Mocs News Reporting the news that matters most to UTC
By Bailey Bingham
WASHINGTON, D.C. (mocsnews.com) – Former president, Donald Trump, will go through his second impeachment trial on Tuesday for a charge of incitement to insurrection for the Capitol siege that occured on Jan. 6. The former president’s lawyers insist that he is not guilty of the violence that occured at the Capitol.
Donald Trump reportedly encouraged the rioters to “fight like hell” in hopes of stopping the certification of President-elect Joe Biden. Trump’s Twitter account was soon deleted after the siege due to the risk of further incitement of violence.
Donald Trump’s defenders argue that he was exercising his First Amendment rights and there is no reason for trying Trump now that he is no longer in office. They claim that the trial is “political theater.”
House prosecutors will rely on videos from the riots that took place at the capitol and Trump’s actions to stop him from surrendering his position as President. The trial will begin Tuesday with a debate and vote on whether to prosecute the former president. An open argument will begin on Wednesday at noon between Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Republican leader Mitch McConnell. There will be a break on Friday evening but the proceeding will resume on Sunday.
With the COVID-19 crisis, senators had to abandon their traditions to ensure social distancing takes place. They will spread out in the “marble room” where the proceeding will be shown on TV and in the public galleries above the chamber.
There is no set timeline for how long the trial will last. Trump’s lawyer stated that he believed that the trial would extend at least through the weekend.
For Donald Trump to be convicted, he would require at least 17 Republicans to join all of the Democrats assuming that all senators will participate. The outcome of this happening is very unlikely after all but five Republican senators supported Trump in a vote concerning whether a trial was constitutional just last month.
