Tuesday marks the start of Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial in the Senate. It’s hard to imagine the trial will end with a conviction since 17 Republicans would have to vote with the Democrats, but that doesn’t seem to change the way impeachment managers will present their case. Today House impeachment managers responded to a brief from Donald Trump’s legal team asking for the case to be dismissed. The House Managers wrote:
“The evidence of President Trump’s conduct is overwhelming. He has no valid excuse or defense for his actions. And his efforts to escape accountability are entirely unavailing. As charged in the Article of Impeachment, President Trump violated his Oath of Office and betrayed the American people. His incitement of insurrection against the United States government—which disrupted the peaceful transfer of power—is the most grievous constitutional crime ever committed by a President. There must be no doubt that such conduct is categorically unacceptable. The House will establish at trial that President Trump merits conviction and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States.”
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), led the impeachment team back in 2020. He isn’t involved this time around, but he echoes the sentiment of most Democrats in Congress, “Trump lost. Refused to accept the result. Spread lies. And then incited a violent mob to attack the Capitol. If this is not impeachable, nothing is.”
Politico points out, “Beginning on Wednesday, each side would have up to 16 hours to lay out their case. The tentative agreement also allows for the House managers to ask for a debate and subsequent votes on whether to call witnesses.”
The trial is only expected to last one to two weeks.
During her briefing on Monday, White House spokesperson Jen Psaki was repeatedly asked to weigh in on the impeachment trial and she made it clear that President Joe Biden is focused on other things:
He will leave the pace and the process and the mechanics of the impeachment proceedings up to Congress.
The New York Times compiled a look at where all the Senators stand on impeachment. It shows only 13 GOP Senators are currently undecided. Take a look here.
House Democrats currently have this tweet pinned to the top of their Twitter account.