“Today brought closure to the long controversy over my actions as a federal district judge. I am deeply saddened to be removed from office but I felt it was important not just to me but to the judiciary to take this fight to the Senate. I am deeply grateful to those Senators who voted against the articles. While I still believe these allegations did not rise to the level of impeachable offenses as a constitutional matter, I understand how people of good-faith could disagree.
I am also thankful for the kind words of Senator Hatch in his final statement. Throughout this process, he was always kind and fair to me and my legal team. Finally, I wish to think my legal team of Professor Jonathan Turley and the Bryan Cave attorneys Dan Schwartz, P.J. Meitl, Dan O’Connor, Keith Aurzada, Brian Walsh, Ian Barlow, Sergey Basyuk, and Brad Currier and the other lawyers who fought so hard and so long for my acquittal. The one thing that everyone agreed about was that this was the best argued impeachment case in many decades.
I will now be returning to Louisiana and my family. My family has been a constant and vital source of support throughout this ordeal. I have previously apologized for the mistakes that I committed in this case. I never disputed many of the underlying facts and I previously accepted punishment in the Fifth Circuit. While I disagree with the decision of the Senate, I must now accept that judgment.”
G. Thomas Porteous, Jr.