Trump impeachment trial – a bizarre case taking place at the crime scene

• Trump’s impeachment trial is taking place at the crime scene: the United States Capitol.
• Prosecutors and jurors of the trial were also witnesses and victims.
• The whole situation is bizarre and a worrying reflection of how the United States’ democracy has deteriorated.
• Visit the Insider Business section for more stories.

In a normal criminal trial, it would be unthinkable for witnesses to the crime in question to serve as prosecutors or jurors.

But that’s exactly what is happening with former President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial for his incitement to a violent uprising on January 6, a crime scene trial: the United States Capitol. The circumstances of the trial are bizarre on several levels.

“This is an extraordinarily unique situation, where jurors are witnesses and victims, and the crime scene is also the court,” the House’s impeachment manager, Rep. Eric Swalwell, of California, told CNN in late January.

Senators must serve as impartial jurors during an impeachment trial – they will decide whether to condemn Trump. It is difficult to see how they can be really impartial in the context of this trial, as it is an event in which their lives were threatened.

An unpublished video shown by impeachment managers on Wednesday revealed how close the crowd got to lawmakers during the riot. A clip showed Capitol police officer Eugene Goodman rescuing Republican Senator Mitt Romney of Utah from the rebels, urging him to turn around and stay safe.

Congressional Democrats also portrayed the Sens. Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz, who opposed the certification of President Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory on January 6, as co-conspirators in the attack on the Capitol.

Cruz and Hawley’s futile endorsement of Trump’s effort to overturn the 2020 election helped amplify the former president’s baseless allegations of mass electoral fraud, which were at the heart of what caused the insurrection. Protesters who were indicted said they believed they were acting under Trump’s orders and believed the lie that the election was stolen.

Despite their actions on January 6, which were widely criticized, Cruz and Hawley are also serving as jurors. Like many Trump Republican allies, like Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who made it clear that she will not vote to condemn. “The vote for ‘Not Guilty’ is growing after today,” Graham tweeted on Wednesday. In fact, Republicans are openly evading their pledge to serve as impartial judges. As Insider senior political reporter Eliza Relman reported, the way Senate Republicans are acting during these procedures would likely lead to the removal of the jury in any other trial.

And despite the overwhelming evidence against Trump and his obvious role in inciting the violent uprising on January 6 through his speech that day and a broader effort to annul the election, his absolution seems virtually guaranteed. Democrats need a two-thirds majority to condemn Trump, which would require 17 Republican senators to join them. At the moment, the likelihood of this occurring appears small.

“The outcome of this trial is predestined,” Cruz said earlier this week, according to the Washington Post. “President Trump will be acquitted. I think the trial is a waste of time and is the result of a seething party rage on the part of Democrats in Congress.” Both Cruz and Hawley are believed to have ambitions to run for president in 2024, and critics say their behavior is motivated by a desire to conquer the Trump base.

The House’s impeachment managers, who effectively serve as prosecutors at the trial, were also victims and witnesses of the Capitol attack.

Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland, who is leading Trump’s charge, was thrilled on the first day of the trial as he reported being separated from his youngest daughter and son-in-law during the Capitol siege. Raskin had buried his son the day before the rebellion, and his family wanted to be with him that day.

Similarly, Pennsylvania impeachment manager Rep. Madeleine Dean, wept when describing the “terrifying knocking” she heard on the doors of the Chamber on January 6, when the pro-Trump crowd stormed the Capitol building.

There is a whirlwind of political emotions and aspirations driving this historic judgment, a rare event that underscores the downward spiral in which America’s democracy finds itself.