Sen. Patrick Leahy rushed to hospital with mystery illness just HOURS after he's sworn in to oversee Trump impeachment

THE DEMOCRATIC Senator who will oversee Donald Trump's impeachment trial was rushed to a hospital on Tuesday night with a mystery illness.

Patrick Leahy, a senator from Vermont and president pro tempore of the Senate, was struck down just hours after he was sworn in to preside over the impeachment.


Leahy, 80, was released late on Tuesday – with his wife reportedly saying he could be back at work on Wednesday.

Marcelle Pomerleau, Leahy's wife, is a nurse who told Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin that "things are going well, so we've all got our fingers crossed that he'll be back tomorrow," Durbin told CNN.

But earlier that day, news of his hospitalization had sparked questions on who would preside over Trump's impeachment trial.

A spokesman for Leahy said the Senator was feeling unwell and was later examined by a Capitol physician who recommended he be taken to the hospital for observation.

"This evening, Senator Leahy was in his Capitol office and was not feeling well," spokesman David Carle said.


"He was examined in the Capitol by the Attending Physician," Carle continued.

"Out of an abundance of caution, the Attending Physician recommended that he be taken to a local hospital for observation," Carle added, "where he is now, and where he is being evaluated."

Leahy was sitting in the Senate chair and swearing in colleagues as impeachment jurors just hours before his hospitalization.

He will also be the first president pro tempore – or the elected president of the Senate when the vice president is not in session – to preside over an impeachment trial.

The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court has presided over other impeachment trials – but Justice John Roberts reportedly declined doing so given Trump has already left office.

"The president pro tempore has historically presided over Senate impeachment trials of non-presidents," Leahy said on Monday.

"When presiding over an impeachment trial, the president pro tempore takes an additional special oath to do impartial justice according to the Constitution and the laws," he continued. "It is an oath that I take extraordinarily seriously." 

The Constitution states the Chief Justice must preside over the impeachment trial of a president, but since Trump's historic impeachment comes after he left office, the justice need not preside.

Roberts said he did not want to preside over Trump's second impeachment after presiding over the first, and instead, Leahy has stepped into his place.


Leahy is also the third in line in order of presidential succession after Vice President Kamala Harris and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

The Vermont Senator famously doubles as a Batman extra, having appeared in five different Batman movies and even had a speaking role opposite Heath Ledger's The Joker in The Dark Knight.

The House fast tracked the impeachment of the former president after they accused Trump of "inciting an insurrection" following his speech during thefailed coup attempt on January 6.

House Democrats accuse the former president of spurring his supporters to storm the Capitol complex, telling them to "fight like hell" over Joe Biden's election win.

After Democrats walked the article of impeachment to the Senate on Monday, Senate Republicans have said they were planning on killing the article upon arrival.

Republican Senator Rand Paul tried to kill the impeachment trial by arguing Leahy was presiding rather than Roberts.

'The Chief Justice's absence demonstrate that this is not a trial of the president, but one of private citizen," Paul said.

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"Therefore I make a point of order that this proceeding, which would try a private citizen and not a president, a vice president or civil officer violates the Constitution, and is not an order."

The Senate blocked his claims.

The impeachment trial will start on February 8 in order to give Trump's legal team some time to prepare his case for trial.

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