Sen. Mike Lee has undermined his duty to serve in a juror-like capacity during an impeachment trial by declaring, pre-trial, that the accused “has done nothing wrong,” according to a Dec. 19 post on his Facebook page.
Were a juror to make such a pretrial declaration in any other context, that juror would be promptly dismissed.
The argument that this is a “political trial,” and therefore typical notions of due process are inapplicable, is non-compelling. While every senator will approach this trial with some level of predisposition, affirmatively declaring pretrial that the accused “has done nothing wrong” stretches that assumed predisposition past the breaking point due process requires — even in a political context.