Watch CBS News

Turley defends interpreting the Founding Fathers: "I will speak for James Madison"

Congressman Doug Collins, the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, was taken aback by a response from Noah Feldman during Wednesday's impeachment hearing and appeared to imply that constitutional law experts should not interpret the Founding Fathers' words. "I think we just put in the jury pool the Founding Fathers and said what would they think? I don't think we have any idea what they would think," Collins said. "... To in some way insinuate … that the Founding Fathers would have found President Trump guilty is just simply malpractice." Jonathan Turley, a CBS News legal analyst and George Washington University law professor who was called by House Republicans, then defended his colleague's right to interpretation, jokingly replying, "First of all, only I will speak for James Madison. No, no, we all will speak for James Madison with about the same level of accuracy. It's a form of necromancy that academics do all the time."
View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.