Trump on trial in Senate for inciting insurrection

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WASHINGTON, Feb 9, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – The US Senate puts Donald Trump
on trial for inciting insurrection Tuesday, charging into
unprecedented constitutional territory and laying bare the national
trauma inflicted in the former president’s attempt to overturn his
reelection defeat.

The gavel will come down at 1:00 pm (1800 GMT) in the Senate,
opening a trial expected to rivet much of the nation.

Inside the ornate building, Democratic prosecutors will lay out a
case heavily supported by video evidence that Trump deliberately
stoked rage over his election loss to Joe Biden in November, fed the
country lies that the vote was rigged, then incited a mob at a January
6 rally to storm Congress.

It will make uncomfortable viewing for senators, including the many
Republicans making clear they will not convict Trump, but who had to
flee to safety when the violent crowd surged through the Capitol that
day.

Outside, thousands of National Guard troops deployed in the
aftermath of the debacle continue to patrol, while hastily thrown up
fences barricade the area from ordinary Americans — visible proof
that the aftershocks of the Trump era continue to rumble.

Trump becomes the first president ever to face two impeachment
trials — he was acquitted in 2020 of abuse of office — as well as
the first in history to be tried after leaving office.

For Democrats leading the case against the populist real estate
tycoon, Trump’s crime is also a first — the “most grievous
constitutional crime” in US history.

His legal team is resting its case largely on the procedural
argument that a former president cannot be tried, calling the Senate
trial “absurd.”

They also argue that whatever Trump said during his January 6 rally
is protected by the constitutional right to free speech and did not
amount to ordering the assault on Congress.

Democratic impeachment managers — the equivalent of prosecutors in
a regular trial — rebutted Tuesday that the Congress storming was
only “the culmination of President Trump’s months-long campaign to
overturn the results of a specific election he lost.”

A second acquittal is all but certain for Trump, who is holed up in
his luxury Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida and, after being barred from
Twitter, has spent the weeks since leaving office in near silence.

Democrats hold 50 of the 100 Senate seats and Vice President Kamala
Harris is able to cast votes to end tiebreaks. But it would take a
two-thirds majority for a conviction, meaning at least 17 Republican
senators would have to join.

– Polarized country –

With the country at its most polarized in at least half a century,
the impeachment trial risks becoming a new flashpoint.

Amped up on four years of Trump’s populist claims to be fighting
for ordinary people against the elites, huge numbers of Republican
voters continue to support the ex-president, pushing their party ever
further to the right.

However, Democrats are equally energized and polls show that a
small majority of the country overall believes Trump deserves
conviction. An Ipsos/ABC News poll found 56 percent back this, while a
Gallup poll found 52 percent support.

It’s not clear yet how long the trial will last but it will be
shorter than the three-week marathon of Trump’s first impeachment and
could end as soon as next week.

First up will be up to four hours of debate, followed by a vote, on
the constitutionality of trying an ex-president. This will almost
certainly be just a formality as the Democrats have enough votes, but
it will give early indication of how open Republicans are to the case
at all.

The main part of the trial will start Wednesday, with each side
having 16 hours to present oral arguments.

Senators, who are the jurors, will then question the opposing legal teams.

A majority vote will be needed if either side wants to call
witnesses. Trump, however, has already refused an invitation to
testify.

Republican Senator Joni Ernst told AFP that he was ready to
“listen,” but spoke for many others on his side when he added: “I
don’t believe this to be constitutional. So we’re going through an
exercise that I don’t believe meets the intent of our founders.”

– Biden above the fray –

Biden, who succeeded Trump on January 20, is attempting to stay
above the fray.

Daily, the White House is sending a message that the Democrat is
focused instead on the fragile economy and the desperate effort to
vaccinate Americans against the still out-of-control Covid-19
pandemic.

Biden wants to “leave it to the Senate,” White House Press
Secretary Jen Psaki said Monday.

If Trump were convicted, the Senate would then hold a
simple-majority vote on barring him from future public office.

But even if the impeachment trial ends in acquittal, calls to
punish Trump for his behavior in the wake of the election will
continue, including possibly a push for a bipartisan vote of censure.