Donald Trump became the first US president to be subject to impeachment twice
Former US President Donald Trump is on trial by lawmakers in the Senate for allegedly inciting riots at the US Capitol.
Last month, Trump became the first president in US history to be accused of misbehaving and twice succumbed to an impeachment attempt in the House of Representatives of Congress.
Democrats and Republicans in the House of Representatives have voted to enact the legal provision requiring Trump to be held accountable for his accusation of “inciting disobedience.”
The article stated that Trump made false allegations of rigging the US elections and encouraged his supporters to storm the Congress building on January 6 of this year.
He is now on trial in the Senate, which will decide whether to convict or acquit Trump of the charge.
This moment is considered to be an unprecedented moment in the history of the United States, in which it has never taken action to impeach a president after leaving office.
How is the trial going?
The president’s trial in the Senate is a political, not a criminal, issue.
A vote is taken at the end of the trial to determine whether Trump is guilty of the charge.
A two-thirds majority of the 100-member Senate must support the conviction in order to convict Trump.
If found guilty, senators can also vote to prevent him from taking office again
Many supporters of President Trump have continued to protest the election result in which Trump lost
How long will the trial take?
The trial began on Tuesday, February 9, with a four-hour debate over whether Trump’s impeachment measures were unconstitutional because he was no longer president. At the conclusion of the discussions, the members of the Council vote on the issue.
From noon on Wednesday; February 10, each side (prosecution and defense) will be given 16 hours to present their case. There would be an option to request discussion and vote on whether witnesses should be called.
The Senate intends to suspend the trial proceedings from Friday evening until Saturday evening due to the Sabbath holiday for Jews.
It is not clear how long these measures will last, but Democrats are seeking a speedy trial because they are eager to start focusing their attention on the legislative agenda of Democratic President Joe Biden, who is seeking to pass a Covid-19 relief plan as quickly as possible.
What are the prosecution’s arguments against Trump?
Democrats say “Trump is personally responsible for the riots” and should be indicted.
In a pre-trial legal memorandum, they said that his repeated refusal to acknowledge the election results had led to “inciting a revolt against the republic that he was sworn to protect.” They argued that Trump’s comments turned his “wild” crowd on January 6, into a powder keg waiting for the moment to ignite.
And they will use his words along with footage of the riot to show that “an angry crowd, who was prepared and ready to carry out acts of violence, is waiting for someone to light the spark.”
“The evidence is clear. When other attempts to nullify the presidential election results failed, Trump incited his supporters to the Capitol attack,” they wrote.
The Democrats argued that although he is no longer in office, he is required to provide full answers to his behavior from his first day in office until the last day. They called for Trump to be excluded from running for the presidency again.
What is Trump’s defense?
In their pre-trial memo, Trump’s lawyers rejected the impeachment charge against him on the pretext that his supporters had stormed Congress on their own. They argued that Trump’s previous statements to the riots did not amount to incitement.
The attorneys said that the former president’s call for a “fight” was not intended to take the word literally, and said: “Describing this statement on its own as an“ incitement to revolt ”is to ignore the entire remainder of Trump’s speech that day, including Calling on his supporters to make their voices heard peacefully. ”
Moreover, FBI documents showed that the riots had been planned days in advance, the lawyers said.
In another context, Trump’s team dismissed the lawsuit against him as unconstitutional and argued that since Trump is now a regular citizen, he cannot be removed as president.
The lawyers described the trial as “a political theater and a shameless political act aimed at silencing a political opponent and a minority party.”
Can a president be tried after leaving the White House?
This has never happened before, so no such measure has been practiced, and there is a text in the United States Constitution that refers to it.
The impeachment proceedings against President Richard Nixon ended when he resigned in 1974.
So Trump could take his case to the Supreme Court, claiming that his trial was unconstitutional.
But some lower-ranking officials have already been held accountable after they left office.
Will Trump testify?
Surely that’s what the prosecutors want. Last week, they sent a letter inviting him to testify under oath “at a time and place convenient for both parties.”
The prosecution team indicated that they would cite Trump’s silence as further evidence of the validity of their allegations.
But within hours, the former president’s lawyers rejected the request as a publicity stunt. And they made it clear that he would not testify voluntarily.
Prosecutors have the powers to summon him to testify, but this is unlikely.
Who will participate in the trial?
Chief Justice John Roberts presided over the first attempt to trigger impeachment measures against Trump, but he will not do so again.
Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy, the third in an infiltration of the presidency, is presiding over the trial in his place.
Nine Democrats, known as the accountability directors, are trying the case.
Trump will be represented by two attorneys, Bruce Castor and David Schwen.
It is not clear if he will add more people to his legal team.
All 100 senators in the United States were sworn in as jurors at the trial.
Can Trump be convicted in the Senate?
Democrats only hold half of the 100 seats, so they will ask 17 Republicans in the council to vote against someone from their party.
This is a high ceiling for the party that has largely remained openly and openly loyal to Trump.
However, 10 Republicans in the House of Representatives supported impeachment and a handful of senators indicated that they accept such a decision.
Last week, however, 45 of the 50 Republicans in the Senate voted to try to reject the trial.
Could Trump run for president again if convicted?
If Trump is convicted by the Senate, lawmakers must take another vote to prevent him from running for office again – which Trump has indicated he intends to do in 2024. This could be the biggest result of this impeachment.
If convicted, a simple majority of senators would be required to prevent Trump from assuming “any honorary position or in nonprofit or profit trusts in the United States.”
So a vote of 50 senators plus Vice President Kamala Harris’ vote would suffice to nullify Trump’s hopes for political power.
This could be exciting for Republicans hoping to run for president in the future and for those who want Trump out of the party.
What about other benefits?
There has been talk of Trump losing the benefits afforded to his predecessors under the Ex Presidents Act of 1958, which include pensions, health insurance, and possibly lifetime security details at the expense of the taxpayer.
However, Trump would likely retain these benefits if convicted after leaving office.
What is the first attempt to activate Trump’s impeachment and impeachment measures?
This happened because of his dealings with Ukraine, although he denied wrongdoing.
At the time, he was accused of pressuring the Ukrainian president for information that he would use to open an investigation into Biden, his then-rising rival to the White House, and his son, Hunter Biden.
Trump appears to have been using military aid to Ukraine as a leverage.
Trump succumbed to trying to activate impeachment measures in the House of Representatives, but the case was closed in the Republican-controlled Senate.