US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced on Friday that she will send the article of impeachment against Donald Trump to the Senate on Monday. The procedure will launch a trial against the former president for inciting a violent riot at the US Capitol on January 6, which resulted in five deaths.
The Senate will now be required to determine whether he should be convicted of the charge, which could prohibit Trump from running for public office again. “There will be a trial,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Friday, adding, “It will be a full trial, it will be a fair trial.”
Though House Democrats—who voted to impeach Trump the week he left office—have said that “a full reckoning” is essential for the country to truly move forward, Senate Republicans have proposed a timeline that would have the trial begin in February, arguing that such a move would give Trump and his team to prepare a defence.
“Senate Republicans strongly believe we need a full and fair process where the former president can mount a defence and the Senate can properly consider the factual, legal, and constitutional questions at stake,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said in a speech on the Senate floor Friday. Democrats need the support of at least 17 GOP leaders to convict Trump, which may be a high bar, given that there are some within the Republican party who believe that it is unconstitutional to hold an impeachment trial for a president who is no longer in office, despite the Constitution not specifying any such rule.
However, Democrats have argued that the trial is necessary in order to show to the American people that no one is above the law and that a president can be held accountable for his actions even in his last few days in office. Pelosi further noted on Friday that the new administration’s call for unity was not a get-out-of-jail-free card for Trump, and did not absolve the president’s crimes.
As for the schedule, Pelosi said: “We are respectful of the Senate’s constitutional power over the trial and always attentive to the fairness of the process, noting that the former president will have had the same amount of time to prepare for trial as our Managers. Our Managers are ready to begin to make their case to 100 Senate jurors through the trial process.”
US Senate to Receive Trump Impeachment Article on Monday
Republicans however are seeking to delay the trial, in order to give the former president and his team enough time to prepare a defence.
January 23, 2021
SOURCE: REUTERS via FT