Washington – The Senate voted to move forward with former President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial on Tuesday, with most senators determining that they have jurisdiction to put former presidents on trial in impeachment cases.
By a 56-44 vote, the Senate rejected the arguments of Trump’s lawyers, who said that holding an impeachment trial on a former president is unconstitutional.
Six Republicans joined all 50 Democratic senators in the vote to advance the trial. But the vote also served as an indication of Trump’s eventual acquittal, as 17 Republican senators would need to vote with Democrats to condemn him. Senator Bill Cassidy joined five other Republican senators who had previously voted that the trial is constitutional.
Mr. Trump faces an impeachment article for “inciting insurrection” for his conduct that led to the January 6 attack on the Capitol. The House charged Trump on January 13, when he was still in office. The Constitution is silent on the question of whether former employees can be impeached and face trial in the Senate.
The first day of the process was devoted to the question of whether the Senate has jurisdiction to try the former president. Trump’s lawyers and the House’s impeachment managers had two hours each to present their cases to senators.
House managers argued that a refusal to carry out the impeachment trial would establish a “January exception”, in which presidents who step down could avoid responsibility for actions in the final weeks of their terms.
Democratic managers opened proceedings with a dramatic video timeline of the events on January 6, showing hundreds of Trump supporters storming the Capitol to interrupt the counting of electoral votes. The footage was juxtaposed with Trump’s speech to supporters earlier in the day, when he urged his followers to “fight like hell”.
“You ask how high the crime and misdemeanor is under our Constitution. This is a high crime and misdemeanor,” said Representative Jamie Raskin, the principal impeachment manager, when the assembly was completed. “If this is not an impeachable offense, then there is no such thing.”
The president’s attorneys, for their part, argued that the Senate has no authority to carry out an impeachment trial for former employees in the simple language of the constitution.
David Schoen, one of the ex-president’s lawyers, called the constitutional theory put forward by impeachment administrators “radical” and “unprecedented”, and warned that its adoption would make future elected officials vulnerable to impeachment long after they leave the country. office.
“They are willing to sacrifice our national character to promote their hatred and their fear that one day they may not be the ruling party,” he said.
The trial will resume on Wednesday, when Democratic leaders will have eight hours to present the Trump conviction case. Both sides will have two days to present their arguments before the Senate considers possible witnesses before the final vote. Senators will meet every day until a verdict is reached.