Rand Paul on Senate Impeachment Trial: ‘If the Chief Justice Isn’t Coming, I Think it’s an Illegitimate Procedure’

Count Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) as the latest senator to question the legitimacy of a conviction on the impeachment of Donald Trump, now that he is no longer the president.

We reported earlier that Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) tweeted yesterday that he believes “There is no provision in the Constitution for holding such a trial over a former president who is now a private citizen.”

Paul tweeted out earlier, “If Justice Roberts won’t preside over this sham ‘impeachment’ then why would it ever be considered legitimate? Hint: It won’t be.”

If Justice Roberts won’t preside over this sham “impeachment” then why would it ever be considered legitimate?

Hint: It won’t be.

Hear more about it in a few minutes when I appear on @seanhannity show on @FoxNews

— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) January 23, 2021

On Tuesday, it was reported that Chief Justice John Roberts reportedly wants no part of Trump’s impeachment trial.

Paul also spoke with Fox News’ Sean Hannity tonight and said in the interview, “If the Chief Justice isn’t coming, I think it’s an illegitimate procedure. It isn’t a real impeachment, it’s going to be a fake, partisan impeachment.”

"If the Chief Justice isn't coming, I think it's an illegitimate procedure. It isn't a real impeachment, it's going to be a fake, partisan impeachment."@RandPaul says the impeachment is "illegitimate" because it is not against the sitting president. pic.twitter.com/HVDJIEIc4D

— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) January 23, 2021

Per the previous report, historically, either the vice president or the longest-serving member of the Senate have taken up the mantle for lower-level impeachments which would mean either Vice President Kamala Harris or Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) could be the choice.

A National Review article published earlier today by senior writer Dan McLaughlin said he believes that Chief Justice Roberts owes us his opinion on presiding over impeachment.