A federal judge based in New Orleans is the subject of an impeachment trial set to begin in the U.S. Senate Monday. A federal judge based in New Orleans is the subject of an impeachment trial set to begin in the U.S. Senate Monday.
U.S. District Judge G. Thomas Porteous Jr. was impeached by a unanimous vote in the House last March, nearly two years after the Judicial Conference of the United States referred him to Congress for removal from the bench. Porteous, 63, faces four articles of impeachment that include lying during background investigations during his 1994 confirmation process. He is currently suspended from the bench by federal court officials.
A 12-member Senate Impeachment Trial Committee will hear the case, with attorneys arguing the House case against Porteous. The accused judge will also have lawyers representing him at the trial.
This is the first Senate impeachment trial for a federal judge since 1989, and the first impeachment trial of any kind in the upper chamber of Congress since former President Bill Clinton's trial in 1999. Read more about Porteous' impeachment trial at The Washington Post.