Trump impeachment trial begins

Published by Jonathan White on January 17th 2020, 12:12pm

Following the House of Representatives formally delivering the articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump to the United States Senate, the official trial began yesterday.

After a month of stalemate following the House passing the articles, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D–CA) stated that the president had “crossed a threshold. He gave us no choice.” The primary trigger for the move has been the allegation that the president tried to assist his reelection campaign by pressing the president of Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden by withholding military aid. The former vice president and his son have been accused by Republicans of uncouth business deals in the country.

Proceedings began with John Roberts, the chief justice of the supreme court and George W. Bush appointee, being sworn in by senate president pro tempore Senator Chuck Grassley (R–IA), as the presiding officer, in accordance with the constitution.

Roberts then proceeded to swear in all 100 senators individually who, for all intents and purposes, will act as a jury. The prosecution, led by seven House Democrats appointed by Pelosi will require two-thirds of the Senate to find the president guilty, an enviable task given the Republican caucus has a 53–47 majority over the Democrats.

Speaker Pelosi was criticised for giving out souvenir pens with her name on during the occasion to fellow congressman, with senate majority leader Mitch McConnell (R–KY) commenting, “I was a transparently partisan performance from beginning to end.”

With the ceremonial duties over the Senate will return on 21 January after the Martin Luther King Jr Day recess and will begin to vote on the rule and whether or not the prosecution of defence can summon witnesses or subpoena documents. The prosecutors from the House of Represenatives are expected to begin their presentations on 22 January, which could last as many as six hours per day.

The president responded on Twitter by saying, “I JUST GOT IMPEACHED FOR MAKING A PERFECT PHONE CALL!” referring to his phone call with the Ukrainian president.

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Authored By

Jonathan White
Political Correspondent
January 17th 2020, 12:12pm

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