Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial begins.
House impeachment managers are preparing to prosecute the former president on the charge of “incitement of an insurrection” for inflaming the mob that attacked the Capitol last month. Opening arguments begin Tuesday.
Prosecutors plan to mount a fast-paced, cinematic case in which they’ll argue that Mr. Trump was “singularly responsible” for the Jan. 6 attack and a broader attack on democracy that showed he would do anything to “reassert his grip on power” if he were allowed to seek election again.
Mr. Trump’s lawyers have denied that he incited the assault on the Capitol and will argue that the Senate has no power to try a former president. Mr. Trump’s words to supporters, they say, are protected by his First Amendment right to free speech. (More than 100 leading constitutional lawyers called that claim “legally frivolous.”)
Mr. Trump has refused to testify. Members of both parties are hoping for a speedy trial, possibly completed within a week.
A guilty verdict would require at least 17 Republicans to join all 50 Democrats in voting to convict. Here’s where every senator stands.
The New York Times
Me: “Mr. Trump has refused to testify”. Why not charge Trump with Contempt and punish him for at least 1 year in prison for just that, then find other charges to keep him in prison for a lot longer?
