WASHINGTON – For the first time in its 232-year history, the Senate is putting a former president on trial for impeachment charges.
Late Monday, House members delivered the single article of impeachment to the Senate, charging former President Trump with “Incitement of Insurrection.”
Democrats are expected to focus their case on what members of Congress lived through on January 6th when protestors stormed the United States Capitol, an event that turned deadly. They’ll point to Trump’s words at the rally right before the riot and his repeated claims about a stolen election in the weeks leading up to it.
“If you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore,” Trump told the crowd. “We’re going to walk down, and I’ll be there with you.”
Since that day, Democrats say the case against Trump has only strengthened. “He has not demonstrated remorse,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY). “He has not even acknowledged his role in the events of January 6, and he has never disavowed the lies that were fed to the American people by him about who actually won the election.”
President Trump rejected violence repeatedly on the day of the riot and in the days after it, calling for peaceful protest during the same January 6th speech in which Democrats claim he incited violence.
The article of impeachment charges Trump’s offenses extend beyond his words at that rally. It also accuses him of trying to “subvert and obstruct” the results of the election by pressuring Georgia’s Secretary of State.
“So what are we going to do here, folks? I only need 11,000 votes,” Trump said in a recorded phone call. “Fellas, I need 11,000 votes. Give me a break.”
Democrats claim he “gravely endangered the security of the United States and its institutions of government.”
Chief Justice John Roberts won’t preside over the trial this time because Trump is no longer president. Instead, it will be Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT).
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) tweeted, “If Chief Justice Roberts can’t be bothered to come over for the so-called impeachment, makes you wonder if this exercise is constitutional at all.”
If Chief Justice Roberts can’t be bothered to come over for the so-called impeachment, makes you wonder if this exercise is constitutional at all.
Leahy, not Roberts, to preside over impeachment trial | TheHill https://t.co/zAJASSKHf9
— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) January 25, 2021
Since Trump is no longer in the White House, many Republican senators argue that a trial is unconstitutional since he isn’t the sitting president and can’t be removed from office.
Some, like Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) also say a trial will only further divide the country. “We already have a flaming fire in this country and it’s like taking a bunch of gasoline and pouring it on top of the fire,” said Rubio.
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In his first statement since leaving the White House, Trump announced the opening of the Office of the Former President, responsible for “managing President Trump’s correspondence, public statements and appearances.”
The big question – will he be convicted?
Democrats need 17 Republican senators to go along with them.
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) was the only Republican to vote to convict Trump on the first article of impeachment last year, and seems open to it this time.
“‘Incitement to Insurrection’ is an impeachable offense,” Romney told CNN. “If not, what is?”
But few people in Washington think it’s likely enough Republicans will go against Trump for Democrats to win their case. President Joe Biden is one of them, telling CNN he doesn’t think 17 Republicans will vote to convict Trump.
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