The Senate will meet this Saturday morning (13) for the final proceedings of the impeachment trial of Donald Trump.
The former US president is accused of instigating an insurgency that swept through the US Capitol on January 6, as lawmakers gathered to certify President Joe Biden’s victory. Trump denies it. The invasion left five people dead.
Trump’s trial might even end this afternoon – and most likely, Trump won’t be convicted. For that to happen, 67 of the 100 senators would have to vote against Trump.
Since they only have 50 seats, Democrats are expected to convince 17 Republicans to achieve this result. But only six of them were prepared to recognize the legality of the Trump trial, indicating how the majority should vote.
The process is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. in Washington (12 p.m. GMT), and the defense and prosecution will each have two hours to present their final arguments. The final vote is expected to begin at 3 p.m. local time, but surprises can arise along the way.
Witnesses may be called to testify, for example. Democratic senators called for it after Republican MP Jaime Herrera Beutler on Friday night said another Republican MP told him Trump showed support for the insurgency in a phone call with him January 6th.
In addition, senators may wish to make statements before their vote.
This is Trump’s second impeachment trial. Both times, the House passed his impeachment, making him the first president to be impeached twice.
If the Senate condemned Trump now, senators could also decide whether he would be barred from running for political office. If he is not convicted – as in his first impeachment process – the path for Trump to run for office will remain free.
What the prosecution said
Earlier this week, MPs charged with denouncing Trump revisited the Republican and his allies’ moves that led to what they called the protest’s “predictable” outcome: the violent takeover of the Capitol by protesters of Trump, which resulted in the deaths of 5 people. people.
They went back months to show how Trump had already established in the presidential campaign the narrative that he would only lose to Biden if the election was stolen.
According to the prosecution, after the election Trump accused his opponent of fraud, filing dozens of lawsuits in eight states to challenge the result. Although she did not win the trials, the actions gave strength to supporters, who said they had been wronged and took part in protests in which they demanded a review of the outcome, the prosecution said.
In this climate, they were called by the American president to a big demonstration in the federal capital, the day of the certification of the votes by the electoral college.
“Donald Trump cultivated violence for many months, praised it, and then, when he saw the violence his supporters were capable of, channeled it into his great, wild and historic event,” Stacey said. Plaskett, Legislative Delegate for the US Virgin Islands. (type of representative but not entitled to vote) who is part of the prosecution team.
The prosecution also showed videos of this Jan. 6 rally by Trump, in which his supporters shouted “invade the Capitol” as Trump spoke, and of the insurgency itself, showing how the invaders drew closer to lawmakers. and even Vice President Mike Pence.
Footage also showed protesters shouting for Mayor Nancy Pelosi as they entered the building.
Trump’s defense
Trump’s lawyers presented their defense on Friday (12/2) in just under four of the 16 hours they had, trying to speed up the trial.
They said the accusation was a “monstrous lie” and that it was a “politically motivated hunt” by the Democrats.
“To say that the president has desired or encouraged in some way or another violent or forbidden behavior is an absurd and monstrous lie,” said lawyer Michael van der Veen. “In fact, the first two messages the president sent via Twitter from the start of the raid on Capitol Hill were ‘Stay in peace’ and ‘No violence because we are the party of law and order. “”, he maintained.
According to him, when Trump said in his speech on January 6 that his supporters “are fighting like never before,” he was only making a political speech.
In addition, Trump had the legal right to question the election results, he said.