A petition sent by former President Donald Trump’s legal team to defend him from charges of “inciting insurrection” in his Senate impeachment trial states that he still considers himself president, a statement that potentially puts Senate Republicans in a complicated situation, forcing them to contradict Trump or contradict his own claims that he is a former president and therefore undisputed.
The quote
Speaking on MSNBC, political commentator Rachel Maddow said Tuesday night:
“The president’s defense briefing actually argued the Trump line that Joe Biden may not have been legitimately elected president. The entire briefing, for example, never described Donald Trump as the former president or the former … The briefing argues that the election results that eliminated Trump and Biden, he argues that those results are, and I quote, ‘suspect.’ It is argued that when President Trump told his supporters on the day of the attack that he had really won the election with an overwhelming victory, they argued in their report today that there is no evidence to say that this is false. “
Why does it matter
Trump’s defense partly states that he cannot be convicted of inciting an uprising on January 6 because, the report says, he was just stating his belief that he won the election in a landslide – although more than 60 lawsuits making similar claims have the majority been expelled from the courts for lack of evidence.
As such, Trump’s defense potentially puts Senate Republicans in an awkward position.
On January 27, 45 Senate Republicans voted to declare the impeachment trial unconstitutional because, they said, you cannot impeach a former president. However, since Trump says he is still president, that means he believes he can still be impeached, contradicting the 45 Senate Republicans who said otherwise.
If Senate Republicans claim that Trump is not the rightful president, it would directly contradict Trump and undermine a fundamental part of his legal defense. It would also leave Republicans subject to possible harassment and death threats from some Trump supporters, who also believe he won the election and that top Republicans did not do enough to help him stay in power.
The counterpoint
Regardless of Trump’s legal defense, there are not enough votes in the Senate to challenge him in the upper house. For the impeachment to take place, 17 Senate Republicans would need to cross party lines and vote with Democrats to condemn him, but only five Senate Republicans voted to carry out the trial to begin.
While the impeachment trial may still damage the public image of Republicans – especially if rebels are called to testify and blame Trump’s words for inciting them to rebellion – he is unlikely to be convicted.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said calling witnesses “will open a can of worms”, causing the trial to go on for months, while senators question FBI agents about the numerous organizers behind the “Stop” rally the Steal “on January 6, where Trump made his comments.
However, Graham’s statement may be just a warning to Democrats: the longer the Senate gets stuck on impeachment issues, the less time it will take to confirm President Biden’s political nominations or to consider legislation to promote Biden’s agenda.
Mark Wilson / Getty