United States House of Representatives Democrats opened the second Senate impeachment trial against former President Donald Trump on Tuesday, arguing that it was constitutional despite him having left office.
The debate opened a historic trial of the only president to be impeached twice and the only impeachment trial of a president who is no longer in office. The Senate is sitting as a jury to decide whether Trump incited the insurrection January 6 at the Capitol that left five dead.
Three House Democrats serving as prosecutors, who are called managers, are presenting arguments Tuesday: Reps. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, Joe Neguse of Colorado and David Cicilline of Rhode Island.
The House managers and Trump’s defense team will divide up to four hours for arguments about whether the case is constitutional. The Senate will then vote on whether to dismiss the case.
The Senate is expected to uphold the trial as constitutional because senators already voted 55-45 to support the proceedings last month. But that vote also suggested Trump could be acquitted because a two-thirds majority is required for conviction and more than one-third of the chamber found the trial unconstitutional.
Trump’s defense team led by Bruce Castor Jr. and David Schoen has argued the trial is unconstitutional because Trump is no longer in office. They said the Senate has no jurisdiction over Trump as a private citizen.
But the House managers contend that logic is flawed because it would ignore misconduct at the end of any president’s term in office. The managers also say if Trump is convicted, he should be disqualified from future office.
House Democrats replied Tuesday to Donald Trump’s written argument in his Senate impeachment trial by saying the former president “tries to shift the blame onto his supporters” for the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol and that he invokes “flawed legal theories.”
Trump’s defense team has argued the trial is unconstitutional because Trump already left office. The team led by Bruce Castor Jr. and David Schoen also argued that his speech to the mob before the Capitol violence was protected by the First Amendment.
But the House prosecutors, who are called managers, said the constitutional argument was discredited by leading scholars across the political spectrum.
“Because President Trump’s guilt is obvious, he seeks to evade responsibility for inciting the January 6 insurrection by arguing that the Senate lacks jurisdiction to convict officials after they leave office,” the lawmakers wrote in their 33-page reply.
House managers also argued the First Amendment doesn’t protect incitement of insurrection, which is what Trump is charged with under the article of impeachment. Five people died during the riot, including a police officer.
The Senate impeachment trial is being televised nationally, but the defendant himself is planning to be out of sight.
Donald Trump will be at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., aides said, watching the proceedings on television and speaking on the phone with friends and possibly his lawyers.
It’s not known if a round of golf is in the offing.
Trump has not made public appearances since leaving office on Jan. 20. He has also not engaged on social media, having been de-platformed by Twitter two days after the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S Capitol by his supporters.
So he doesn’t plan to provide running commentary on the trial, but aides speaking on condition of anonymity about their communications strategy noted that many of his friends are already active on social media and cable television, denouncing the proceedings on his behalf.
The “Trump War Room” account, for example, tweeted out a clip from a Fox News interview of a major supporter, Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla.: “This is impeachment by reflex. It is impeachment in lieu of an actual agenda for the American people.”
