WASHINGTON (AP) – Donald Trump’s historic second impeachment trial it is opening this week with a sense of urgency – for Democrats who want to hold the former president responsible for the violent siege of the US Capitol and for Republicans who want to end it as soon as possible.
Scheduled to start Tuesday, just over a month since the deadly uproar, the lawsuit must diverge from the long and complicated trial that resulted in Trump’s acquittal a year ago, on the charge that he privately pressured Ukraine to dig up the dirt of a Democratic rival, Joe Biden, now president. This time, Trump’s January 6 rallying cry for “fighting like hell” and the invasion of the Capitol were shown to the whole world. Although Trump could very well be acquitted again, the trial could end in half the time.
Process details they are still being negotiated by the leaders of the Senate, with the duration of the opening arguments, questions from the senators and deliberations under debate.
So far, it seems that there will be few witnesses called, as prosecutors and defenders speak directly to senators who swore to offer “impartial justice” as jurors. Most are also witnesses to the siege, having fled to safety that day when protesters invaded the Capitol and temporarily interrupted the electoral count, certifying Biden’s victory.
Trump defense lawyers refused a request for him to testify. Focused on his Mar-a-Lago club, the former president has been silenced on social media by Twitter without public comment since he left the White House,
Instead, the House managers who process the case are expected to trust the video collection of the siege, along with Trump’s incendiary rhetoric refusing to grant the election, to defend his position. His new defense team said it plans to counterattack with its own videos of Democratic politicians making fiery speeches.
“We have the unusual circumstance that on the first day of the trial, when managers step on the Senate, there will already be more than 100 witnesses present,” said Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., Who led Trump’s first impeachment. “If you need additional witnesses, it will be a strategic decision.”
Trump is the first president to face two impeachment cases and the only one to stand trial after leaving the White House. The Democratic-led House passed a single charge, “inciting insurrection,” acting quickly a week after the rebellion, the most violent attack on Congress in more than 200 years. Five people died, including a woman shot by the police inside the building and a policeman who died injured the next day.
Democrats argue that it is not just about getting conviction, but about holding the ex-president accountable for his actions, even if he’s out of the office. For Republicans, the trial will test their political loyalty to Trump and their lasting control over the Republican Party.
Initially repelled by the graphic images of the siege, Republican senators, including Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell, denounced the violence and pointed the blame to Trump. But in recent weeks, Republican Party senators have gathered around Trump, arguing that his comments do not make him responsible for the violence. They question the legitimacy of even conducting a trial for someone who is no longer in office.
On Sunday, Republican Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi described Trump’s impeachment trial as a “party exercise in meaningless messages”. Republican Sen. Rand Paul, of Kentucky, called the scam procedures a “zero chance of conviction” and described Trump’s language and words of protest as “figurative” speech.
Senators were sworn in as jurors at the end of last month, shortly after Biden took office, but trial procedures were postponed because Democrats focused on confirming the new president’s initial choices for the cabinet and Republicans sought to put the maximum distance from the bloody turmoil.
At the time, Paul forced a vote to overturn the trial as unconstitutional because Trump is no longer in office, attracting 44 other Republicans to his argument.
A prominent conservative lawyer, Charles Cooper, rejects this view, writing in an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal on Sunday that the Constitution allows the Senate to try a former official, a significant counterpoint to that of Republican senators seeking absolution through of a constitutional claims process.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, one of Trump’s ardent supporters, said he believed Trump’s actions were wrong and “he will have a place in history for all of this,” but insisted that it is not up to the Senate to judge.
“It is not a question of how the trial ends, it is a question of when it ends,” said Graham. “Republicans are going to see this as an unconstitutional exercise and the only question is: are they going to call witnesses, how long does the trial take? But the result is not really in doubt. “
But 45 votes in favor of Paul’s move suggested the near impossibility of reaching a conviction in a Senate where Democrats have 50 seats, but a two-thirds vote – or 67 senators – would be needed to convict Trump. Only five Republican senators joined the Democrats to reject Paul’s motion: Mitt Romney of Utah, Ben Sasse of Nebraska, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania.
Schiff was on NBC’s “Meet the Press, Wicker was on ABC’s” This Week “, Paul was on” Fox News Sunday “and Graham was on CBS’s” Face the Nation “.
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Associated Press writers Eric Tucker and Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report.