Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff.Photo: Michael Brochstein/SOPA Images/Shutterstock
Second GentlemanDoug Emhoffargued a case this week beforeretiring Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer— defending a client accused of defamation in a wild scheme to sabotage a wedding.
The scandalous matter was not before the U.S. Supreme Court, however, but rather Italy’sCorte Suprema di Cassazione.
Emhoff, a former entertainment lawyer, and Breyer took the stage on Monday at Sidney Harman Hall for a mock trial based on William Shakespeare’s playMuch Ado About Nothing.
“A Hero Defamed? Much Ado About Margaret” was the latest edition ofShakespeare Theatre Company’s seriesthat “explores the connection of classical theatre and modern-day law” and enlists the talents of prominent Washington, D.C., players for a night of courtroom comedy.
“My parents tonight are watching the livestream,” Emhoff, 57 said as his wife, Vice PresidentKamala Harris, watched in the audience. “I might have told them that I was arguing in front of the United States Supreme Court so, cameraperson, can you just keep a very tight shot?”
From left: Kamala Harris, husband Doug Emhoff and Joe Biden.Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call
Originally planned in March, the trial was postponed because ofEmhoff coming down with COVID-19.
“I thank your honors for granting my motion for a continuance due to plague,” Emhoff said from a lectern on the stage,according toThe Guardian’s coverage of the event. “The White House apothecary told me my symptoms would be wild but — whew!”
As the trial began, Emhoff joked about howhis world has changedin the past few years. “I haven’t been in court for a few years, so excuse me if I’m a bit rusty,” he said. “You know, not too much has changed in my life — except for the Secret Service, Air Force Two, the selfies, the cameras following me everywhere, and oh: My wife is the vice president of the United States.”
“Hero, the daughter of Messina’s governor, after discovering the plot to stain her reputation and subvert her marriage to Claudio, the count from Florence, sues Don John, his follower Borachio, and Hero’s former attendant Margaret,” reads the case scenario.
Justice Stephen Breyer.ERIN SCHAFF/POOL/AFP via Getty
In defending his client, Emhoff argued Margaret was merely “an unwitting pawn of the real villain, Don Jr. — I mean, Don John,” inserting a joke about former PresidentDonald Trump’s eldest son.
U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who sat on the panel alongside Breyer, referring to characters inMuch Ado About Nothing, raised a point to Emhoff about a man who worries about marrying “somebody who’s really pretty and is really smart and witty” because “she could turn out to be the one who is better known and more prominent than he is.”
In his response, Emhoff quipped, “As I say, your honor, I used to be somebody,” which prompted laughs from the audience.
Though the trial ended with a unanimous decision against Emhoff’s client — “Not completely!” Breyer joked, “but pretty much” — Harris appeared proud of her husband when she joined him on stage after the show for a hug.
source: people.com
