Trump's second impeachment trial to begin week of February 8
The first arguments in favor of the impeachment of Donald Trump, who is accused of "inciting an insurgency", are expected to be heard by the United States Senate in the week of February 8.
Senate Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer made the announcement on Friday after talks with Republican Upper House Leader Mitch McConnell.
According to the agreed timetable, the indictment will be sent to the Senate next Monday evening. Senators will be sworn in the next day. Both parties will then have time to prepare for the trial.
On February 2, the former president will have to present his response to the indictment, while the representatives will have to reveal the evidence they intend to raise.
Next will be the turn of Mr. Trump's lawyers on February 8. The same day, the House of Representatives will have to present its reply to the former president's response.
And on February 9, the opening pleadings will begin.
The trial is therefore postponed by at least two weeks, which should give the upper house time to confirm the appointments of Joe Biden within his administration. An argument that Mitch McConnell had mentioned in order to delay the start of the debates. The Republican had thus argued that it was in the interests of the Biden administration to wait.
The indictment by the House has been faster and more minimalist than ever. The next step cannot be an insufficient trial in the Senate, he insisted, pleading for the trial not to begin before mid-February.
"The Republicans wanted to make sure that the next steps taken by the Senate were done with respect for the rights of former President Trump, this institution that is the Senate and the office of the President. Our goal was met. . "
Joe Biden, who has repeatedly indicated that the terms of the trial are in the hands of Congress, reacted on Friday to the consensus reached by both camps. The more time we have to prepare, the better, he told reporters.
Earlier today, the head of the House of Representatives, Democrat Nancy Pelosi, had indicated that the nine prosecutors from the Democratic camp were ready to defend their case before the 100 senators who will serve as judges during the trial.
These prosecutors, who are in reality elected House Democrats led by Jamie Raskin, will therefore cross the halls of Congress on Monday to bring the indictment into the Senate Chamber, where they will read it to senators.
Democrats have said they are determined to complete this trial quickly, saying it may not even be necessary to call people to testify, as prosecutors themselves witnessed the attempted insurgency on Capitol Hill.
One of the prosecutors, California Representative Ted Lieu, said on Friday that Democrats would have preferred to focus their energies on passing new laws. But we cannot ignore what happened on January 6, he said.
Donald Trump is accused of having encouraged his supporters to launch an assault on the Capitol, when the elected representatives of Congress certified the victory of his Democratic rival in the presidential election.
You will never take back our country by being weak. You have to show strength and you have to be strong, he told his supporters moments before they invaded the Capitol. Five people died in this attack.
Butch Bowers vs. Democrats
The former US president has chosen lawyer Butch Bowers to ensure his defense. A specialist in electoral process and ethics, Mr. Bowers is a known figure in Republican circles.
Dealing with a file of this magnitude will be a first in his career.
During his first impeachment trial, Mr. Trump surrounded himself with a host of lawyers, including Alan Dershowitz, Kenneth Starr and Jay Sekulow, who represented him in the Russia inquiry.
According to the latter, Butch Bowers can count on years of experience during which he represented many elected officials and political figures in the turmoil.
Among the causes he has championed is that of former South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, who escaped impeachment proceedings.
He is an excellent lawyer with an excellent reputation who understands law and politics, Sekulow assured Friday.
Donald Trump became the first president in U.S. history to be indicted twice by the House of Representatives.
The first of these trials was launched in late 2019, after Mr. Trump was accused of asking Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden's son. The Senate, controlled by the Republicans, had quickly acquitted him.
This time, Republican elected officials were very critical of Donald Trump. Even Mitch McConnell, who had been one of his strongest allies during his presidency, said he did not rule out finding him guilty.
According to the rules stipulated in the Constitution, a threshold of two-thirds of the votes is required for a president to be convicted. It would therefore be necessary that 17 Republican senators rally to the 50 Democrats for this majority to be reached.
If the Senate were to find Donald Trump guilty, he could not be removed from office, but he would then become ineligible for the post of President of the United States; a cloud that would darken his potential project to seek the nomination of the White House once again, in the presidential election of 2024.
