Wicker Calls for Due Process in House Impeachment Investigation
Miss. Senator Cosponsors Resolution Demanding Transparency and Fairness
October 24, 2019
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, R-Miss., today cosponsored a Senate resolution calling for due process during the impeachment investigation of President Donald J. Trump being conducted by the U.S. House of Representatives.
“Due process, rights for the accused, and the presumption of innocence are foundational principles of the American judicial system because they ensure fairness and give legitimacy to verdicts and sentences,” Wicker said. “Unlike the impeachment inquiries into Presidents Nixon and Clinton, the current House investigation lacks these constitutional guarantees. If House Democrats continue to conduct this process as a partisan exercise with a predetermined outcome, then the findings cannot be taken seriously.”
The current House investigation has not been authorized by a vote, and the minority party has been given limited participation and power in the proceedings. President Trump, the subject of the investigation, has also not been given due process protections constitutionally guaranteed to all Americans, including the right to counsel, to present and object to evidence, and to call and cross-examine witnesses.
Click here to read a full copy of the Senate resolution.