Trump: impeachment in the Senate, trial in February
He is the first president in American history to be formally impeached twice in one term
For the second time in less than a year, the US Democrats have presented the Senate with an impeachment charge against Donald Trump, thus activating a new political process, this time for "inciting insurrection", for the assault on Congress on 6 January. Trump is the first president in American history to have been formally impeached twice in one term. It will also be the first time in the history of a Senate trial against a former president.
In the five-page article sent to the Senate by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Trump, defined as a "threat to democracy and the Constitution", is accused of having "endangered the security of the United States and its institutions". of having "threatened the integrity of the democratic system by inciting violence against the US government" and of having "hindered a peaceful transition of powers". The trial in the Senate, at the request of the Republican leader in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, will begin on February 8 and Trump will thus have time to prepare his defense, while the upper house will be able to confirm the government appointments of the president, Joe Biden.
The trial will not be presided by Chief Justice of the Supreme Court John Roberts, but by the pro tempore President of the Upper House, Patrick Leahy. The 9 impeachment managers, the members of Congress who will act as prosecutors, appeared in the Senate and one of them Jamie Raskin, read the entire indictment against Trump, approved by the House on January 13, a week after the assault. A conviction would result in inhibition from politics, which would prevent Trump from running for election in 2024.
Trump's political future is, therefore, in the hands of his party's 50 senators, who could find in the sentence a way to get rid of the tycoon, or interpret it as a punishment from the Republican base. A conviction requires a two-thirds majority (at least 67 votes), a number that seems unlikely at the moment. Trump's impeachment trial "I think it needs to be done," Biden commented in a brief interview with CNN. Biden acknowledged that impeachment could have effects on the implementation of his legislative agenda and on the confirmation in the Senate of his candidates for the government, but - he stressed - it would have "a worse effect if not done".
The president, however, does not believe in the favorable vote of 17 Republicans: "" The Senate has changed since I was here, but not much has changed, "he said. According to the New York Times, 27 Republicans have already said they will support Trump. while 16 will decide during the trial and 7 others have not expressed an opinion.One of those who have left the door open to sentencing is McConnell.
In recent days, many Republicans have lowered their tone towards Trump. In the January 13 vote in the House, 10 Republicans (including No. 3, Liz Cheney) joined the Democratic majority to pass the impeachment. Democrats who will act as prosecutors have not yet revealed what their impeachment strategy will be, although local media have pointed out that they will speak firsthand about their personal experience. Trump supporters stormed Capitol Hill after a speech by the president allegedly "provoked an insurrection".
The heavy toll was five dead, including a police officer. The impeachment article also mentions the "false" allegations of "rigged elections that should not have been accepted and certified", for which the former president never acknowledged defeat. Trump has meanwhile opened a new office in Florida, in Palm Beach, where he has resided since he left the White House, which will handle his communication.
The "Office of the former president", which after the assault on Congress was banned from Twitter and other social media platforms, will be responsible for disseminating press releases, administering your correspondence and participating in public events. The name given to the office seems to exclude a new candidacy by Trump for the presidency in 2024, as anticipated to the AGI by his friend Christopher Ruddy, patron of Newsmax.
In the first impeachment trial, the Senate acquitted Trump in February 2020, accused of putting pressure on the Ukrainian government to investigate the current president, Joe Biden, for alleged corruption. On that occasion only one Republican, Mitt Romney, voted against the president.
