Bill Bennett: “Mr. Chief Justice, as I have sat through this trial, I have not spent much time on questions of reasonable doubt or…”

“Mr. Chief Justice, as I have sat through this trial, I have not spent much time on questions of reasonable doubt or where the preponderance of evidence lies. Whatever the importance of those concepts in a typical court, the constitutional implications of what we are considering are much more serious than the issues decided in a normal trial. I will not vote to remove a sitting President on the turning of a legal issue. Accordingly, early in the trial I decided that I would not vote to convict under the First Article of Impeachment. It struck me as overly legalistic. I listened to the lawyers argue about the proper form of the article, and I heard about questions of materiality--not a term I use in everyday conversation--and I decided that while the case was there, it was shaky. In order to be sure I would render impartial justice, I asked myself if I would remove Ronald Reagan in a similar circumstance. When I realized I would not, I decided that I could not vote to remove Bill Clinton.”