Hundreds of attorneys from across the legal profession on Tuesday published a letter calling on the Senate to conduct a fair and impartial trial of President Trump Donald John TrumpBarr criticizes DOJ in speech declaring all agency power 'is invested in the attorney general' Military leaders asked about using heat ray on protesters outside White House: report Powell warns failure to reach COVID-19 deal could 'scar and damage' economy MORE once the upper chamber receives the House-passed articles of impeachment.

The more than 280 signatories of the open letter comprise two dozen academics including Harvard law professor and outspoken Trump critic Laurence Tribe, a former Massachusetts attorney general, and former judges, prosecutors and managing partners of prominent law firms from across the country.

The missive came in response to a statement last month by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell Addison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellSenate Republicans signal openness to working with Biden Hillicon Valley: DOJ indicts Chinese, Malaysian hackers accused of targeting over 100 organizations | GOP senators raise concerns over Oracle-TikTok deal | QAnon awareness jumps in new poll The Hill's Campaign Report: Biden asks if public can trust vaccine from Trump ahead of Election Day | Oklahoma health officials raised red flags before Trump rally MORE (R-Ky.) declaring that he would not be not be an impartial juror because the Senate trial was a political process.

ADVERTISEMENT

“Just because the Constitution commits the impeachment process to a ‘political’ branch of government and senators may legitimately promote their partisan self-interest as part of the legislative process, does not mean they are permitted to do so when serving as judges and jurors in an impeachment trial,” the lawyers wrote.

“To the contrary,” the letter continued, “they have a duty to serve in a quasi-judicial capacity.”

House Democrats last month impeached Trump for abuse of power related to his Ukraine dealings and obstruction of Congress, but House leaders delayed sending the two articles to the Senate as talks broke down over the terms of Trump’s trial. Trump is expected to be acquitted by the Republican-controlled Senate, where a two-thirds vote is required for a conviction.