Trump’s second impeachment trial starts tomorrow
Trump’s second Senate impeachment trial will start tomorrow — just over a month after the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol, in which the House has charged him with inciting. The House will need the support of 17 Republicans to convict Trump.
From CNBC:
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., announced Monday afternoon that he and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., along with Trump’s lawyers and the impeachment managers, had come to an agreement on how the trial will proceed.
“This impeachment trial in the United States Senate will allow for truth and accountability, which are essential to ensuring desperately-needed unity and healing in our country following the despicable attack on our democracy,” Schumer said on the Senate floor.
Here’s how their plan will work, according to Schumer’s office:
On Tuesday, Trump’s legal team and the impeachment managers will share up to four hours to make their case for the constitutionality of the trial. The Senate will then vote, with a simple majority required to pass, on whether it has jurisdiction to hold the trial;
If that vote passes, each side will get 16 hours to present their case, beginning Wednesday at noon. Those 16 hours must be used in two days, and neither side can spend more than eight hours per day making their arguments.
After those presentations are completed, senators will have a total of four hours to question the prosecutors and the defense team.
Once that period has elapsed, each side will share up to four hours to argue whether the Senate should consider motions to subpoena witnesses and documents.
If the Senate votes to issue those subpoenas, both sides will be able to depose witnesses, and more rules governing conduct for those depositions would be passed in a separate resolution.
After that, both sides will share up to four hours to making closing arguments. Then, the Senate will vote on the article of impeachment.
According to a new poll, a majority of Americans support the Senate convicting Donald Trump, and “barring him from holding Federal office again”.
In North Carolina, nearly 60 percent of North Carolinians believe the former president is “very or somewhat responsible for the violence at the U.S. Capitol on January 6”, according to a survey by Elon University.
Local groups are calling on Sens. Thom Tillis and Richard Burr — both of which put party before the country in the previous trial vote — to uphold their constitutional duty and hold Trump accountable for inciting an attack on the country.
Trump’s onslaught of false claims about the November election was in an effort to undermine voters and overturn the election in his favor, which led to a deadly attack on our nation’s capitol. His lies have cost taxpayers over $519 million, with poll workers reeling from months of death threats from Trump supporters, and over 400,000 deaths from COVID-19 as Trump prioritized his re-election over a federal coronavirus response.
Overwhelmingly, Americans are united in condemnation of the Jan. 6 attack and demand for accountability. Any elected official who stokes violence, division and repeatedly tells lies to undermine our democracy, is unfit to represent us.
Bottom Line: Our elected officials must come together to complete the impeachment process and hold any elected leaders who have done us harm, accountable.
This is how we move forward together, with the assurance that our leaders will govern in our name and deliver what our communities need.
