impeachment

The Kentucky legislative committee reviewing impeachment petitions against Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear and Republican State Rep. Robert Goforth will meet this afternoon.

The committee will also eventually review a petition filed by grand jurors from the Breonna Taylor case against Republican Attorney General Daniel Cameron.

Though, since the legislature is in the middle of a three-week break, the petition against Cameron won’t be officially filed until lawmakers return on Feb. 2.

Citizen impeachment petitions usually aren’t publicized and, in the past, the state House of Representatives has dismissed them after a quick review by the House Judiciary Committee.

Kentucky U.S. Sen. Rand Paul forced the Senate to vote on whether the impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump is constitutional, in an attempt to derail it.

The Senate rejected Paul’s effort with a vote of 55 to 45. But the move was in some ways a test balloon for how many Republican senators would be open to convicting Trump on charges that he incited the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Five Republicans joined all 50 Democratic senators in striking down Paul’s motion. But Kentucky’s senior Sen. Mitch McConnell, who has so far avoided weighing in on what he thinks about impeaching Trump, joined the ranks of Republicans criticizing the trial as unconstitutional.

Gov. Andy Beshear is asking a legislative committee to dismiss an impeachment petition against him. Petitioners say Beshear violated the Kentucky Constitution when he imposed restrictions during the pandemic, including mandatory closures of non-essential businesses.

In a 45-page response to the petition, Beshear notes that the courts have upheld many of his restrictions, and describes the petitioners as “political activists ostensibly unhappy with the Governor’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and their lack of success in court.”

“The Petition cites no facts and little law in a last-ditch effort to upend our constitutional separation of powers, hoping the General Assembly will ignore the judgments of the judicial branch as well as the will of the people in electing their chief executive,” the response reads.

Three grand jurors from the Breonna Taylor case have filed an impeachment petition against Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, alleging he misled the public about the case and misrepresented the grand jury’s actions.

They also argue he misused public funds to join a multi-state lawsuit against Pennsylvania’s election results and supported unlawful actions as a member of the National Association of Attorneys General’s executive committee, which funded robocalls urging people to march to the U.S. Capitol on January 6.

The grand jurors have remained anonymous, though the petition was filed by Louisville attorney Kevin Glogower on their behalf.

Eight people have filed an impeachment petition against Republican state Rep. Robert Goforth, who was indicted for assault charges last year after he allegedly attempted to hogtie and strangle his wife with an ethernet cord.

Goforth represents the 89th House district, which includes Jackson County and parts of Laurel and Madison counties. He was easily reelected last year despite the charges.

The petition, filed by eight of Goforth’s constituents in Madison County, says he should be impeached for “breach of public trust, felonious acts of violence upon women, abuse of office and state property, and other misfeasance and malfeasance.”

Kentucky’s Republican House Speaker David Osborne says a committee will be formed to determine whether Gov. Andy Beshear should be impeached, after four citizens submitted a petition asking for it.

Though the House can receive impeachment petitions at any time, the creation of an official impeachment committee is unusual, said Frankfort attorney Anna Whites.

Whites worked for former Democratic House Speaker Greg Stumbo. She said during Stumbo’s tenure, impeachment petitions would be sent to the Judiciary or Rules Committee for review, and then in most cases, “they would be determined not to be worth moving forward on.”

“I think it is unusual to immediately appoint a committee to review it prior to letting Judiciary or Rules have a first look at it, since they have experience in this,” Whites said.