SENATE President Jude U. Hofschneider said the impeachment documents provided by the House of Representatives do not yet constitute its entire record.
“I do not see any need to present these documents to the Senate as the record of impeachment. Just as it is premature for the Senate to take up any consideration of proposed ‘impeachment managers’ it is also premature to present these documents as the House Record of Impeachment,” he said in an official communication to Speaker Edmund S. Villagomez on Monday.
Moreover, Hofschneider said, not only “is it premature, but it is also inappropriate for the House to dictate to the Senate the number and identity of what [the House Committee on Judiciary and Government Operations] Chairwoman has termed ‘impeachment managers.’ ”
He noted that the committee chairwoman, Rep. Celina R. Babauta, has also requested the Senate to “hold the record in camera.”
Hofschneider said he understands from the context of the request that he, as Senate president, is being asked to withhold these materials from the rest of the Senate.
However, because the Senate “cannot receive these records as a partial record or even as the whole of the House Impeachment Record, there is no reason for me to address whether the request to conceal those records is an appropriate request from the Chairwoman.”
According to Hofschneider, “It is the duty of the Senate, and the Senate alone, to determine the rules by which the impeachment will be conducted.”
“Perhaps,” he added, “the House will be able to better prepare the impeachment record when the rules for the format of such materials are clearly established.”
As for the Senate, he said it has “already taken upon itself the task of producing the rules and has done so on an extremely shortened timetable. After the publication of those rules, the House will have clear guidance as to how such materials should be provided.”
“In the same spirit of transparency and good faith,” Hofschneider added, “the Senate has undertaken the task of drafting and promulgating the rules of impeachment in a very short timeframe. The rules of impeachment for the conduct of the impeachment hearing is a duty designated by our Constitution to the Senate. The Senate has and will continue to approach this duty deliberately. The submission of an incomplete record, in the absence of the rules of how the record is to be produced, will not change how the Senate approaches its duty.”
Hofschneider said the rules will include the format of the record to be provided, as well as the schedule for the appointment of the prosecutors from the House.
He reiterated that it is premature for the Senate to consider any designation of impeachment managers until such time as the rules of impeachment are adopted.
In a letter to Hofschneider dated Feb. 4, 2022, Babauta said the House designated six representatives and two alternates to serve as impeachment managers for the Senate impeachment trial. Their names will be announced at a later date, she said.
Hofschneider noted that the Senate Committee on Executive Appointments and Government Investigations and the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Government, Law, and Federal Relations have been tasked with drafting the rules of impeachment by Thursday, February 17.
“This is a monumental task to be performed in a short period of time,” the Senate president said. “These committees are committed to the idea of formulating rules which respect our Constitution and provide a fair and impartial process for all the parties. Just as the Senate has never intruded on the House’s role as the initiator of impeachment proceedings or the manner in which the House conducted its proceedings, it is incumbent upon the House to respect the Senate’s role to conduct a hearing on impeachment under rules the Senate establishes.”
Hofschneider told Villagomez that the Senate “is moving at all deliberate speed toward the establishment of [the] rules of impeachment…. These are all issues to be determined by the Senate once we have a set of rules under which we will proceed. These rules will provide notice to the senators, the House, the governor, and the entire Commonwealth on how the Senate will conduct this much anticipated hearing. As such, I am returning all the materials you delivered to my office immediately. I appreciate your understanding regarding this very sensitive matter and the Senate’s need to be transparent with this entire process.”
On Jan. 12, 2022, by a vote of 15 to 4 with 1 abstention, the Democrat-led House of Representatives impeached Republican Gov. Ralph DLG Torres on allegations of felonies of theft, corruption and neglect of duty. He has denied the charges.
He will be removed from office if six members of the Republican-led Senate vote for his conviction.
Jude U. Hofschneider
