The line to get into the Senate chamber to watch the impeachment trial in its first day wound down the corridor, down the stairs, out the door of the Capitol, and toward the Supreme Court. Half the gallery had been reserved for the press. These people, the great unwashed, were lined up for the remaining gallery seats above the Senate floor.
Dillon walked into the lower entrance used by the senators and went to the counsel table. It was the first time he had been on the floor of the Senate. He had watched it from above several times, but never on the floor. The room was smaller than he had remembered.
Dillon sat down next to Pendleton, who was reviewing his notes. Pendleton glanced up. “You ready?”
“Yes, sir.”
Pendleton examined him again and studied his eyes. “You’re not going to throw up on me or anything, are you?”
“No, Mr. Pendleton, I’m not going to throw up.”
Pendleton adjusted his cuffs. He was ready. Dillon could tell. The trial wasn’t set to begin for another ninety minutes and the chamber was empty, but Pendleton was ready. “By the way, Dillon,” Pendleton said, “you did a fine job on that court-martial.”
Right, Dillon thought. As if he was there. “Thanks,” he said. “You should have been there.”
Pendleton smiled. “I especially liked your closing argument.”
Dillon felt chagrined. “Did you watch it on television? How’d you hear it?”
“I read the transcript.”
Dillon couldn’t hide his surprise. “You read the whole court-martial transcript?”
“Of course. Someone might have said something relevant to this one.”
“I’m impressed.”
Pendleton didn’t say anything.
Dillon was impressed. Pendleton was the most thorough attorney Dillon had ever met. He was prepared for everything. He anticipated every turn and took steps to make his clients’ position most advantageous when the turns occurred. Sometimes they never occurred and his preparation was for naught, but rarely did something happen for which Pendleton was not ready.
“Did you read the paper this morning?” Pendleton asked.
“Yeah,” Dillon answered. “I don’t like the trends in the public about this trial.”
“Well, it’s kind of predictable. They usually slide around and feel sorry for the defendant when the thing actually comes to trial. What bothers me is I’m afraid the senators will be affected by the public being split on whether the President should be convicted. Admiral Billings got off, so the President should too. Let this whole thing wash under the bridge and get on with life.”
Dillon didn’t say anything.
A few members of the press began filing into the gallery seats.
Pendleton put a small binder in front of Dillon. “Here, read this.”
“What is it?” Dillon asked.
“My opening.”
Dillon turned to the first page. It was written out, word for word in fourteen-point type. “You going to read this?” he asked.
“No. I’ve got it in my mind. I’ll improvise a little.
Depends on the judge, the atmosphere. Lots of things.” Dillon continued reading. The door opened behind them and Dillon resisted the instinct to turn and see who it was. Only one person would enter with that much noise. The same way he entered every room, every courtroom, every party, every day. Roosevelt Potts. He strode down the aisle to the table for the President’s attorney and lifted his two heavy litigation bags over the table effortlessly, lowering them to within two inches of the surface and dropping them the last distance, allowing the brass feet on the bottom of the bags to rap smartly against the tabletop. He nodded at Pendleton and Dillon. “Good morning, gentlemen,” he said in his rich, public speaker’s voice. “I hope this morning finds you well. What did you do last night, David?” he asked. He’d never met Pendleton before.
Pendleton was annoyed. “Good morning, sir. I’m David Pendleton,” he said.
“I know who you are,” Potts said. “And I’m sure you know who I am. Roosevelt Potts, defender of the unjustly accused.”
“We’ll have to see how unjust the accusation is,” Pendleton said. “Unfortunately for you, that determination is not left to you alone.”
“Well said,” Potts said, laughing. “And fortunately for the rest of the world, it’s not left to you alone.” His eyes narrowed. “You have one of the finest men in the history of American politics in your gunsights, Mr. Pendleton, and you have made a grave error. I suggest that you recommend to the Speaker of the House that they vote to rescind those Articles of Impeachment immediately before you embarrass yourself.”
