If Trump has called the Senators (jurors) on the phone, should they be disqualified from jury duty?

[kentuck]

You know he has called some of them.

That's just the way he operates.

I would be really surprised if this has not already happened.

[Blue Owl]

1. I would think that would render them ineligible to be fair and impartial

[TwilightZone]

2. It's not a criminal or civil trial.

The Senate is not a jury.

https://www.npr.org/2020/01/22/798631219/are-senators-trying-a-president-jurors-clinton-trial-ruling-says-they-are-not

[kentuck]

3. They are a jury.

It is a trial.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

5. No, it is not, not in the same sense as a judicial trial.

It is a hearing to determine whether the president or other federal officer should keep his job (or in this case, whether he should be barred from any future federal office). The senators are more like a performance review panel than a jury.

[FBaggins]

11. They aren't a jury

They're often referred to as such in shorthand, but they are both judge and jury... and neither at the same time.

As TwilightZone said... it isn't a jury trial

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

4. This is not a judicial trial and none of the rules used in those trials

apply to this procedure. The Senate has its own rules for impeachment trials which bear little resemblance to those for judicial trials; however, those rules allow for objections to be presented to the Presiding Officer. https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/resources/pdf/3_1986SenatesImpeachmentRules.pdf

[Walleye]

6. This explains the attack of wishy-washiness on the part of GOP senators who were outraged on the 6th

[Kablooie]

7. There's nothing to prevent Trump from conspiring with Senators.

It's already accepted that it's not an impartial jury.
There's no voir dire to drop out Senators that have connections to the defendant.

[greenjar_01]

8. It's not jury duty. It's a political process

He can call them and they can listen.

[StevieM]

9. Absolutely not. The Senators are not jurors.

This came up during the impeachment stunt against Bill Clinton.

This is not a criminal trial, it is a political process. Trump has every right to call Republican senators if he wants to. It is worth noting that Clinton never did that, and he would have been crucified if he had. But it is not illegal or necessarily improper.

Besides, can you imagine the precedent that would set? The next time you had a GOP congress and a Democratic president they would impeach the Democrat and then find some reason to disqualify Democratic senators from the jury. Probably all of them. I actually seem to remember Mark Levin calling for Chief Justice Renquist to disqualify Tm Harkin from the jury when he said the Republicans' entire case was "a pile of dung."

[StarfishSaver]

10. This is not a courtroom trial, so such rules don't apply

[bucolic_frolic]

12. I don't think it will make any difference, the whole thing will be a disconnect

About 55 Senators will vote to convict, 12 will be absent, there will be a lot of shouting, Republicans won't listen to evidence, Trump will regurgitate Stop the Steal, and we could emerge with further polarization. The trial could also expand to multiple months of witness testimony. Get it over with. The Insurrection and the leaders belong in a criminal court with actual unbiased jurors. And I seriously doubt anyone will be expelled from Congress for their actions, no matter how egregious. Our government is being held hostage by thugs and right wing public opinion.