Surprising Turn Of Events
Former federal prosecutor Melanie Sloan said it was a surprising turn of events as Democrats decided to avoid calling witnesses, hours after voting in favour of it.
It seems though that the largest reason is that because the outcome is preordained, everybody decided not to spend the time, she told Al Jazeera.
I think on Twitter, for example, and in social media, youre seeing a lot of outcry about it, particularly because since so much of this is not about the conviction but showing the American people what happened.
13 Feb 2021 – 18:30 GMT
Start With Pelosi: Republicans Want Top Democrat To Testify
US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said he was in favour of calling multiple witnesses in Trumps impeachment trial, including Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
We can start with Speaker Pelosi to answer the question as to whether or not there was credible evidence of preplanned violence before President Trump spoke? Graham tweeted. Her testimony is incredibly relevant to the incitement charge.
Republican Senator Ted Cruz also called for Pelosi to testify.
We can start with Speaker Pelosi to answer the question as to whether or not there was credible evidence of pre-planned violence before President Trump spoke?
Lindsey Graham
13 Feb 2021 – 16:50 GMT
How Will Republicans Vote On Impeachment Charge
While it is unexpected that 17 Republican senators in addition to 50 Democrats will vote to convict Donald Trump, there are a handful of Republicans who could break ranks and vote for conviction.
Senators Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Mitt Romney and Ben Sasse are frequent Trump critics and their earlier impeachment-related votes suggest they could be Republican votes against Trump. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell has reportedly told his party that their votes are a vote of conscience, according to The Associated Press news agency, though he told his colleagues on Saturday morning that he will vote to acquit.
Republican Senator Bill Cassidy criticised Trumps defence team after they made their preliminary arguments on Tuesday and made positive comments about the House Democrats presentation. However, Cassidy was spotted on Friday holding notes that appeared to be a draft of a statement indicating he would vote to acquit.
13 Feb 2021 – 15:09 GMT
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How The Historic Vote Went Down
The House exercised its constitutional right to charge Trump with high crimes and misdemeanors through votes on two articles of impeachment that will be familiar, at this point, to most Americans and now headed for the history books:
- Abuse of power for his effort to withhold taxpayer money from Ukraine and get that country to investigate his political rival, former Vice President Joe Biden
- Obstruction of Congress for his refusal to cooperate with the oversight investigation.
Impeachment math
The abuse of power article passed 230-197 with one lawmaker, Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, voting present. One independent supported impeachment and two Democrats opposed both articles of impeachment, along with every Republican. One Democrat split votes, supporting the abuse of power article but not obstruction of Congress.
The obstruction of Congress article passed 229-198 with Gabbard voting present.
Trumps response
As the vote was conducted, Trump was at a Merry Christmas campaign rally in Battle Creek, Michigan, which is the district represented by Rep. Justin Amash, the former Republican-turned-independent who voted to impeach him. Trump delayed his appearance to watch the vote.
After three years of sinister witch hunts, hoaxes, scams, the House Democrats are trying to nullify the ballots of tens of millions of patriotic Americans, he said.
Used Authority To Incite House Manager
In closing arguments, House impeachment manager Madeleine Dean said Donald Trump used his authority to incite an attack on the US Capitol on January 6.
The president of the United States, Donald J Trump, incited and directed thousands of people to attack the legislative branch, she said.
He knew what his supporters were capable of. He inflamed them, sent them down Pennsylvania Avenue, not on any old day, but on the day we were certifying the election. He failed to defend us because this is what he wanted. He wanted to remain in power.
13 Feb 2021 – 19:22 GMT
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Most Republicans Who Voted To Convict Aren’t Up For Reelection Until At Least 2024 Or Aren’t Running For Reelection
Most of the Republicans who voted to convict Mr. Trump are not up for reelection until at least 2024, or are not running for reelection.
Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska is the only Republican who voted to convict Mr. Trump who is also up for reelection in 2022.
Senator Richard Burr isn’t running for reelection. Senator Bill Cassidy isn’t up for reelection until 2026. Susan Collins is up for reelection in 2026. Mitt Romney isn’t up for reelection until 2024. Ben Sasse isn’t up for reelection until 2026. Senator Pat Toomey isn’t running for reelection.
