The Precedent of the United States: an Impeachment RP [OOC]

[Vienna Eliot]

2019

Things went to shit really quickly.

Democrats won both chambers of Congress in November, 2018. Trump fired Robert Mueller, but Mueller refused to step down. He and his team met in the cafeteria at the Justice Department for a few days, then when they got kicked out they started meeting in a room in a hotel down the street from the White House. Of course the DoJ wouldn't accept any charges against the President, but that didn't matter. Mueller submitted a report to Congress, and the House impeached Trump on the second week of its session.

The Senate has scheduled the impeachment trial five weeks away. This, of course, has left everyone asking: is the precedent of the United States about to change? The President delivers his State of the Union Address tomorrow. Perhaps he will have an answer.

---

Your Role
You can apply to play any character: case managers prosecuting the President, defense counsel, reporters, the Chief Justice, President Trump, and mostly everyone else is fair game. The one thing I ask is that you do not apply to be a Senator — that would put a vote in your hands, while the final result is not really the point of the roleplay.

The Roleplay
This is a character-driven roleplay, and it will largely follow a two-stage structure: pretrial and trial. Pretrial will consist namely of preparation for the case, while the trial will involve each side arguing its case, and a short time after the trial, the Senate will deliberate before voting. The RP isn't all law-and-order-and-arguing, though, and I'm asking you to bring well-developed characters to the table who can exist outside of their work routines.

Rules
1. OP Rights. I reserve the right, as OP, to control this roleplay in order to make it better for everyone participating. That includes enforcing these rules.
2. Real Life Characters. Characters can be completely fictional. They don't have to be. However, I will hold real life characters to high standards of mirroring their real-life personalities. This is especially true of the President, with his very distinctive personality — but don't let this restrict the internal conflicts and thought processes your characters face and feel.
3. Posting Frequency. Post regularly. If you can't, let everyone know.
4. Cheating. Please don't cheat: this means no substantively editing posts after you make them, no godmodding, no metagaming, and no looking things up when your character is in a situation that they wouldn't be able to do the same.
5. Respect. Respect other players, respect the roleplay, and follow NS site rules.

Application
Credit where due to the NSG Senate.

Code: Select all

[box][size=120][b]*FULL NAME*[/b][/size] - *POLITICAL PARTY/INDEPENDENT* [floatright][img]*ADD PICTURE NO BIGGER THAN 350x350px HERE*[/img][/floatright]
[b]Account Name:[/b] *ADD NS ACCOUNT NAME HERE*
[b]Occupation:[/b] Senator/Staffer/Journalist/
[b]Political Ideology:[/b] *ADD IDEOLOGY HERE*

[b]Family:[/b] *ADD SPOUSE/CHILDREN HERE*
[b]Background:[/b] *ADD BACKGROUND HERE*
[b]Faith:[/b] *ADD FAITH HERE*

[b]Strengths:[/b] *ADD STRENGTHS HERE*
[b]Weaknesses:[/b] *ADD WEAKNESSES HERE*

[b]Miscellaneous[/b]
[list][/list][/box]

Beta Test
Donald J. Trump, President of the United States

Collatis
Merrick Garland, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court

Greater Confederacy of Commonwealth States
Richard LeClerc, Defense Counsel to the President of the United States

[Shogunate of the Uzumaki Empire]

Tag!

[Great Confederacy of Commonwealth States]

Very interesting!

[Lykens]

tag

- Independent

[img]*ADD%20PICTURE%20NO%20BIGGER%20THAN%20350x350px%20HERE*[/img]

Account Name: Lykens
Occupation: chief justice of the united states supreme court
Political Ideology: Moderate

Family: *ADD SPOUSE/CHILDREN HERE*
Background: *ADD BACKGROUND HERE*
Faith: *ADD FAITH HERE*

Strengths: *ADD STRENGTHS HERE*
Weaknesses: *ADD WEAKNESSES HERE*

Miscellaneous

[Beta Test]

Donald J. Trump - Republican

Account Name: Beta Test
Occupation: 45th President of the United States
Political Ideology: Making America Great Again

Family: Wife- Melania, children- Ivanka, Don Jr, Eric, Barron and that other one
Background: Born in 1946, Donald J. Trump is the modern American success story. After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania's WHARTON SCHOOL OF FINANCE, Trump received a small loan of a million dollars from his burgeoning Queens father, which set him off on his journey to creating an unprecedented property empire. No one knows New York like Trump folks, believe me, it's spectacular.

