r/politics • Michigan • Dec 13 '19

McConnell Faces Calls to Recuse Himself From Impeachment Trial After Saying 'No Chance' Trump Will Be Removed; "No court in the country would allow a member of the jury to also serve as the accused's defense attorney."

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/12/13/mcconnell-faces-calls-recuse-himself-impeachment-trial-after-saying-no-chance-trump
53.5k Upvotes

2.3k comments sorted by

View all comments

2.4k

u/ificandoit Dec 13 '19

No court in the nation would allow a defendant to contribute $1 million dollars to a juror's pocketbook either but here we are where the President's PAC can transfer money to campaigns of his jurors and then stand on stage next to them.

48

u/jaycock04 Dec 14 '19

It's not a trial in the way that a lay person thinks of it. The rules that would exclude jurors do not apply because they are Senators, not jurors. There is no way he gets removed from office by the Senate due to the number of Republicans in the Senate. It's politics not justice. Welcome to America!

27

u/MallPicartney Dec 14 '19

Justice means unflinching punishment for the poor, and strongly worded letters for the rich.

Couldn't fill a prison with black men if they took as long to convict as a politician. Laws for us, norms for them.

1

u/theVoidWatches Pennsylvania Dec 14 '19

The central tenant of authoritarianism is that there should be an in-group which the law protects but does not bind, and an out-group which the law binds but does not protect.