The impeachment trial for former president Donald J. Trump began Tuesday morning.
Trump became the first-ever president to be impeached twice when the House of Representatives voted on Jan. 13 to charge him for “incitement of insurrection”. The vote passed 232-197.
Now, the trial has moved to the Senate, where senators will vote on whether to convict Trump. A two-thirds vote would be needed to convict, meaning that 17 Republicans would have to vote across party lines.
Traditionally, the impeached official would be removed from office if convicted. Since Trump is the first president to be tried after leaving office, many speculate that he could be barred from holding future public offices if convicted.
The main concern raised in the trial was regarding the constitutionality of impeaching a public official who is no longer in office.
Representative Jamie Raskin, Lead Impeachment Manager, opened the trial by defending the constitutionality. He showed a 13-minute-long video recounting the insurrection at the capitol. It showed both Trump’s speech and the mob as the day unfolded, a reminder of the fear on Jan 6.
“If that’s not an impeachable offense, then I don’t know what is,” Raskin stated. Regarding the constitutionality of the trial, he claimed the ability to impeach a president in her or his last few weeks is the most important “because that’s when elections get attacked.”
Trump’s lawyers, on the other hand, maintained that impeachment after leaving office is unconstitutional. They claimed that Democrats were set in “seeking to eliminate Donald Trump from the American political scene.”
Shortly after 5 p.m. EST Tuesday, the Senate voted 56-44 that the impeachment trial is constitutional. Only six Republicans voted to proceed.
Feb. 10 and 11 will see arguments for convicting Trump. Friday and Saturday will allow Trump’s lawyers to respond with their defense.