Pendleton studied Potts’s face, taking his measure. “I’ll think about that,” Pendleton said, He paused for a moment, as if giving Potts’s suggestion some thought. “Okay, I’m done. I’ve decided to let the Speaker decide for himself how embarrassing this is,” he said with a hint of sarcasm.
“That was pretty good, David,” Potts said.
Pendleton pointed to Dillon. “This is Mr. Dillon, the attorney who will be working with me.”
“Yes,” Potts said. “You’re the one who got Admiral Billings off for having disobeyed the President’s order and killing a poor missionary.”
“Yes, sir, that’s me. But as you know, he didn’t disobey the order of the President—he simply followed the order of Congress, which came after the President’s, in keeping with standard military procedures.”
“Yes,” Potts said, opening one of his bags. He pulled out two volumes of transcript and tossed them onto the table. “I read the whole transcript. Admirable job coming up with that clever argument. Who suggested it to you?”
Dillon was insulted. “My partner, Molly Vaughan, and I came up with that.”
“Your partner? Have you opened a law firm with Ms. Vaughan?”
“No, we were simply operating together.”
“Well then, she’s not really your partner, is she?”
“Not really, but it seems like an easy way to describe what we were doing.”
“What you really meant to say was that it was her idea and that you used it. Isn’t that fair?”
“That’s fair,” Dillon said. “Essentially, it was her idea.”
“And just now, you used the word ‘essentially’ to maintain some claim of authorship to that brilliant strategy, right?”
“Well, I hope that I had some input into its use, yes.”
“But the idea itself came from Ms. Vaughan, right?”
“Am I being cross-examined?” Dillon asked.
“Of course. Do you find it uncomfortable?”
“No.”
“I think you did or you wouldn’t have mentioned it.”
“Is there anything else?” Dillon asked, peeved.
“Oh, there will probably be more things that you and I will talk about, but nothing right now. Is the Speaker going to be here to dismiss these charges?” Potts asked, returning his attention to Pendleton.
“Is the President going to be here to deny them?”
Potts smiled a big smile as he unbuttoned his enormous double-breasted suit coat. “The President will be here all right. He’ll be here when it matters, you can count on that.”
The attorneys, their support staff, and those who would participate in the trial turned their attention to getting ready for the first events of the morning. The gallery filled with people buzzing with excitement, talking among themselves and trying to contain their joy at having gotten in to see this trial. Dillon and Pendleton took no notice of the crowd, immersed in their preparations.
Promptly at eight-thirty, the doors opened for the senators to take their places and every seat was filled. However the senators felt about this trial, not one was going to miss it. The Vice President, the man who might be the country’s chief executive in a few days took his usual seat as the President of the Senate, and the majority leader presided until it was time for him to hand the trial over to the judge. At nine, the appointed hour, all in the chamber
and the gallery rose as the Chief Justice of the United States, Justice Ross, appointed by President Manchester, strode into the chamber and took his seat. He had brought Mr. Compton, the clerk of the Supreme Court, who was the first to speak. “… The Honorable Justice Ross, Chief Justice of the United States, presiding, this trial is now in session. You may be seated.”
The entire room sat at once. All eyes were on Chief Justice Ross as he scanned the Articles of Impeachment in front of him. “Call the matter, Mr. Clerk,” Ross said loudly.
Mr. Compton rose again. “Pursuant to Articles of Impeachment passed by the United States House of Representatives in accordance with Article One, Section Two of the United States Constitution, this trial for impeachment of President Edward Manchester is now in session. The Honorable Chief Justice Ross presiding.”
“Thank you.” Ross adjusted his glasses and looked at Roosevelt Potts and David Pendleton. “Gentlemen, as you know, this trial is now in session. Before President Manchester is brought before this court and before the hearing of evidence, there are some preliminary matters we must deal with. Your offices have received notice of the items I wish to discuss. Is that correct?”