Owning the best, the classiest and the most beautiful TRUMP branded hotels and casinos all around the world, Trump has established himself as THE person to be in America. No one can compete with these levels of winning, no one. After starring in his magnificent fantastic show The Apprentice, Trump decided after watching Fox and Friends that only he could stop the sad pathetic state this country was in. America's leaders were so stupid, the deals they were making were so bad. Trump is great at deals, the best. So, on the 16th of June 2015, Trump announced his campaign to Make America Great Again to the world.

After beating Crooked Hillary in the 2016 presidential election, Trump has served as President of the United States, on his quest to bring prosperity and restore this beautiful white eth- land of the free.
Faith: Protestant, Two Corinthians and what not

Strengths: Marketing/self-promotion (Twitter, campaign rallies, "debates", etc.), ability to distract media, ability to develop personality cult, large hands (trust me folks, there's no problem), all-round yugeness
Weaknesses: Understanding the laws of the United States

Miscellaneous

[Vienna Eliot]

Tag!

Very interesting!

Hope you both consider joining!

tag

- Independent

([url=*ADD%20PICTURE%20NO%20BIGGER%20THAN%20350x350px%20HERE*]Image[/url])

Account Name: Lykens
Occupation: chief justice of the united states supreme court
Political Ideology: Moderate

Family: *ADD SPOUSE/CHILDREN HERE*
Background: *ADD BACKGROUND HERE*
Faith: *ADD FAITH HERE*

Strengths: *ADD STRENGTHS HERE*
Weaknesses: *ADD WEAKNESSES HERE*

Miscellaneous

I assume this is a WIP.

Donald J. Trump

Accepted, because I am familiar with your roleplaying capabilities and your sometimes concerning fascination with Trump.

I will update the OP with a character roster.

[Collatis]

Merrick Garland - Democrat

Account Name: Collatis
Occupation: Chief Justice of the Supreme Court
Political Ideology: Liberalism, the Living Constitution

Family: Lynn Rosenman (wife)
Background: Merrick Garland was born in Chicago, Illinois to Jewish parents on November 13, 1952. Merrick excelled early in life, graduating from his high school valedictorian and gaining recognition as a National Merit Scholar. Merrick graduated from Harvard and served as a law clerk for Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan before landing a job with President Bill Clinton’s Justice Department. There, Merrick was involved in the Justice Department’s prosecution of the Oklahoma City bombing case.

President Clinton won praise from the American Bar Association when he nominated Merrick for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. Despite receiving widespread support for his unimpeachable qualifications, Merrick’s nomination was upended by Republican obstructionism, spearheaded by a young, but old for a turtle, Mitch McConnell. Merrick was eventually confirmed in 76–23 vote. Merrick quickly developed a reputation as one of the best Justices out there. SCOTUSblog praised Merrick, saying that “[his] record demonstrates that he is essentially the model, neutral judge. He is acknowledged by all to be brilliant.”

In 2016, President Barack Hussein Obama nominated Merrick to fill the late Justice Antonin Scalia’s seat on the Supreme Court. Although Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (now wrinkly and even older for a turtle) announced his intention to block Merrick’s ambitions once again, these plans were upended when McConnell suddenly died thanks to an untreated snapping turtle bite (the location of the bite was not specified) and half the Republican caucus was arrested for complicity in the murder of countless children. When Chief Justice John Roberts decided to step down in order to spend more time with what remained of his soul, President Obama successfully nominated Merrick for Chief Justice. Despite opposition from the remaining Senate Republicans led by Colorado Senator Neil Gorsuch, Garland was confirmed easily.
Faith: Conservative Judaism

Strengths: Collegiality, experience, intelligence, likability
Weaknesses: Boring, from Chicago

Miscellaneous

[Vienna Eliot]

Merrick Garland

Accepted, but I will have to retcon the part about the arrest of the Republican caucus.

[Revlona]

Isn't that a little unfair that the Republican Chief Justice is being forced to step down simply because the Democrats want the chief justice spot?

[Vienna Eliot]

Isn't that a little unfair that the Republican Chief Justice is being forced to step down simply because the Democrats want the chief justice spot?

It's a nonpartisan position in the context of the impeachment process.

