Senate Committee to Begin Impeachment Trial of Judge G. Thomas Porteous, Jr.
Washington, DC – Next week, a special U.S. Senate committee is scheduled to begin the impeachment trial of Judge G. Thomas Porteous, Jr., of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. The House impeachment managers, Reps. Adam Schiff (D-CA), Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Hank Johnson (D-GA), and James Sensenbrenner (R-WI), will present the case to the Senate Impeachment Trial Committee for Judge Porteous’s removal.
As lead impeachment managers, Reps. Schiff and Goodlatte will begin with an opening statement to the Senate Committee on Monday. Judicial impeachments are extremely rare, and the trial of Judge Porteous is only the sixteenth in the 221-year history of the Senate.
WHAT: Impeachment trial of Judge G. Thomas Porteous, Jr.
WHERE: Hart Senate Office Building, Room 216
WHEN: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 13 – Thursday, Sept. 16 and Tuesday, Sept. 21
On March 11, on the House Floor, House Judiciary Committee Task Force on Judicial Impeachment Chairman Schiff and Ranking Member Goodlatte, presented the case for impeachment of Judge Porteous to the full House. After the presentation, the House unanimously approved four impeachment articles relating to Judge Porteous. Following the impeachment vote, Reps. Schiff and Goodlatte were named the lead impeachment managers for the Senate trial, which will be the Senate's first since 1999, when Bill Clinton’s presidency was being questioned. The Senate last considered the removal of a federal judge in 1989.
Following an initial investigatory phase, the Task Force on Judicial Impeachment held four separate evidentiary hearings over five days in November and December 2009, in order to determine whether Judge Porteous’s conduct provides a sufficient basis for impeachment and to develop a record upon which to recommend whether to adopt Articles of Impeachment. This investigation led the Task Force and the full committee to unanimously approve four articles of impeachment citing evidence that Judge Proteous intentionally made material false statements and representations under penalty of perjury, engaged in a corrupt kickback scheme, solicited and accepted unlawful gifts, and intentionally misled the Senate during his confirmation proceedings.
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