As House Democrats vote on Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump this Thursday, the House Rules Committee, which is tasked with setting the rules for the inquiry, is being led by second-ranking Democrat in that committee, Rep. Alcee Hastings.
Does Hasting’s name and impeachment sound familiar?
To many Floridians, it does, as the former federal judge was impeached by the very same House of Representatives he sits in, and removed from office in 1989 by the U.S. Senate on eight impeachment articles, including one for bribery.
According to a New York Times article that year, the Senate overwhelmingly voted to boot him off the bench.
The vote was 69 to 26, providing five votes more than the two-thirds of those present that were needed to convict. The first article accused the judge of conspiracy. Conviction on any single article was enough to remove the judge from office, and he left shortly after the vote.
Hastings, who also believes that the president is not afforded due process during impeachment, is currently fighting pancreatic cancer and appears to be winning that battle.