[Great Confederacy of Commonwealth States]

Richard LeClerc – Independent

Account Name: Great Confederacy of Commonwealth States
Occupation: Defence lawyer
Political Ideology: Classical liberalism, an ideology that promotes the freedom of the individual from state oppression, and which puts a lot of value in the rule of law and the constitution

Family:
Dennis LeClerc-Martin, 37, husband.
Liza LeClerc, 10, daughter
Peter LeClerc, 9, son
Maria LeClerc-Bobbington, 66, mother (estranged)
Ben LeClerc, 65, father (estranged)
Petra Coalhill-LeClerc, 38, sister

Background: Richard LeClerc was born in 1979 to Maria and Ben LeClerc. Maria was a housewife, caring for the home and the child (children after Petra was born) while Ben was out working as a butcher in Morgantown, West Virginia. Little Richard really excelled at school, and was motivated all the way through. Despite often facing bullying, he never failed to arrive on time for his lessons. His parents, recognising their son’s aptitude in school, managed to get a scholarship for him. He went to a good high school, where he really came into his own. High school was a new beginning for him, and he decided to make the most of it. He joined the chess club, ran for school president, organised a gala or two… And he fell in love.

Now, falling in love was actually something he had to keep secret. Sure, he could tell his parents about the other events, and they came regularly to see him compete in chess tournaments, but his love he had to keep a secret. He had heard his father talk about the kind of relationship he was in, and it would not do him any good if he told his father. Charles, his boyfriend, had to keep it secret from his parents too, so at least they had something in common there.

Finally, during his second year in Yale, and after he had already gotten over Charles, he dared to tell his parents about the relationship, and that he was in love with one of his classmates. He was financially independent now, working for a deli at the campus, so whatever happened, he was prepared. And that had been a good call. His mother cried, his father shouted, there was a heated exchange. In the end, Richard went home with a bruise on his face, a broken heart, and disappointed parents who never wanted to see him again. He and his sister always kept in touch, and she visited him in secret, but it was never really the same after that. Their connection grew once she moved out on her own, especially after she moved in with her boyfriend. They were always welcoming of Richard, and they were very kind to Dennis, too, once he entered their lives. Richard still sent a gift for his parents’ birthdays every year, and a gift for their wedding anniversary, and for Christmas, and a postcard every once in a while, but there was never any response. His sister was unwilling to talk about it, either.

After getting his master’s degree, Richard was immediately attracted by a large firm in Washington DC. His grades were really good, and the firm was looking for some fresh talent. Overnight, Richard suddenly found himself making more money than he had ever made. He proposed to Dennis, who gladly accepted, and they married unofficially in the summer of 2004. In attendance was a small gathering of friends, with Richard’s parents being notably absent, although they were invited. No colleagues were there, since Richard feared discrimination. It wasn’t until 2015 that they could actually marry before the law. In the meantime, the two had built up a family. They had adopted two kids, Dennis was working as a pro deo legal aid, and Richard worked in a high position for the Washington law firm, getting experience in cases between the state and private citizens where the law was vague or unclear. This is what got him notoriety in the Washington scene.

This notoriety eventually landed his firm an invitation: to defend president Donald J. Trump in the impeachment case against him. There really weren’t a lot of firms ready to take up the case, and his own firm was ready to drop the invitation, but Richard insisted that they take it. Donald Trump was a private citizen, he figured, in need of protection against the power of the state. Despite his own political leanings, he accepted. This was helped by the fact that he was promised considerable pay, and even a large bonus if they won. Seeing how he wanted his kids to go to college one day, and how he wanted to help his parents get their home renovated for their old age, the pay really drew Richard over the line.

Ever since, Richard has been a part of the team of lawyers standing by the president’s side.
Faith: Protestant Christian

Strengths: A good legal mind, an understanding of the constitution, and Richard is well-known and respected by Washington politicians.
Weaknesses: Doesn’t like the Republican party all that much, and doesn’t care at all for politics. He just wants to do his job, and will only keep to the letter of the law in his defence. He doesn’t like his client, too, but the pay mends every wound. The fact that he has a husband is now public knowledge, however, and the Republicans might use that to discredit the investigation after the fact.

[Vienna Eliot]

Richard LeClerc

Excellent application — accepted.

I hope to open the IC thread by the end of this week. Apps will still stay open after that, but between now and that time I hope we can get a few more characters before we start the roleplay.