[ad_1]
WASHINGTON: The United States House of Representatives formally submitted an article of impeachment to the Senate on Monday (January 25) accusing Donald Trump of inciting the assault on Capitol Hill, triggering the first impeachment trial of a former president.
Nine House impeachment managers quietly walked the impeachment article through the same ornate corridors of Congress overrun by Trump supporters on January 6 and handed it over to the Secretary of the Senate.
Then Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland read aloud the charge against Trump in the Senate, where the former president continues to enjoy significant support from Republican senators.
The Senate trial of the 74-year-old former president, who was indicted by the House for the second time on January 13, will begin the week of February 8.
READ: Republicans signal deep resistance to Trump’s impeachment
The president of the Supreme Court of the United States, John Roberts, presided over Trump’s previous trial in the Senate, which ended with his acquittal, but this time it will be presided over by the president pro tempore of the Senate.
The president pro tempore is the top senator for the majority party in the Senate, currently the Democrats. Patrick Leahy, 80, who was elected to the Senate in 1974, is in office.
“The president pro tempore has historically presided over impeachment trials against non-presidents in the Senate,” Leahy said in a statement.
“When presiding over an impeachment trial, the president pro tempore takes an additional special oath to render impartial justice in accordance with the Constitution and the laws,” he said. “It is an oath that I take extremely seriously.”
Pro-Trump protesters storm the US Capitol and confront police during a rally to challenge Congress’s certification of the 2020 US presidential election results, Jan.6 2021 (Photo: Reuters / Shannon Stapleton).
Democrats and Republicans agreed to delay the trial to allow Trump to prepare his defense and for the Senate to confirm President Joe Biden’s cabinet appointments.
Eager to put Trump in the rearview mirror and advance the fight against the coronavirus pandemic and revive the economy, Biden, 78, has taken a hands-off approach to impeachment.
READ: Biden orders food aid for Americans, but Trump impeachment looms
White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Biden “will leave it up to members of the Senate, Democrats and Republicans, to decide how to hold the former president accountable.”
“COMPLETE THE TASK”
Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said Monday that Trump “must be held accountable.”
“We must not give Donald Trump a pass for inciting a deadly insurrection on our Capitol,” Nadler said.
“The House has done its job impeaching Trump, and now the Senate must complete the task by ensuring that it is never again in a position to directly harm America.”
Ten Republicans joined their Democratic colleagues in the House in voting to impeach Trump for inciting the crowd that stormed the Capitol on January 6 as Congress certified Biden’s election victory on November 3.
FILE PHOTO: Pro-Trump protesters storm Capitol Hill, Jan.6. REUTERS / Ahmed Gaber
Five people died in the chaos, including a police officer and a protester who was shot by Capitol Police.
The House also indicted Trump a year ago for trying to dig up political dirt on Biden from Ukraine, but he was acquitted by the Senate, where only one Republican senator, Mitt Romney of Utah, voted in favor of the conviction.
While more Republican senators may vote to convict Trump this time, it seems unlikely that at least 17 of them will.
READ: Democrats build impeachment case against Trump, alleging ‘dangerous crime’
Democrats control 50 seats in the 100-seat chamber, and it takes a two-thirds majority to convict Trump, who remains a powerful figure in the Republican Party.
If Trump is convicted, the Senate could bar him from returning to office, a move that would prevent him from running for president in 2024.
“GET OUT OF JAIL FREE CARD”
Several Republicans have denounced plans to try Trump in the Senate and some have argued that the body has no authority to take a private citizen, like Trump now, to trial.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer dismissed that argument in remarks in the Senate on Monday.
“It doesn’t make any sense,” Schumer said. “The theory that the Senate cannot try former officials would amount to a constitutional ‘get out of jail card’ for any president who commits a chargeable crime.”
A crowd of supporters of US President Donald Trump storm the US Capitol building in Washington, United States, on January 6, 2021. (Photo: REUTERS / Leah Millis)
Trump repeatedly and falsely claimed that he had won the election and summoned his supporters to Washington on January 6 for a demonstration that coincided with the certification of the results by Congress.
Following a Trump speech, thousands of his supporters stormed the Capitol, fought pitched battles with the police and sent lawmakers underground.
Trump faces potential legal risk on many fronts, but the Supreme Court on Monday closed lawsuits alleging he had violated constitutional barriers against a president accepting income from foreign sources.
These cases arose from the “emoluments clause” in the United States Constitution that prohibits public officials from receiving gifts, payments, or titles from foreign states without the permission of Congress.
The plaintiffs in the most visible lawsuit alleged that the clause was violated when foreign delegations sponsored the Trump International Hotel, near the White House, in an effort to win the favor of the Republican president.