Stacey Plaskett: Trump Trial Needed ‘more Senators With Spines Not More Witnesses’
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and West Virginia GOP Sen. Shelley Moore Capito both cited constitutional concerns in their decision to vote to acquit Trump.
Virgin Islands House Del. Stacey Plaskett, another impeachment manager, told NPR’s Weekend Edition that they didn’t “reverse course” on witnesses but instead succeeded in adding Herrera Beutler’s statement describing a conversation between House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Trump as the attack was ongoing.
“I know that people have a lot of angst and they can’t believe that the Senate did what they did . But what we needed were senators, more senators with spines, not more witnesses,” Plaskett said.
Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., a close ally of President Biden, reportedly urged House managers to relent on witnesses. He told ABC’s This Week on Sunday that spending “months fighting over witnesses” wouldn’t have been worth it.
“What the House managers needed wasn’t more witnesses or more evidence, what we all needed was more Republican courage,” he said. “This was the most bipartisan verdict in American history, a strong rebuke to President Trump, but frankly at the end of the day, the trial had reached its natural conclusion.”
Seven Republican senators voted to convict Trump, after 10 GOP House members voted to impeach Trump for inciting the mob that breached the U.S. Capitol.
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Trump Celebrates His Acquittal Says The Impeachment Was Part Of A ‘witch Hunt’
The safety of Pence, and the assertion that Trump willfully did not act swiftly and decisively enough to protect his own vice president, was a point that was repeated throughout the closing arguments.
“When the vice president of the United States escaped a violent mob that entered this Capitol building, seeking to hang him and calling out ‘traitor, traitor, traitor,’ when they shut down the counting of the electoral college votes, is this the future you imagine for our kids?” Raskin asked.
Raskin used the closing argument to push back against the defense’s claim that Trump’s actions after the insurrection began aren’t relevant.
Impeachment manager Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-Pa., played a video montage of Trump repeating the false claim that the election had been rigged.
“This was not one speech. This was a deliberate, purposeful effort by Donald Trump over many months that resulted in the well-organized mob attack on Jan. 6,” she said.
Senator Tommy Tuberville Of Alabama Said He Told Mr Trump That Mr Pence Was In Danger
Mr. Tuberville, a staunch Trump supporter elected to represent Alabama in 2020, told reporters last week that Mr. Trump called him at the height of the riot, and that he informed the president that the Secret Service had just taken the vice president out of the Capitol to save him from the mob.
When asked how Mr. Trump reacted to the news, the former Auburn football coach told reporters on Friday, I dont remember.
Why it matters: Mr. Trumps defense team has claimed the president did not know Mr. Pence was in danger, without specifying a timeline of when he found out. On Friday, one of Mr. Trump lawyers, Michael T. van der Veen, called the account of Mr. Tuberville one of Mr. Trumps most dogged defenders hearsay, likening it to a rumor overheard the night before at a bar somewhere.
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Lisa Murkowski Of Alaska
Ms. Murkowski, 63, a senator since 2002, is up for re-election in 2022. She has appeal for both Democrats and independents and won a write-in campaign in 2010 after losing the Republican primary. She has harshly criticized Mr. Trumps actions before and during the Capitol rampage, calling his conduct unlawful.
Its not about me and my life and my job, Ms. Murkowski told a Politico reporter who asked about the political risk she took with her vote. This is really about what we stand for. If I cant say what I believe that our president should stand for, then why should I ask Alaskans to stand with me?
Among Gop Views Of Whether Trump Has Behaved Illegally Or Unethically Are Associated With Opinions On Removal
Among the two-thirds of Republicans who say Trump has definitely or probably not done things that are illegal, nearly all say that he should remain in office following the Senate trial. While a majority of the 32% of Republicans who say Trump has likely done illegal things either during the campaign or while in office also say he should remain in office , about four-in-ten say the president should be removed from office.
