Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer says the article of impeachment will be sent to the Senate on Monday, triggering a start to the trial of former President Donald Trump.
SENATE MAJORITY LEADER Chuck Schumer announced that House Democrats will transmit the article of impeachment to the Senate on Monday, a move that will trigger the start of a trial on whether to convict former President Donald Trump of “incitement of insurrection.”
Speaking from the floor on Friday morning, Schumer said he was notified by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California about the timing on the transfer of the impeachment resolution. As of Thursday, Pelosi wouldn’t offer any clues on a trial timeline, only saying that the next step in the process would happen “soon.”
“I’ve spoken to Speaker Pelosi, who informed me that the articles will be delivered to the Senate on Monday,” Schumer said. “I’ve heard some of my Republican colleagues argue that this trial would be unconstitutional because Donald Trump is no longer in office – an argument that has been roundly repudiated, debunked by hundreds of constitutional scholars … and defies basic common sense.”
“It makes no sense whatsoever that a president or any official could commit a heinous crime against our country and then be permitted to resign so as to avoid accountability and a vote to disbar them from future office,” he continued. Also Read: Biden: On Message and Above the Fray
The single article will be delivered to the Senate 12 days after the House voted to impeach Trump for a second time. The indictment came a week after violent riots at the U.S. Capitol as Democrats, and even some Republicans, blamed Trump for his role in “inciting” his supporters.
Once the article is transmitted on Monday, the Senate will start conducting the trial the following day and continue every afternoon – with the exception of Sundays – until the proceeding is completed. A two-thirds majority, or 67 senators, is needed for conviction. If Trump is convicted by the Senate, Democrats say they will hold another vote to bar Trump from holding office again – a vote that only needs a simple majority to pass.
Prior to the timeline announcement, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky proposed giving Trump two weeks to assemble a defense team for the trial. On Friday, McConnell said he would have suggested transmitting the article next Thursday. McConnell, who remains open to conviction, recently said the mobs that stormed the Capitol were “provoked” by Trump and other people in power.
“This impeachment began with an unprecedentedly fast and minimal process over in the House. The sequel cannot be an insufficient Senate process that denies former President Trump his due process or damages the Senate of the presidency itself,” McConnell said. “Senate Republicans strongly believe we need a full and fair process where the former president can mount a defense and the Senate can properly consider the factual, legal and constitutional questions at stake.”
Now that there’s clarity on the timeline, the question of witnesses and the duration of the trial remain in limbo. Democrats are weighing the benefits and the disadvantages of prolonging a trial and taking further attention away from President Joe Biden’s early agenda and other Cabinet confirmations.
During Trump’s last Senate proceeding, Democrats insisted that witnesses should be called to conduct a fair trial. But Republicans ultimately blocked the request for testimony from former national security adviser John Bolton, who emerged as a key figure in the last impeachment
While some acknowledge that not calling witnesses could undercut the upcoming trial, they argue that this time is different because senators bore witness to the events and rhetoric that will now be under prosecution.
“We are, in addition to being jurists, we are eyewitnesses to this crime. You know, it isn’t like, ‘Oh did somebody come into Capitol?’ Yeah, we know the Capitol policeman was killed, and we saw the damage that was done,” Durbin told reporters on the Hill. “In that respect, it isn’t like what in the hell was going on in that telephone conversation with the Ukrainian president? We know. We’ve seen the videos. … I’m sure there’s more evidence that can be unfolded.”
