Kaufman Appointed to Senate Impeachment Panel
Second time senator has been appointed to Senate committee to gather evidence for trial of federal judge
March 17, 2010
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Ted Kaufman (D-DE) was appointed Wednesday to a bipartisan Senate committee tasked with gathering evidence for the Senate’s trial of Judge G. Thomas Porteous Jr., United States Judge for the Eastern District of Louisiana. Earlier today the Senate received the articles of impeachment from the House of Representatives and passed two resolutions: one calling for a response from Judge Porteous to the formal charges and a second to appoint the bipartisan committee.
“This is an important constitutional responsibility and one I take very seriously as a Senator,” said Kaufman. “I am happy to serve at the Majority Leader’s request and I look forward to serving on the committee.”
Only three federal judges have been tried for removal from office subsequent to impeachment since 1936: Judge Harry Claiborne (1986), Judge Alcee Hastings (1988-1989), and Judge Walter Nixon (1989).
Using the Hastings trial as precedent, the Senate set up a committee under Rule XI consisting of 12 members – Senator Claire McCaskill (Chair) (D-MO); Senator Orrin Hatch (Vice-Chair) (R-UT); Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN); Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI); Senator Tom Udall (D-NM); Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH); Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC); Senator Mike Johanns (R-NE); Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS); Senator Jim Risch (R-ID); and Senator John Barrasso (R-WY).
Judge Porteous previously served as a Louisiana state court judge and was appointed to the Eastern District of Louisiana by President Bill Clinton in 1994. He has been impeached by the House on four articles, which state:
1. As a federal judge, he refused to recuse himself from a case, even though he had a corrupt financial relationship with the defendant’s law firm involving the receipt of cash kickbacks, dating back to his time as a state judge.
2. As a state and federal judge, he accepted meals, trips, home repairs and car repairs from a bail bondsman and his sister, in return for setting and reducing bonds as requested. He also improperly set aside or expunged felony convictions for two of the bondsman’s employees.
3. He lied in his personal bankruptcy case by using a false name to conceal his identity as a debtor and concealing his assets, gambling debts, and new debts while his case was pending.
4. He made false statements about his past to both the Senate and the Federal Bureau of Investigation in order to win confirmation as a federal judge.
In 2008, the Judicial Conference of the United States voted unanimously to refer Judge Porteous’s case to the House for impeachment. Since 2008, Judge Porteous has been on suspension from carrying out his judicial duties.
This is the second time Kaufman has been appointed to a Senate impeachment committee. Last June, Kaufman was appointed to the bipartisan committee concerning the impeachment of Judge Samuel B. Kent, a federal district judge for the Southern District of Texas. Judge Kent resigned before he could be tried by the Senate on charges accusing him of sexually assaulting two female employees and related to his felony conviction for obstructing officials who had been investigating his conduct.
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