Government

Meet The Lawyers Managing This Impeachment

Meet the 2021 team!

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(Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

The rest of 2020 may have pushed the impeachment process from everyone’s memory banks, but the first impeachment trial of Donald Trump began a year ago tomorrow. All the sanctimonious “well, actually, ‘impeachment’ is different than an impeachment and conviction” hacks had already lived out their Brainy Smurf dreams and the entire country was well prepared for the process.

Alas, it’s 2021, and the sanctimony is back, so let’s have a quick review. The House of Representatives has impeached Donald Trump. This sets up a mandatory trial in the Senate to be presided over by a very grumpy Chief Justice of the United States.[1] The Senate will need 67 votes to convict and remove Trump from public office. There are disingenuous hacks arguing that Trump cannot be impeached after leaving office, an interpretation that would turn the lame duck session into the Purge but with nuclear weapons as there would be no consequences for any violation of public trust. That’s why smarter people point out that the Constitution says that an impeachment conviction “shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States.” In other words, a conviction cannot throw the office-holder in jail but can result in removal and/or a bar from future office.

And that case will be prosecuted in the Senate by a gaggle of “managers” appointed by the Speaker of the House. Pelosi has chosen a whole new crop of managers this time around, eschewing experience for a fresh perspective. But who are these new managers, and what legal chops do they bring to the table?

Well, here you go. Think of this as a starting lineup announcement at an NBA game. Fire up Sirius by the Alan Parsons Project:

Representative Jamie Raskin (D-MD), Lead Manager: Raskin graduated from Harvard Law in 1987 and took a gig as an Assistant AG in Massachusetts. Just two years later he was general counsel of the Rainbow Coalition, where he served until 1990, when he became a professor at American University’s Washington College of Law. He represented Ross Perot in 1996, arguing that the candidate still deserved a place at the presidential debates even though his influence was significantly reduced from 1992 levels. So, before he’s 10 years out of law school he’s represented Jesse Jackson and Ross Perot… the man works quick. Raskin spent a number of years in the Maryland state legislature before moving up to the big leagues in 2016. He’s the Chair of Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties and Vice Chair of the Subcommittee on the Constitution. He impressed me when he gave a panel talk a number of years ago about the need for progressives to let go of the judiciary as a site of salvation. Sadly, Raskin is taking on this burden in the shadow of the recent loss of his son.

Representative Diana DeGette (D-CO): A 1982 NYU Law grad, DeGette worked as a public defender for two years and entered privat practice focusing on workers’ rights. She entered politics in 1992, joining the Colorado legislature. While in that job, she authored a bill to protect access to abortion clinics that the Supreme Court ultimately upheld in 2000. She ran for federal office in 1996, succeeding the retiring Pat Schroeder and has steamrolled any competition for her office since.

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Representative David Cicilline (D-RI): A Georgetown law grad in 1986, David Cicilline is in his sixth House term. As a college student, he set up a College Democrats chapter at Brown with John F. Kennedy Jr. which makes you wonder how there had never been Democrats at Brown until the early 80s. He served as a public defender in D.C. until returning to Rhode Island and getting into politics. He was mayor of Providence before running for Congress. But perhaps Cicilline’s top qualification for the job is that his father was a mob lawyer in the 70s and 80s and there’s no better lens into how the Trump administration operates than a familiarity with organized crime. Cicilline is currently Chair of the Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial and Administrative Law so maybe he can explain to Parler why their lawsuit is falling apart.

Representative Joaquin Castro (D-TX): The ideological divide in the United States can be distilled into whether you know that Castro’s twin brother Julián was Secretary of Housing and Urban Development or whether you think his brother is the First Secretary of Cuba. Harvard Law class of 2000, both Castro brothers worked at Akin Gump out of school, before forming their own firm in 2005. Joaquin was already a state representative before leaving Akin, having won a seat in the 2002 election as a 28-year-old. He moved up to the U.S. House after the 2012 election.

Representative Eric Swalwell (D-CA): You might remember Swalwell from the 15 seconds where he ran for president last year. Or you might vaguely recall him from the wingnut outrage that he once worked with a fundraiser who was later suspected of being a Chinese spy. Swalwell cut all ties with her as soon as authorities pointed this out, but this is now a right-wing grievance because… spies are good at hiding who they are? I guess. Swalwell hails from University of Maryland Law, where he graduated in 2006 before he took a gig as a prosecutor in Alameda county.

Representative Ted Lieu (D-CA): A 1994 Georgetown Law grad, Lieu entered the Air Force as a military prosecutor and is now a Colonel in the Reserves. After a career in California politics, he ran for the House in 2014. He’s one of the better Twitter users in American politics, allowing him to understand the power of the platform that was so recently used to urge an assault on the Capitol. Perennial embarrassment Rep. Devin Nunes threatened to sue Lieu last year prompting Lieu to inform his fellow representative “I welcome any lawsuit from your client and look forward to taking discovery of Congressman Nunes. Or, you can take your letter and shove it.”

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Representative Stacey Plaskett (D-VI): Plaskett represents the U.S. Virgin Islands as a non-voting delegate in the House. She earned her degree from American University Law in 1994, attending courses at night while working full-time. She worked for Jones Day, but that was before becoming a lawyer so we’ll give her a pass. She served as an Assistant DA in the Bronx from 1994 to 1997 and then served as a lawyer to the House Committee on Ethics in the U.S. Congress and the Department of Justice before moving to the Virgin Islands. She made news most recently by choosing to risk the rioters rather than join the Republican-induced superspreader event.

Representative Madeleine Dean (D-PA): Dean graduated from Widener University Delaware Law in 1984. Dean worked at a small firm and then with the Philadelphia Trial Lawyers Association, where she rose to serve as executive director. She later set up a three-woman law practice before abandoning the practice altogether and becoming an English professor. After a stint in state politics, she’s served in the House since 2019.

Representative Joe Neguse (D-CO): Neguse graduated from University of Colorado in 2009. He served on the Board of Regents of the Buffaloes and worked in private practice before running for Colorado secretary of state. He lost, but ended up appointed as Colorado’s top regulator. He joined Snell & Wilmer in 2017 while gearing up for his House run. Speaking on his role as an impeachment manager, Neguse said:

Rep. Neguse: I am humbled that the speaker would have confidence in me to ask me to serve in this capacity. It’s something I don’t take lightly. It’s a duty of the highest constitutional order in the House.

I’m certainly going to be preparing quite a bit and getting ready for the trial in the coming weeks, hopefully.

So there are your 2021 impeachment managers. Look forward to seeing a lot of them on cable news in the coming weeks.

[1] Not the “Chief Justice of the Supreme Court” as news outlets will inevitably say multiple times over the coming weeks. There, I can be sanctimonious too.

HeadshotJoe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.

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