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Trump’s Defense Team Begins Argument Against Constitutionality Of Impeachment Trial
A member of former President Donald Trump’s legal team began his argument against the constitutionality of the Senate impeachment trial by condemning those responsible for the violence at the Capitol.
“You will never hear anybody representing former President Trump say anything at all other than what happened on Jan. 6 in the storming and the breaching of the Capitol should be denounced in the most vigorous terms,” attorney Bruce Castor Jr. said as he began his remarks.
Trump’s legal team is arguing that it is unconstitutional for the Senate to hold a trial to convict a former president.
Democratic House impeachment managers decried the idea of a “January exception” to being held accountable for impeachable conduct. Kevin Breuninger
Deal On Witnesses Very Close: Wh Press Pool
Al Jazeeras Alan Fisher, reporting from Capitol Hill, said the White House press pool is reporting that US senators are close to reaching a deal on witnesses.
The deal would see Republican Representative Jaime Herrera Beutlers account entered into the congressional record without objection, which means it will become part of the formal proceedings.
But there will be no witnesses called, said Fisher, adding that if the deal is reached, the vote on impeachment could happen later on Saturday.
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House Manager Reads Herrera Beutler Testimony Into Record
House impeachment manager Jamie Raskin read Representative Jaime Herrera Beutlers account on the Senate floor.
Herrera Beutlers account detailed communications with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and what Trump reportedly told McCarthy in the middle of the insurrection on January 6.
In the statement, she said McCarthy had told her about a call he had with Trump in which the former US president said, Well, Kevin, I guess these people are more upset about the election than you are.
Will A Second Impeachment Bar Trump Running From Office In 2024
Not necessarily. If he was found guilty, theres no immediate punishment, since he is no longer in office. The Senate could, with a simple majority vote, bar him from holding federal elective office in the future. With the Senate split 50-50, and the vice-president, Kamala Harris, holding the casting vote, that could pass quite simply.
There is a constitutional argument to be had that the Democrat-controlled Senate might try to do this anyway even if Trump is found not guilty, by invoking section three of the post-civil war 14th amendment to the US constitution. That forbids anyone who has engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the US from holding federal office, but that is likely to be the subject of a significant legal dispute should it arise.
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An earlier version of this article was amended on 13 January 2021. It had incorrectly said that not a single Republican in the Senate found Trump guilty in his first impeachment trial. In fact, one Republican senator, Mitt Romney, voted to impeach him on one charge. The article was republished on 10 February to reflect updated developments with the trial.
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Trump Impeachment Prosecutors Set To Unveil New Evidence Against Ex
The second impeachment trial in the Senate for former President Trump will highlight previously undisclosed evidence related to the charge that he incited the Jan. 6 Capitol complex riot by his supporters, House aides said.
Those aides also said there will be evidence that Trump not only spent weeks laying the groundwork for the mob invasion of Congress by his fans but that he incited that riot even further after it began.
Aides suggested that there could be enough Republican senators needed to convict Trump after they hear such evidence, despite the vast majority of the GOP caucus having previously voted against holding the trial based on the argument that a former president cannot be tried by the Senate.
“Once they see that this President did in fact incite a violent insurrection in order to hold onto power, I think it very well may be the case that reluctant senators change their mind and vote to convict,” aides said.
“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.” Dan Mangan
Trump Impeached For ‘inciting’ Us Capitol Riot In Historic Second Charge
Donald Trump has become the first president in US history to be impeached twice, after being charged with “incitement of insurrection” over last week’s deadly storming of Congress.
The House of Representatives accused Mr Trump of encouraging violence with his false claims of election fraud.
He now faces trial in the upper chamber, the Senate, but not before he leaves office next Wednesday.
Senators can vote to bar him from ever holding public office again.
In a video released after the vote in the House on Wednesday, Mr Trump called on his followers to remain peaceful, without mentioning his impeachment.
“Violence and vandalism have no place in our country… No true supporter of mine would ever endorse political violence,” he said, striking a sombre and conciliatory tone.
The FBI has warned of possible armed protests planned for Washington DC and all 50 US state capitals in the days before Joe Biden, a Democrat, is inaugurated as the new US president.
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