“Yes, sir,” they said together.
“This is not something in which we take pleasure. However, the articles have been passed by the House; the trial, therefore, must go forward.
“I have read the available transcript of the prior impeachments that have been held in this chamber. I assume you have done likewise. There are some things that I would like to state, and see if you disagree with them. If you do, we can discuss them, and if not, then it will not be a problem.” He opened a small notebook to some prior notes he had made.
“First, as you know, I preside over this trial. I do not vote. I am not the finder of fact, and I am not the decision maker. I preside much as a trial judge would preside. I will make rulings on evidence, and will rule as quickly as I deem reasonable. However, as you know, the ultimate decision maker in this case is the Senate itself. Any decision that I make can be appealed to the Senate as a whole. It is my intention to adopt as of now, the federal rules of evidence. I will rule in accordance with those federal rules, and if you disagree, you can appeal it to the Senate as a whole. The Senate is made up of many nonlawyers, and as to the lawyers, I would expect it has been some time since many of them actually tried a case. I would, therefore, expect them to defer to my judgment in matters of evidence although they don’t have to. For that reason, I would also not expect you to appeal to the Senate as a whole in many evidentiary issues, if any. However, you do have that power. Do you both understand that?”
“Yes, Mr. Chief Justice,” they both answered.
“Very well. Likewise, in matters of procedure, you have received the copy of the procedure outlined by the Senate prior to this morning, which they expect us to follow. Essentially, we will be in trial from nine until five every day until this is concluded.
“Mr. Pendleton, as you have been selected by the House as the prosecutor—although officially your title is manager—I will call you either of those on occasion if it is all right with you.” Pendleton indicated his agreement. “What is your estimate of how long it will take for you to put on your case?”
“My estimate is three days, Mr. Chief Justice,” Pendleton answered.
Ross looked surprised. “That’s all?”
“Yes, sir. I don’t want to drag this out.”
“I appreciate that, and I’m sure the rest of the country does as well. Mr. Potts?”
“Mr. Chief Justice, the President of the United States will take only such time as necessary to make his position known to this court. I can’t imagine that the prosecutor has three days of evidence. I frankly expected him to say that after reviewing his evidence he was not going to put on a case at all…” There was some snickering in the Senate at Potts’s comment.
“Mr. Potts,” Chief Justice Ross said, “perhaps you don’t appreciate the seriousness of this matter. I would appreciate it if you would refrain from the use of humor as a device to influence me or the Senate.”
“Please forgive me, Mr. Chief Justice, I made no such attempt. I was simply commenting on the time estimate given to you by Mr. Pendleton. I think this entire matter will be resolved in a couple of days. If not, I’ll be surprised. In any case, to directly answer your question, I would expect that if we need to put on any case at all, it shouldn’t take more than two or three hours.”
“I’m going to hold you to those estimates, gentlemen.
“Now,” he said, picking up a file and opening it, “we have some motions to deal with.”
Roosevelt Potts stood. “There have been a number of motions filed, I think most of them by me, Mr. Chief Justice.”
“Yes, I did notice that, Mr. Potts. Let me say first, that at least half of your motions dealt with documents. You have each received the other’s proposed exhibits and I’ve received your written objections to those exhibits. I’ve also received motions in limine your pretrial motions, pertaining to some of those exhibits as being prejudicial and various other grounds. I want you to know that I’m not going to rule beforehand on any of the exhibits or evidentiary motions, because I don’t know how this is going to play out. I think I have a good idea of what’s relevant, but I might be wrong. So let’s take each of those exhibits as they come. We don’t have an inexperienced jury here that will be overly prejudiced by our considering the admissibility of an exhibit, so I feel confident that we can handle each one as it arises. But if you have any objection to an exhibit, please keep that objection in mind when it is first offered so we can take it up then.
“Mr. Potts, you brought a motion to dismiss this trial as the Articles of Impeachment are legally inappropriate. It’s my understanding that your position is that Articles of Impeachment based on pacifism are unconstitutional themselves and, therefore, there should be no trial. Does that about sum it up?”
