What a Trump impeachment trial might look like and how it works
MUCH REMAINS UNKNOWN ABOUT HOW US HOUSE PROCESS WOULD PROCEED
As House Democrats quickly move forward with impeachment proceedings, the likelihood grows that US President Donald Trump will become the third president to face a Senate trial to determine whether he should be removed from office.
The examples of Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton, who were both acquitted, offer insight into the process that Trump would face. Still, much remains unknown about how a trial would proceed, including what the charges would be. It’s also unknown whether witnesses would be called and whether parts of the proceedings would be conducted behind closed doors. A look at what’s known about the impeachment trial:
IMPEACHMENT IN HOUSE
Formal articles of impeachment probably would be developed and approved by the House Judiciary Committee and then sent on to the full, Democraticled House for a vote.
Not all proposed articles are certain to be adopted, even if Democrats control the process. The Republican-led House approved two and rejected two for Clinton.
If impeachment articles are adopted, the House will appoint members to serve as managers who will prosecute the case in the Senate. For Clinton’s trial, Republicans on the House Judiciary
Committee made the case against the president. One House manager was Lindsey Graham, now a senator from South Carolina.
It’s not clear whom Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Democrat, California, would appoint as managers, but one lawmaker who’s not on the Judiciary Committee seems a good bet: Adam Schiff of California, a former prosecutor who has been leading the impeachment inquiry as House Intelligence Committee chairman. After impeachment articles are read, Chief Justice John Roberts would be sworn in to preside over the trial. Roberts in turn would swear in the 100 senators.
The Senate has rules for impeachment trials, but some key questions, such as the length of the proceeding, are likely to be decided in negotiations between Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Republican, Kentucky and Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader. McConnell noted recently that their predecessors as leaders, Republican Trent Lott and Democrat Tom Daschle, hammered out agreements for Clinton’s impeachment trial.
One important issue to be resolved is who, if anyone, will be called as witnesses.
In Clinton’s trial, the House Republican managers sought to call witnesses. Democrats strenuously objected that this would drag out the trial. In the end, there were only three witnesses and no live testimony in the Senate:
HOW WILL TRIAL WORK?
In some respects, a Senate impeachment trial resembles a typical courtroom proceeding with a judge presiding and an unusually large jury of 100 senators. But there are important differences.
For one, it takes a vote of twothirds of those present (67 out of 100 if everyone is there) to convict and remove the president from office. For another, while senators are jurors, they also set the rules for the trial, may ask questions and can be witnesses.
While courtroom jurors are screened for possible biases, voters already have selected the jury in elections that gave Republicans a Senate majority, with 53 seats. The GOP could insist on rules benefiting Trump, including limiting witnesses against him, though it would take just three Republicans to foil a partyline effort. Even if all Democrats vote to convict Trump, the Democratic House managers still need to win over more than one-third of Republican senators for a conviction — a formidable task.
By comparison, in the Clinton trial, Republican managers couldn’t win over a single Democrat and several Republicans voted to acquit.
COULD TRUMP TAKE PART?
Yes, but that would be unprecedented. Senate rules call on the person impeached, or a representative, to answer the charges. The Senate will determine the length of the trial. In theory, it could be cut off almost at the outset if a majority of the Senate votes to dismiss the charges. Clinton’s trial began on January 7, 1999.
Three weeks after the trial began, senators agreed that they would hold a final vote no later than February 12.