BEVERLY HILLS, February 10, (THEWILL) – The US Senate has voted to move forward with former President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial, with a majority of senators making the landmark decision that the American Legislature had jurisdiction to place former presidents on trial in cases of impeachment.
By a vote of 56 to 44, the Senate rejected arguments by Trump’s attorneys, who deemed it unconstitutional placing a former President on impeachment trial.
Six Republicans joined all 50 Democratic senators in voting to go on with the trial.
Senator Bill Cassidy joined five other GOP senators who had previously voted that the trial is constitutional.
Trump faces one article of impeachment for “incitement of insurrection” for his conduct leading up to the attack on the Capitol on January 6.
The House impeached Trump on January 13, when he was still in office. The Constitution is silent on the question of whether former officials can be impeached and face trial in the Senate.
The first day of proceedings was dedicated to the question of whether the Senate had jurisdiction to try the former President.
Trump’s attorneys and the House impeachment managers were given two hours each to present their cases to senators.
The House managers argued that declining to hold the impeachment trial would establish a “January exception” in which outgoing presidents could evade accountability for the actions in the final weeks of their terms.
The Democratic managers opened the proceedings with a dramatic video timeline of the events on January 6, showing hundreds of Trump supporters storming the Capitol to disrupt the counting of electoral votes. The footage was juxtaposed with Mr. Trump’s speech to supporters earlier in the day, when he urged his followers to “fight like hell.”
“You ask what a high crime and misdemeanour is under our Constitution. That’s a high crime and misdemeanour,” Representative Jamie Raskin, the lead impeachment manager, said when the montage concluded. “If that’s not an impeachable offence, then there is no such thing.”
The President’s attorneys, meanwhile, argued that the Senate lacked authority to hold an impeachment trial for ex-officials under the plain language of the Constitution.
One of the former President’s lawyers, David Schoen, called the constitutional theory put forth by the impeachment managers “radical” and “unprecedented,” and warned that adopting it would make future elected officials vulnerable to impeachment long after they left office.
“They’re willing to sacrifice our national character to advance their hatred and their fear that one day, they might not be the party in power,” he said.
The trial will resume on Wednesday, when the Democratic managers will have eight hours to present the case for convicting Trump.
Both sides will have two days to make their arguments before the Senate considers possible witnesses before a final vote. Senators will convene every day until a verdict is reached.
