chief justice playing a bigger role here. right now by most people s understanding this ball is really in the court of senate majority leader mitch mcconnell. with consultation with chuck schumer he ll set the rules for this. but what is the argument you re making, what is the role chief justice john roberts can play here and what should he play? it s one of the only explicit rules given to the chief justice by the constitution, to preside over an impeachment trial in the senate to remove the president. and ceremoniously this role has been played in the past in sort of a removed way. if you remember chief justice rehnquist during the clinton impeachment trial, he was really kind of hands-off. he was most notable for wearing a robe that riffed off gilbert and sullivan s ioanthe and had four gold stripes on either sleeve. but in fact there is a more muscular role that can be played by the chief justice in this instance. of course majority leader mcconnell will set the rules, but we re