Potts moved to the podium between the two counsel tables. “That is essentially it, but if I might be allowed to elaborate somewhat.”
“Yes, but keep it short. I’ve read your motion, which is too long.”
Potts smiled quickly but without humor. “I apologize for the length of the motion, but the importance of this issue cannot be overstated.” He glanced down at his notebook in which his one-page outline lay. He had gone over this argument so much in his own mind and with his associates that he could have given it by memory, but he didn’t want to miss anything. “Mr. Chief Justice, impeachment is the most drastic event in the life of a public figure. It is an attack on the person’s professionalism, and on his character. It has been in place for well over two hundred years now, and has only been used against a President twice. Only twice in the history of this nation, has a president been impeached. We’re all familiar with President Johnson being impeached after Abraham Lincoln died. It was an attempt by Congress to intimidate him. Nothing more. They didn’t like the way he was operating, and required that all dismissals of Cabinet officers be approved by Congress. He refused to comply and they impeached him.
“That trial, like this one, was a political trial. It was an attempt to oust the President because of his opposition to Congress. That is not what impeachment is for.” He spoke slowly.
“The second presidential impeachment is different, but also somewhat helpful. The facts of President Clinton’s trial could not be further from this matter. But we all recall people saying—some screaming—that as despicable as his acts were, they did not rise to the level of impeachable offenses. In other words, those charges should never have been brought. Unfortunately, they were unable to bring that issue before the Senate and a trial resulted. I hope we have learned from that. The Senate should be able to decide at the very outset whether something is impeachable. If not, the facts don’t matter and a trial can be avoided. That is what I am asking for, sir. The Constitution tells us the grounds for impeachment. They are exclusive. There are no ‘etceteras’ following these g
rounds. There is no ‘or whatever else’ following these grounds. The only thing that follows these limited and narrow grounds for impeachment is a period. An indication in the English language of finality. Of completeness. Neither bribery nor treason is at issue here. So there are two grounds. Number one: high crimes. Number two: misdemeanors. High crimes and misdemeanors. The only grounds for impeaching the President. Might I inquire rhetorically, Mr. Chief Justice, what high crime the President is accused of? Might I inquire in the same way, what misdemeanor the President is accused of committing? There is none. There is no crime the President must face. There is no misdemeanor or high crime the President must fear. This motion is in the nature of a demurrer. Even if what the prosecution’s attorney, Mr. Pendleton, says is true, that the President is in fact a pacifist, that is not an impeachable offense. Show me in the Constitution where it dictates the type of political outlook a President must have in order to qualify to serve? Show me in the Constitution where hawks are qualified and doves are anathema. Show me in the Constitution, show the American people, where if they choose to have a President who does not believe in sending soldiers overseas to fight in wars for other people, that they are compelled by the Constitution to do so? They are not, Mr. Chief Justice. If Mahatma Gandhi had been born a United States citizen, he would be equally qualified to serve as President as Mr. Pendleton himself. There is the underlying theme from Mr. Pendleton’s arguments that we have read in the press—that if in fact the President had run on a campaign as a pacifist it might be a different matter. That is impossible! Disclosure of pacifism is not the issue. Whether one holds the opinion is the issue. Is a peacemaker automatically disqualified from being President?
“Can it be that this country only allows leaders who embrace warfare? Can the spiritual among us not assume the role of the President?” He stepped back for a moment and gazed at Chief Justice Ross. “If Jesus Christ himself came back to earth, and the kingdom of heaven did not begin with his return, would Jesus himself be disqualified to run for President of the United States if Mr. Pendleton’s charge is accurate? Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be impeached? If a man strikes you on the cheek, turn and give him your other cheek also, unless you live in the United States and operate under Mr. Pendleton’s Constitution in which case you are to take up a stick and beat him on the head?”
The Price Of Power Page 40