At today's House Judiciary Committee hearing, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) questioned witnesses, including former Speaker Newt Gingrich, about calls to impeach judges.
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NewsTranscript
00:00A gentleman from California essentially invited us to accept the deportation of someone from
00:05America without any due process at all, which the administration has admitted was a mistake
00:11because now he's hypothesizing that person belongs to a different criminal gang and engaged
00:16in other different hypothetical crimes.
00:19And obviously the reason why we have due process is because we can't try these cases in the
00:25Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives.
00:27So just reading from a court document here, Plaintiff Abrego-Garcia is not a member of
00:32nor has any affiliation with Tranda Aragua, MS-13, or any other criminal or street gang.
00:38Although he's been accused of general gang affiliation, the U.S. government has never
00:42produced any evidence to support this unfounded accusation.
00:46He has no criminal history.
00:47He's never been charged or convicted of any criminal charges in the United States.
00:51So who knows?
00:52That's why we have due process.
00:53It shouldn't be just fodder for cable TV.
00:58We're talking about people's lives here.
01:00Professor Shaw, what does due process actually mean?
01:06And should Judge Boasberg be impeached for saying that the Alien Enemy Act of 1798 doesn't
01:14apply because we are not at war and we have not suffered an invasion by a foreign power?
01:21You know, the core components of due process are straightforward, right?
01:24It involves some notice and an opportunity to be heard, right, to make some sort of case
01:29in your own defense prior to deprivation of life, liberty, or property.
01:33So that's in the Constitution.
01:34Due process applies to every person, not just to citizens.
01:38And due process doesn't look identical if we're talking about due process in the context
01:42of potential deportation or due process in the context of, you know, a change to your
01:47Social Security benefits, right?
01:49Due process is deeply context-dependent.
01:51And all Judge Boasberg has ruled as a preliminary matter in this case is that some sort of process
01:57has to be afforded before this potentially irreversible act occurs.
02:03Judge Boasberg has not ordered anyone released in the United States, has not objected to
02:07the detention of the covered individuals, has simply said, provide reasons and an opportunity
02:12to respond.
02:13And follow the law, right?
02:15And follow the law.
02:16And it seems from public reporting as though there is real reason to believe that errors
02:20were made.
02:21My colleagues are calling for the impeachment of Judge Boasberg.
02:24Has there ever been a federal district judge, a federal appeals court judge, or a U.S. Supreme
02:28Court justice impeached because someone disagrees with the content of their ruling?
02:34We have no tradition of impeaching judges based on the contents of their rulings.
02:38We impeach them for bribery or corruption or habitual drunkenness on the bench.
02:45Speaker Gingrich, by the way, do you agree with the Republicans who are, and with Donald
02:49Trump and Elon Musk, who are calling for the impeachment of these judges?
02:52That's a yes or no.
02:54I actually agree with Jefferson that impeachment is a cumbersome and difficult process, virtually
02:58impossible to achieve, which is why Jefferson—
03:01Do you oppose the impeachment?
03:02Which is why Jefferson abolished 14 courts.
03:06Because you can abolish—
03:07Okay, Professor Schaaf, forgive me.
03:08You remember the five-minute rule.
03:09I've gotten more time.
03:10It's a yes or no question, and I didn't get an answer from you.
03:14The Chief Justice Roberts has said that the correct response to disagreement with a district
03:19court decision is to appeal.
03:22I just heard Speaker Gingrich call this a judicial coup d'etat, and he said the Chief
03:27Justice should stop lecturing the rest of us.
03:31Who's right?
03:32Is it Newt Gingrich, or is it Chief Justice Roberts here?
03:35In this instance, Chief Justice Roberts.
03:37We have no tradition of impeaching judges.
03:39Appeal is the remedy for disagreeing with a district judge.
03:42Or if it's a statutory ruling that's wrong, Congress can respond, right?
03:46If there's a bias or misconduct issue, there are disciplinary processes and complaints
03:50that can be brought against judges.
03:52You can seek to recuse or remand to a different judge.
03:55There are many remedies our system affords if there is some sort of problem with a judge
04:00presiding over a case.
04:01But impeachment has never been in that toolkit.
04:04Do you believe that there has been a conspiracy for a coup d'etat among 34 U.S. federal district
04:13court judges appointed by Presidents Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush, Obama, and Trump?
04:18No.
04:19As you said, I think these judges are simply doing their jobs.
04:23The only comparable case I can think of here is the Impeach Earl Warren movement after
04:29Brown v. Board, where there were racist segregationists who wanted to impeach Earl Warren because
04:35they did disagree with the content of his opinion.
04:38What happened with that?
04:39Do you think that he should have been impeached?
04:45As far as I know, there were non-impeachment resolutions introduced at that time.
04:49There was rhetoric.
04:50There was critique.
04:51And to be clear, criticizing judges is absolutely healthy in a democracy.
04:54I am not suggesting otherwise.
04:56But this is already a pretty serious escalation to have seen these resolutions introduced.
05:01I really don't think they should go any further.
05:04I yield back, Mr. Chairman.
05:07I would like to go to the gentleman from Wisconsin, Mr. Fitzgerald, and I would ask if I could
05:11have 15 seconds of his time.
05:14I yield back to the Chairman.
05:17Speaker Gingrich, I just have one.