Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Monday spoke out in response to President Donald Trump’s repeated calls for House Democrats to end their ongoing impeachment effort, reportedly stating: “the president is not a lawyer.”
Ginsburg made the comment while appearing at an event in New York City, where she received the Berggruen Institute Prize for her contribution to philosophy and culture, according to CNN. The 86-year-old reportedly plans to donate the $1 million prize to non-profits focused on promoting economic opportunities for women.
Speaking to BBC at the event, Ginsburg expressed hope for “good people on both sides of the aisle to say let’s stop this dysfunction” and “work together for the good of the country.” She did not say whether her comments were related to the impeachment proceedings.
On Tuesday, the House Rules Committee met to debate the parameters of the impeachment voting process, the final step before the full lower chamber votes on whether to impeach President Trump over his contacts with Ukraine.
The House Judiciary Committee presented two articles of impeachment against the president last week — abuse of power and obstruction of Congress — both of which are expected to be approved in the full House but expected to fail in the Senate.
Earlier Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) rejected Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-NY) call to have new witnesses testify in the upper chamber’s likely impeachment trial, even hinting that he will move to dismiss the impeachment articles against the president following opening arguments.
“The House chose this road. It is their duty to investigate,” McConnell said in a floor speech. “It’s their duty to meet the very high bar for undoing a national election. As Speaker Pelosi herself once said, it is the House’s obligation to, quote, ‘build an ironclad case to act.’”
“If they fail, they fail. It is not the Senate’s job to leap into the breach and search desperately for ways to get to guilty. That would hardly be impartial justice,” he added.
President Trump has called the impeachment inquiry a “hoax” designed to harm his re-election prospects in 2020.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.