The second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump began on Tuesday, 09 February. He is accused of incitement to insurrection following the incidents of the Capitol. The debates for this first day focused on the constitutionality of the procedure while Trump left the presidency of the United States.
The second historic impeachment trial of Donald Trump was launched on Tuesday, February 9 in the US Senate. This first day was devoted to the legality of the procedure that the lawyers of the former president challenged. The trial was found to be constitutional by a vote in the late afternoon.
“Ruling it illegal would result in a January exception for all future Presidents, they could do whatever they want without the consequences”,” said Public Prosecutor Jamie Raskin, who released a nearly ten-minute video montage of the events of January 6, 2021, and the invasion of the Capitol by supporters of Donald Trump. Democrat Joe Neguse said: «What we experienced that day is the worst nightmare of the founding fathers became reality». “Presidents cannot ignite an insurrection in the last few weeks of their mandate and then leave as if nothing had happened. Yet this is the rule that President Trump wants you to adopt,” he added.
But the lawyers for the former president do not agree. They believe that Donald Trump has only used his freedom of expression by challenging the election results. They also consider that Donald Trump cannot be the subject of such a trial, since he is no longer President and no longer a member of the White House. The procedure is unnecessary and, according to them, is contrary to the Constitution. “This is an irresponsible, hate-driven procedure,” said lawyer David Schoen, adding, “They want to sacrifice the character of our nation to advance their hatred, and for fear that one day they might lose power…”
This trial is set to be shorter than the first against Donald Trump. However, exceptional security measures were taken in preparation for this trial. The federal police remain on guard, declaring a state of alert. Even if no threat is identified at the moment, she still fears further attacks from Donald Trump’s supporters. As a result, the National Guard is still deployed in downtown Washington.Elected officials are placed under police escort when they travel in their ridings.
As a reminder, this is the fourth impeachment procedure in the history of the United States. The trial opening on Tuesday is unprecedented: never had a president been indicted twice by the House of Representatives. Donald Trump is also the only one to be tried in the Senate after leaving the White House.
