As the House prepares to bring the impeachment charge against Donald Trump to the Senate for trial, a growing number of Republican senators say they are opposed to the proceeding, dimming the chances that former president will be convicted on the charge that he incited a siege of the U.S. Capitol.
House Democrats will carry the sole impeachment charge of 바카라incitement of insurrection바카라 across the Capitol late Monday evening, a rare and ceremonial walk to the Senate by the prosecutors who will argue their case. They are hoping that strong Republican denunciations of Trump after the Jan. 6 riot will translate into a conviction and a separate vote to bar Trump from holding office again.
But instead, GOP passions appear to have cooled since the insurrection. Now that Trump바카라s presidency is over, Republican senators who will serve as jurors in the trial are rallying to his legal defense, as they did during his first impeachment trial last year.
바카라I think the trial is stupid, I think it바카라s counterproductive,바카라 said Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.. He said that 바카라the first chance I get to vote to end this trial, I바카라ll do it바카라 because he believes it would be bad for the country and further inflame partisan divisions.
Trump is the first former president to face an impeachment trial, and it will test his grip on the Republican Party as well as the legacy of his tenure, which came to a close as a mob of loyal supporters heeded his rally cry by storming the Capitol and trying to overturn Joe Biden바카라s election. The proceedings will also force Democrats, who have a full sweep of party control of the White House and Congress, to balance their promise to hold the former president accountable while also rushing to deliver on Biden바카라s priorities.
Arguments in the Senate trial will begin the week of February 8. Leaders in both parties agreed to the short delay to give Trump바카라s team and House prosecutors time to prepare and the Senate the chance to confirm some of Biden바카라s Cabinet nominees. Democrats say the extra days will allow for more evidence to come out about the rioting by Trump supporters, while Republicans hope to craft a unified defence for Trump.
Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., said in an interview with The Associated Press on Sunday that he hopes that evolving clarity on the details of what happened Jan. 6 바카라will make it clearer to my colleagues and the American people that we need some accountability.바카라
Coons questioned how his colleagues who were in the Capitol that day could see the insurrection as anything other than a 바카라stunning violation바카라 of the tradition of peaceful transfers of power.
바카라It is a critical moment in American history and we have to look at it and look at it hard,바카라 Coons said.
An early vote to dismiss the trial probably would not succeed, given that Democrats now control the Senate. Still, the mounting Republican opposition indicates that many GOP senators would eventually vote to acquit Trump. Democrats would need the support of 17 Republicans 바카라 a high bar 바카라 to convict him.
When the House impeached Trump on Jan. 13, exactly one week after the siege, Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said he didn바카라t believe the Senate had the constitutional authority to convict Trump after he had left office. On Sunday, Cotton said 바카라the more I talk to other Republican senators, the more they바카라re beginning to line up바카라 behind that argument.
바카라I think a lot of Americans are going to think it바카라s strange that the Senate is spending its time trying to convict and remove from office a man who left office a week ago,바카라 Cotton said.
Democrats reject that argument, pointing to an 1876 impeachment of a secretary of war who had already resigned and to opinions by many legal scholars. Democrats also say that a reckoning of the first invasion of the Capitol since the War of 1812, perpetrated by rioters egged on by a president who told them to 바카라fight like hell바카라 against election results that were being counted at the time, is necessary so the country can move forward and ensure such a siege never happens again.
A few GOP senators have agreed with Democrats, though not close to the number that will be needed to convict Trump.
Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, said he believes there is a 바카라preponderance of opinion바카라 that an impeachment trial is appropriate after someone leaves office.
바카라I believe that what is being alleged and what we saw, which is incitement to insurrection, is an impeachable offence,바카라 Romney said. 바카라If not, what is?바카라
But Romney, the lone Republican to vote to convict Trump when the Senate acquitted the then-president in last year바카라s trial, appears to be an outlier.
Sen. Mike Rounds, R-South Dakota, said he believes a trial is a 바카라moot point바카라 after a president바카라s term is over, 바카라and I think it바카라s one that they would have a very difficult time in trying to get done within the Senate.바카라
On Friday, GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a close Trump ally who has been helping him build a legal team, urged the Senate to reject the idea of a post-presidency trial 바카라 potentially with a vote to dismiss the charge 바카라 and suggested Republicans will scrutinize whether Trump바카라s words on Jan. 6 were legally 바카라incitement.바카라
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, who said last week that Trump 바카라provoked바카라 his supporters before the riot, has not said how he will vote or argued any legal strategies. The Kentucky senator has told his GOP colleagues that it will be a vote of conscience.
One of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi바카라s nine impeachment managers said Trump바카라s encouragement of his loyalists before the riot was 바카라an extraordinarily heinous presidential crime.바카라
Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-Pennsylvania., said 바카라I mean, think back. It was just two-and-a-half weeks ago that the president assembled a mob on the Ellipse of the White House. He incited them with his words. And then he lit the match.바카라
Trump바카라s supporters invaded the Capitol and interrupted the electoral count as he falsely claimed there was massive fraud in the election and that it was stolen by Biden. Trump바카라s claims were roundly rejected in the courts, including by judges appointed by Trump, and by state election officials.
Rubio and Romney were on 바카라Fox News Sunday,바카라 Cotton appeared on Fox News Channel바카라s 바카라Sunday Morning Futures바카라 and Romney also was on CNN바카라s 바카라State of the Union,바카라 as was Dean. Rounds was interviewed on NBC바카라s 바카라Meet the Press.바카라
