The second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump could last a week.
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House impeachment manager Rep. Jamie Raskin began the trial of Donald Trump on Monday with a graphic video of the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, presenting in visual and disturbing terms the Democrat’s argument against the former president. During his remarks, Raskin also touched on the death of his son Tommy Raskin days before the insurrection and the emotional effects of the Capitol attack on his family.
The unprecedented second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump opened on Monday in the Senate, with both sides given two hours to present their initial arguments on whether the trial of a former president is constitutional.
Read: Trump impeachment trial stream: How to watch today’s powerful opening arguments
Trump faces a single article of impeachment that accuses him of incitement of insurrection in regard to the Jan. 6 riot at the US Capitol, which left five people dead, including a Capitol Police officer. In a speech that day in front of the White House, Trump urged supporters to march to the Capitol. The siege of the Capitol building sought to overturn the 2020 election results and halt the process of confirming Joe Biden’s win in the Electoral College. Biden was confirmed after the riot and later inaugurated on Jan. 20. In a historic moment, 10 House Republicans broke with their party to vote in favor of impeachment.
All eyes are on Donald Trump’s historical impeachment trial this week.
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To convict Trump, 17 Republican senators would need to vote in favor, along with the 48 Democrats and two independents, to reach a two-thirds supermajority.
The trial has been adjourned until 12 p.m. ET (9 a.m. PT) today, and is expected to run through the weekend.
We’ll explain what we know about how the impeachment trial could progress, what it takes to convict or acquit (see our chart below), what’s at stake, and where the situation stands now. This story continues to update with new information.
Read more: The 14th Amendment is the cornerstone of Trump’s impeachment on day 2
What happened on day 1 of the Senate impeachment trial?
On Monday, Lead House impeachment manager Rep. Jamie Raskin began the trial of Trump promising to lay out a compelling case against Trump. “You will not be hearing extended lectures from me, because our case is based on cold, hard facts,” Raskin said. “It’s all about the facts.”
Raskin’s emotional presentation began with video of the Capitol’s assault on Jan. 6.
During the second half of the day, Trump’s legal team took to the stand, relying on a more dispassionate analysis of the Constitution. “Presidents are impeachable. Presidents are removable. Former presidents are not because they can’t be removed,” Trump attorney David Shoen said. “The Constitution is clear. Trial by the Senate is reserved for the president of the United States, not a private citizen or used-to-be president.”
Raskin argued that is not how the Constitution works. “The Constitution makes clear there is no January exception to the impeachment power, that a president can’t commit grave offenses in their final days and escape any congressional response,” Raskin said. “Given the framers’ intense focus on danger to elections and the peaceful transfer of power, it is inconcievable that they designed impeachment to be a dead letter in the president’s final days in office.”
Following the arguments from the two sides, the Senate voted on whether it’s constitutional to try a former president. A total of 56 senators voted in favor and 44 against — meaning six Republican senators voted to continue the trial. A previous motion on Jan. 27 to declare the trial unconstitutional saw just five Republicans voted with Senate Democrats. Republican Sens. Mitt Romney, Ben Sasse, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and Pat Toomey were this time joined by Sen. Ben Cassidy.
Schedule of Trump’s impeachment trial
This is how the trial will unfold (and here is where to watch on day 2):
- Feb. 10, 12 p.m. ET: House of Representatives trial managers will begin arguing their case; prosecutors and defense will have up to 16 hours each to present their arguments, with neither side permitted to present for more than eight hours per day.
- Feb. 12, 5 p.m. ET: The trial will break through Saturday.
- Feb. 14, 2 p.m. ET: The trial will reconvene Sunday.
- Arguments will be followed by four hours for senators’ questions.
- If the House impeachment managers want to call witnesses or subpoena documents, there will be two hours of debate by each side followed by a Senate vote on whether to allow this.
- If witnesses are called, there will be enough time given to depose them, and for each party to complete discovery before testimony is given.
- Once witnesses and evidence are dealt with, there will be four hours of closing arguments divided evenly between the prosecutors and defense.
- Lastly will come the vote on conviction or acquittal, for which a two-thirds majority is required.
Where can I get live coverage of the impeachment trial?
To tune in to the impeachment trial, which is expected to run through the week, here is where to stream it live, for free.
You can watch the video the Democrats used to start the trial here. You can follow along with the day’s proceedings at CNN and The New York Times.
Will Trump testify? Will anyone?
Raskin last week sent a letter to Trump’s legal team asking that the former president testify under oath and submit to cross-examination before or during the trial. Trump lawyer Bruce Castor called the request a “publicity stunt” and said his client wouldn’t provide testimony.
Because Trump “immediately rejected” the opportunity to testify in person, the House will allege this decision “supports a strong adverse inference regarding [his] actions and inaction on January 6,” the House pretrial brief says.
During the trial, it’s expected that video evidence will be used instead of witness testimony, as well as other evidence from social media and images shared across the internet.
What would happen if Trump is convicted or acquitted
If the former president is convicted in the Senate, there will be an additional vote to bar him from running again (per the US Constitution Article 1, Section 3), which would preclude a possible presidential run in 2024. This vote would only require a simple majority, where Vice President Kamala Harris serving as president of the Senate would cast a tie-breaking vote if required.
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Trump could also be disqualified from the benefits given to former presidents by the Post Presidents Act, including a Secret Service security detail, pension and yearly travel allowance.
According to the US Constitution, impeached presidents also can’t be pardoned.
If acquitted, Trump would have access to all the benefits of a former US president, including the option to run for public office.
More background: Trump’s second Senate impeachment trial: Here’s what could happen
Who is presiding over Trump’s impeachment trial?
The US Constitution lays out clear guidelines for impeaching a sitting president and other officers for “treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors.” Trump’s trial is an unusual case, however. With his second impeachment, Trump, who as of Jan. 20 became a private citizen, is the first president to be impeached twice and the first to be tried after leaving office.
The Supreme Court Chief Justice would normally preside over the impeachment trial of a president. But because it’s not a trial of a sitting president, it is instead presided over by Sen. Patrick Leahy, the new Senate President Pro Tempore, who as a senator is also still expected to be able to vote in the trial, too.
The House is prosecuting the case, and the Senate sits as jury and ultimately vote to convict or acquit.
To convict Trump, 67 senators — or two-thirds of the Senate — must vote in favor. Following Biden’s inauguration, the Senate is now made up of 48 Democrats, two independents who caucus with Democrats and 50 Republicans, for an even 50-50 split.
Why was Trump impeached in 2019?
Trump was impeached in December 2019 by the House, but the Republican-majority Senate acquitted him at the beginning of 2020
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His first impeachment involved articles accusing Trump of abusing power and obstructing Congress. The issue was Trump’s dealings with Ukraine, including a July 2019 phone call in which he appeared to be using US military aid as a bargaining chip to pressure Ukraine into investigating alleged ties between his political opponent Biden, Biden’s son Hunter and a Ukrainian gas company. The articles also charged Trump with interfering with a House inquiry into the Ukraine matter.