Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg responded this week to President Trump’s call for the Supreme Court to step in and stop the House Democrats’ impeachment crusade.
The senior associate justice was asked by BBC about Mr. Trump’s tweet earlier this month saying, “I read the Republicans Report on the Impeachment Hoax. Great job! Radical Left has NO CASE. Read the Transcripts. Shouldn’t even be allowed. Can we go to Supreme Court to stop?”
“The president is not a lawyer,” Justice Ginsburg said in response to the tweet. “He’s not law-trained.”
The 86-year-old justice spoke to BBC at an event where she accepted the Berggruen Prize, suggesting in the interview that senators who have demonstrated bias should not be able to participate as jurors in an impeachment trial against Mr. Trump, which is expected to kick off in January.
Some senators from both sides of the aisle have already commented on the impeachment proceedings, prejudging the evidence gathered by the House Democrats in their articles of impeachment, which charge the president with obstruction of Congress and abuse of power.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican, has signaled the president would likely be acquitted, and an impeachment trial could have a partisan outcome.
“Well if a judge said that, a judge would be disqualified from sitting on the case,” Justice Ginsburg said of senators prejudging the outcome.
The Supreme Court will review cases in March dealing with the House Democrats’ subpoena power over the president’s financial records, which were sought in part of their impeachment probe.
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.
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