Lawyer Says 6th Amendment Doesn't Apply To Whistleblower Cases

President Donald Trump has been on roll, calling out the whistleblower from the Ukrainian president phone call, but today Republican senator Chuck Grassley issued a statement saying the whistleblower “ought to be heard out and protected.”

Protect the whistleblower! But the President has a right to face his accuser!

Which is right?

Both.

Sort of.

The 6th Amendment to the Constitution protects your rights if you are accused.

"The sixth amendment, as part of the Bill of Rights, guarantees certain rights in all criminal prosecutions. One of the enumerated rights in the 6th Amendment is the right to be confronted with the witnesses against the accused. This right is known as the Confrontation Clause. The confrontation clause guarantees criminal defendants the opportunity to face the prosecution's witnesses in the case against them and dispute the witnesses' testimony. This guarantee applies to both statements made in court and statements made outside of court that are offered as evidence during trial."

Did you notice the distinction i- "confrontation clause guarantees criminal defendants the opportunity to face the prosecution's witnesses"

The protection plays in a CRIMINAL proceeding.

Our natural - "America is free, good & fair" type of assumption leads many to conclude that virtually anybody accused of anything has the right to hear it to their face from the person making the charge. That's not necessarily true.

Senator Grassley - “We should always work to respect whistleblowers’ requests for confidentiality. Any further media reports on the whistleblower’s identity don’t serve the public interest—even if the conflict sells more papers or attracts clicks.”

An impeachment proceeding is not a criminal case and the rules of evidence and procedure are different as explained in this exchange from a transcript of a report on NPR.

LINDSEY GRAHAM: This seems to me like a political setup. It's all hearsay. You can't get a parking ticket conviction based on hearsay.

SARAH MCCAMMON: But that right to face your accuser guaranteed in the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution wasn't written to apply to impeachment, says David Dorsen, a former assistant chief counsel on the Senate Watergate Committee.

DAVID DORSEN: This is not a criminal proceeding. It's a impeachment proceeding, and the rules of evidence don't apply.

SO, stay tuned. This one isn't over by a long shot!

Categories: Politics