famous impeachment was that of Warren Hastings, who resigned as Governor-General of India in 1785 and was impeached on 20 counts by the House of Commons in 1787. His trial in the House of Lords lasted 148 days, spread over 7 years, and ended with his acquittal in 1795.
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@gj9736 All politics is theatre! Trump and his impeachments will live on in Saturday Night Live, for the amusement of the world, and as a cautionary tale in the history of public health.
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I might be wrong, but I think when the VP is not in the chamber the longest serving senator takes the chair. That more or less guarantees that the substitute chairman will be very old.
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Senator Leahy is 80 years old.
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