The following is the text of a 'Letter to the Editor'
in the November 18, 2019 issue of the Daily Press
newspaper --- in southeast Virginia --- titled:

Explaining Impeachment

The author [of a previous Letter to the Editor]
says the President should have a right to face
his accuser and present exculpatory evidence.

Under our law, a grand jury hears a potential
case in order to decide if the prosecution,
and the prosecution alone, has sufficient
evidence to warrant a trial.

The defendant has no lawyer present in that phase,
cannot present evidence, and cannot meet his accuser.

In impeachment, the House of Representatives acts
as a grand jury.

This is usually done in a closed session.

Only after the grand jury has determined that
the prosecution's case is sufficient to
warrant a trial do you get to the trial.

Then, and only then, the accused can present
his evidence and face his accuser.

The trial is carried out in public. The trial part
in impeachment is carried out by the Senate
after the House has acted.

The procedure [in the House in 2019 November]
is going on just as the law requires ---
grand jury first and then trial, the
defendant's rights available only in the
trial phase.

D.B., Portsmouth, Virginia