Schiff 'Bribery' Charges on Senate Floor Would Result in Immediate Mistrial in a Real Court, Experts Say

After Adam Schiff raised the specter of “bribery” at the Senate impeachment trial, experts are saying his conduct of introducing charges that aren’t in the articles of impeachment would have severe consequences in a court of law. Former Judge, Andrew Napolitano remarked on Fox News that the action would result in a mistrial. “This would not happen in front of a jury in a criminal case. It absolutely would be a mistrial if it were stated in front of a jury in a criminal case,” he said. “But this is a different kind of jury, where they each get to accuse the other side of all kinds of things,” he remarked about the sham that is this impeachment.

Patrick Philbin, deputy White House counsel, agreed during his remarks at the trial on Wednesday. “If this were a criminal trial in an ordinary court and Mr. Schiff had done what he just did on the floor here, and start talking about crimes of bribery and extortion that were not in the indictment, it would’ve been an automatic mistrial,” Philbin said. “We’d all be done now, and we could go home. And Mr. Schiff knows that, because he’s a former prosecutor.”

He continued spanking the Democrats for the shoddy process. “It is not permissible for the House to come here failing to have charged, failing to have put in the articles of impeachment any crime at all and then to start arguing that actually ‘oh, we think there is some crime involved… it’s totally impermissible. It’s a fundamental violation of due process.”

But we all know due process does not matter to Democrats, who have continually moved the goalposts whenever it suits them to try to take down this president— from fudging FISA warrants to purchasing fake dossiers full of false tales of wrongdoing. There is nothing too low for them to try. There is no action too impermissible (or even illegal) that they would not attempt in order to smear and damage President Trump.

Is this thing over yet?

Bribery and extortion failed the Dems poll-tests and every legal test. That's why they're not in the articles

Yet Schiff throws around those smears anyway

Patrick Philbin points out if this was a real court and Schiff did that, it would be dismissed as a mistrial

Disgraceful! pic.twitter.com/3xzh8jG4sx

— Elizabeth Harrington (@LizRNC) January 30, 2020

Megan Fox is the author of “Believe Evidence; The Death of Due Process from Salome to #MeToo,” and host of The Fringe podcast. Follow on Twitter @MeganFoxWriter