Kent impeached~ Who are his corporations donors?

"U.S. House impeaches Kent," is Stewart Powell's report for the Houston Chronicle.
The House today impeached imprisoned U.S. District Court Judge Samuel B. Kent and sent his case to the Senate for trial.

The Senate is expected to quickly convene a trial – possibly within a matter of weeks – to cut off the judge’s $174,000 annual federal salary.

The House overwhelmingly adopted four articles of impeachment against the 59-year-old jurist on rapid-fire roll call votes over the course of 30 minutes.

The vote on the first article of impeachment was 389-0. Not a single member of the House spoke on Kent’s behalf.

The charges accused Kent of abusing his power as a judge by sexually assaulting two female court employees as well as lying about his conduct to a judicial inquiry, the FBI and the Justice Department.

Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., chairman of the House Judiciary Committee that urged impeachment, called Kent’s conduct “shocking and shameful.”

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Houston, a member of the task force that investigated the case, said women across America deserve a “safe and secure workplace.”

Jackson Lee added: “We must act. We have no ability to ignore it.”

Rep. Louis Gohmert, R-Tyler, decried “the games that were played” by Kent as he tried to retain his post and the salary that goes with it even though he is in prison.

The House acted barely two weeks after a House Judiciary Committee task force heard graphic testimony about sexual attacks from case manager Cathy McBroom, 50, and legal secretary Donna Wilkerson, 45.

Kent’s refusal to immediately resign his post and relinquish his salary forced the House to take action.

The House has last impeached a federal judge in 1989. A total of 13 judges have faced impeachment proceedings in the House since 1803, seven of whom were subsequently convicted by the Senate and removed from the bench.

Kent entered a federal prison medical facility in Ayer, Mass., on Monday to begin a 33-month felony sentence on one count of obstruction of justice following a plea bargain that dropped five other charges.


Earlier coverage begins with this post.