US Senator Pat Toomey (R-PA) interviewed Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin during a hearing on “Review of Corporate Loans That Are Critical to National Security” in the Dirksen Senate Office building in Washington on December 10, 2020.
Sarah Silbiger | Pool | Reuters
One of Donald Trump’s harshest Republican critics after the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol has doubts that the impeachment trial of the former president will end in conviction.
“I think it’s very unlikely,” Senator Pat Toomey, R-Pa., Told CNN on Sunday morning.
Trump’s unprecedented second impeachment trial against the Senate will begin Tuesday. Legislature will decide whether Trump should be convicted of inciting the Capitol Rebellion after a crowd of ex-president supporters stormed the building and disrupted the formal count of President Joe Biden’s election victory. Five people died in the attack, including a Capitol policeman.
In a Senate split 50-50 by party, 17 Republican senators would have to vote with each Democrat to convict Trump. If the chamber does so, it can also vote to prevent Trump from taking office again or enjoying certain perks reserved for former presidents.
While many GOP senators have said they are openly entering the process, an acquittal seems likely. Only five Republicans, including Toomey, voted last month for the trial of a former president to be constitutional.
Toomey, who urged Trump to resign before leaving office last month, said the process was “clearly constitutional,” also because the House indicted Trump during his tenure as president. The Republican said he would “objectively evaluate the very specific article of impeachment.”
However, others in the GOP want nothing to do with the process. Senator Lindsey Graham, RS.C., argued in a CBS interview that the impeachment article was unconstitutional.
“I think I am ready to move on. I am ready to end the impeachment process,” he said on Sunday.
It is still unclear how the Senate will structure the process and how long it will take. Democrats hope to get through to confirm Biden’s nominations for the executive branch and pass a $ 1.9 trillion coronavirus aid package.
Trump’s first Senate impeachment trial last year took about three weeks.
The House Democratic impeachment managers, who will represent the Chamber before the Senate, have taken the former president’s testimony under oath. His lawyers denied the request.
Trump’s lawyers have argued that he had no intention of causing a riot or disrupting the polling rate. You have also claimed that the Senate cannot condemn a former president.
The nine property managers have argued that Trump provoked violence against the US government. It is said that both in his comments at a rally on the day of the attack and by spreading conspiracy theories for more than two months, he stirred up the mob, convincing supporters that a widespread fraud cost him the election.
The House voted to indict Trump for instigating a riot last month by a margin of 232-197. Ten Republicans have teamed up with each Democrat to indict him.
The conspiracy theories and the ensuing attack have led Republicans to grapple with the future treatment of Trump. He remains the most popular figure in the GOP, and House Minority Chairman Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., Joined him to support the party in next year’s midterm elections.
Rep. Liz Cheney, a Republican from Wyoming whose vote against Trump resulted in a failed attempt to oust her from the House # 3 GOP leadership position, has urged the party to distance itself from the former president.
“This is a person who has no role as the leader of our party,” she said.
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