During the proceedings, senators frequently asked Claiborne how his taxes were prepared and how much he knew about tax law, noting that he ruled as a judge in tax cases. Sen. Warner and Nicholas Chabraja, special House counsel for the Claiborne trial, read many of Claiborne's opinions involving tax cases and indicated skepticism of Claiborne's claims that he did not know much about tax law. But Claiborne noted when he was in private practice, he never handled tax cases and never filled out his own returns. He also countered that although some of the cases he presided over as a judge may have had tax issues, they generally rested on other legal principles.