WASHINGTON - September 13, 2010 - The U.S. Senate on Monday started the impeachment trial of federal judge G. Thomas Porteous Jr. - the first such trial since the impeachment of former President Bill Clinton in 1999.
The Senate Impeachment Trial Committee will submit its summary to the full Senate, which is expected to vote later this year. The judge is accused of corruption and accepting kickbacks, as well as lying about his past to the Senate and FBI regarding his nomination to the federal bench.
In March, the House of Representatives voted unanimously to impeach Porteous, making him the nation's 15th federal judge ever impeached.
Porteous is from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.
Last year, the House Judiciary Committee Task Force on Judicial Impeachment held evidentiary hearings that led to unanimous approval of the four articles of impeachment, citing evidence that Porteous "intentionally made material false statements and representations under penalty of perjury, engaged in a corrupt kickback scheme, solicited and accepted unlawful gifts, and intentionally misled the Senate during his confirmation proceedings," a House release said.
"Our investigation found that Judge Porteous participated in a pattern of corrupt conduct for years," U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Kalif.), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee Task Force on Judicial Impeachment, said in March.
