Trump impeachment
Former US president’s trial in the Senate set to start within days
DONALD TRUMP’S impeachment trial could begin early next week after Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic House Speaker, vowed to send an article of impeachment charging the former president with “incitement of insurrection” to the Senate on Monday.
It sets on course the second Senate trial for Mr Trump, the only US president to have been impeached twice, and the first to face trial after leaving office.
The decision by Democrats to transmit the article from the House of Representatives effectively rejects a request from Republicans to delay the start of proceedings to give Mr Trump time to prepare his defence.
Chuck Schumer, the Democratic Senate leader, declined to give a timetable for the proceedings but the chamber’s rules dictate that the trial must begin very soon after the article of impeachment arrives.
“There will be a trial,” Mr Schumer said. “It will be a full trial, it will be a fair trial.”
Mr Schumer and his Republican counterpart, Mitch McConnell, have been negotiating the parameters for the trial for days.
Democrats have proposed splitting the Senate’s day between hearings to confirm Joe Biden’s cabinet appointments and the impeachment trial in order to allow the new president to push ahead with his bold agenda for his first 100 days in office.
Mr McConnell had asked to delay a trial until mid-February so that Mr Trump would have time to select a legal team and determine his response to the charges.
But Ms Pelosi pushed back on the request as she announced the decision to transmit the articles, saying: “We are respectful of the Senate’s constitutional power over the trial and always attentive to the fairness of the process, noting that the former president will have had the same amount of time to prepare for trial as our managers.”
The looming impeachment trial will be a source of frustration for Mr Biden’s administration, with several key cabinet posts yet to be confirmed by the Senate.
Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, declined to be drawn on Mr Biden’s views on the proceedings yesterday, saying the president “believes the Senate should determine how to hold the former president accountable.”
The trial will be carried out with Democratic impeachment managers from the House serving as prosecutors and Mr Trump’s lawyers delivering his defence.
All 100 senators will serve as the jury and will vote to convict or acquit Mr Trump at the trial’s conclusion.
Senators could still come to an agreement to allow extra time for pre-trial written briefs to delay the start of the trial.
But short of an agreement to push back the proceedings, the trial will begin in earnest on Wednesday.
If Mr Trump is convicted, the Senate could vote to bar him from holding public office again, effectively ruling out a second run for the White House in 2024.
Senate Republicans are arguing in Mr Trump’s defence that it is pointless, and potentially even unconstitutional, to try a president after he has left office.
But Democrats say they have to hold Mr Trump to account because of the gravity of what took place – a violent attack on the US Congress aimed at overturning an election.
Mr Trump, who told his supporters to “fight like hell” just before they invaded the Capitol two weeks ago and interrupted the electoral vote count, is still assembling his legal team.
Democrats say they can move quickly through the trial, potentially with no witnesses, because lawmakers witnessed the insurrection first-hand.
Democrats would need the support of at least 17 Republicans to convict Mr Trump, a high bar. While most Republican senators condemned Mr Trump’s actions that day, far fewer appear to be ready to convict.
A handful of Senate Republicans have indicated they are open – but not committed – to conviction.
But most have come to Mr Trump’s defence as it relates to impeachment, saying they believe a trial will be divisive and questioning the legality of trying a president after he has left office.
South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, a close Trump ally who has been helping him find lawyers to represent him, said on Friday there was “a very compelling constitutional case” on whether Mr Trump can be impeached after his term – an assertion that Democrats reject, saying there is ample legal precedent. (© Telegraph Media Group Ltd 2021)