McCaskill To Lead Impeachment Committee

Press Release

U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill today was named by Senate leadership as the chair of a 12-member bipartisan committee charged with gathering evidence and reporting to the Senate on the impeachment of Judge Samuel Kent. Below is McCaskill's statement on the announcement.

"I am honored to be able to serve on this important committee. It is not often that the Senate is called on to undertake the constitutional task of holding an impeachment trial of a federal judge. The Senate has a constitutional duty to provide due process and perform independent fact finding before voting on impeachment in every instance in which the House approves Articles of Impeachment. As Chair of the Impeachment Committee, I will work to ensure the process goes forward with no undue delay. I look forward to working with Senator Martinez and the other members of the committee to achieve that result."

The House of Representatives presented to the Senate today the articles of impeachment for Kent, a federal district judge in the Southern District of Texas, who has been accused of two counts of sexual misconduct and two counts of obstruction of justice. Kent pled guilty to one count of obstruction of justice and is currently serving a 33-month prison sentence, but remains a federal judge until he either resigns or is impeached. In the meantime, he continues to receive an annual salary of $174,000 from the federal government.

After the committee completes its report, the full Senate will vote on the impeachment. Two-thirds of the Senate must vote in favor of impeachment for the judge to be stripped of his salary and pension. The House of Representatives voted unanimously Friday for Kent's impeachment.

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