US House delivers article of impeachment against Trump to Senate
Donald Trump will become the only president to face a second impeachment trial, and the first to go through the process after leaving office. If 67 senators vote to convict him, the chamber can then decide whether to bar him from holding office again and receiving benefits given to former presidents.
According to CNBC, The House delivered its impeachment article against Donald Trump to the Senate on Monday, setting in motion a trial where senators will decide whether to convict the former president for inciting an insurrection against the U.S. government.
Senators will not start to hear the case against Trump for another two weeks. The chamber reached an agreement where the trial will start in earnest the week of Feb. 8, giving the Senate time to confirm more of President Joe Biden’s Cabinet.
The article the impeachment managers delivered Monday charges Trump with incitement of insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. It argues that Trump, by falsely claiming that widespread fraud cost him the 2020 election and then encouraging his supporters during a Jan. 6 rally to challenge the results, inflamed a mob that overran the Capitol and disrupted the count of President Joe Biden’s electoral win. The attack left five people dead, including a Capitol Police officer.
The article contends that Trump “threatened the integrity of the democratic system, interfered with the peaceful transition of power, and imperiled a coequal branch of Government,” and “thereby betrayed his trust as President, to the manifest injury of the people of the United States.”
Trump has not taken any responsibility for the riot. Only after it took place, he discouraged violence and pledged a peaceful transition of power. Biden was inaugurated Wednesday with more than 25,000 National Guard forces patrolling Washington D.C.
Trump has hired South Carolina attorney Butch Bowers to defend him. The nine House impeachment managers are Democratic Reps. Raskin, Diana DeGette of Colorado, David Cicilline of Rhode Island, Joaquin Castro of Texas, Eric Swalwell and Ted Lieu of California, Stacey Plaskett, the delegate for the U.S. Virgin Islands, Madeleine Dean of Pennsylvania and Joe Neguse of Colorado.
It is unclear now how long the trial will last. Schumer and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., are expected to agree on parameters for how long it will take and how much time in each day the Senate devotes to it.
For the Senate to convict Trump, 17 Republicans would need to join all 50 Democrats. Biden, while telling CNN he thinks the trial has to happen despite its potential to derail his agenda, noted that he does not think 17 GOP senators will vote to convict Trump.
While some Republicans have signaled they could vote to hold the president responsible, others have dismissed the impeachment process as illegitimate
The House voted by a 232-197 vote to impeach Trump earlier this month. Ten Republicans voted with all Democrats to charge the ex-president.
The Republican-led Senate acquitted the former president last year after the House charged him with obstruction of Congress and abuse of power.
Compiled by: Basma Qaddour