Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton could be impeached as a private citizen and banned from running for office again under the precedent set in the trial of former President Donald Trump, Mr. Trump’s lawyer told senators on Friday.
“This could happen to … the former secretary of state,” said lawyer Michael van der Veen. “It could happen to a lot of people. That’s not the way this is supposed to work.”
Sen. Marco Rubio, Florida Republican, asked whether the trial of Mr. Trump “would create a new precedent” for other former officials such as Mrs. Clinton.
“Is it not true that under this new precedent, facing calls to ’lock her up,’ a future House could impeach a former Secretary of State and potentially disqualify her from any future office?” Mr. Rubio asked.
“If you see it their way, yes,” Mr. van der Veen said, referring to the House Democratic impeachment managers.
Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the lead impeachment manager, said the hypothetical question “has no bearing on this case.”
“This official was not impeached in office for conduct while in office,” he said without mentioning Mrs. Clinton’s name.
Mr. Trump was impeached on Jan. 13, one week before he left office, for inciting the riot at the U.S. Capitol. Democrats are hoping to disqualify him from holding office again.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.