Chief Justice John Roberts wouldn’t read Senator Rand Paul’s relevant question about whether or not two individuals “who were holdovers from the Obama National Security Council and Democrat partisans conspired with Schiff staffers to plot impeaching the president before there were formal House impeachment proceedings,” because he happened to name the suspected whistleblower.
Some were outraged at Senator Paul’s question. Some were outraged at Chief Justice Roberts’ refusal to read it. Considering the question he did read from Senator Elizabeth Warren, one can’t help but wonder what the standard Roberts is using to decide which questions are acceptable and which ones aren’t.
“The question from Sen. Warren is for the House managers,” Chief Justice Roberts began. “At a time when large majorities of Americans have lost faith in government, does the fact that the chief justice is presiding over an impeachment trial in which Republican senators have thus far refused to allow witnesses or evidence contribute to the loss of legitimacy of the chief justice, the Supreme Court, and the Constitution?” he read.
WOW. Chief Justice John Roberts just had to read aloud Sen. Elizabeth Warren's question…about whether he loses credibility for presiding over a trial without witnesses or evidence. https://t.co/vG08pjmhZH pic.twitter.com/G79ZdRljZj
— Heather Monahan (@HeatherMonahan_) January 30, 2020
Bronson Stocking at Townhall was highly amused by the look on Chief Justice Roberts’ face after reading the question, and for sure, it’s amusing, but the bigger question is, why did Roberts even read the question? He wouldn’t read Senator Rand Paul’s relevant question about whether two federal employees conspired with Schiff’s office to impeach Trump, but read a question from Elizabeth Warren questioning his own legitimacy for presiding over the trial? How was that even relevant? How was it anything but some silly posturing meant to make her sound tough and anti-Trumpy for her presidential campaign?
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Matt Margolis is the author of Trumping Obama: How President Trump Saved Us From Barack Obama’s Legacy and the bestselling book The Worst President in History: The Legacy of Barack Obama. You can follow Matt on Twitter @MattMargolis
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