House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) shows a signed article about impeaching President Donald Trump at the US Capitol on January 13, 2021 in Washington, DC.
Stefani Reynolds | Getty Images
The House will hand over the impeachment article against former President Donald Trump to the Senate on Monday, Senate leader Chuck Schumer said Friday.
The action will start the trial for the second trial faced by the ex-president for high crime and felony charges. While Trump has already left the White House, the Senate can vote to bar him from re-serving if he decides to convict him.
The House earlier this month accused Trump of instigating an uprising against the government by stirring up a crowd that engulfed the Capitol on Jan. 6. officer.
The Senate needs 67 votes to condemn Trump. If all 50 Democrats back the sentencing, they’ll need 17 Republicans to join them.
After Schumer, Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Expressed concern that Trump would not have enough time to defend himself. He had asked the House to send the article on Thursday to ensure “a full and fair trial”.
Trump has hired South Carolina attorney Butch Bowers to defend him at trial. The nine impeachment managers who will be advocating the House’s case are Democratic representatives. Jamie Raskin from Maryland, Diana DeGette from Colorado, David Cicilline from Rhode Island, Joaquin Castro from Texas, Eric Swalwell and Ted Lieu from California, Stacey Plaskett, the US Virgin Islands delegate, Madeleine Dean from Pennsylvania and Joe Neguse from Colorado.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who declined to say on Thursday when her chamber would pass the article to the Senate, argued that the managers did not need to prepare as much evidence for the second trial as they did for the first last year.
“This year, the entire world witnessed the president’s exhortation, the implementation of his call to action, and the violence used,” the California Democrat told reporters on Thursday.
Schumer said he had spoken to McConnell about “the timing and length of the trial,” but did not provide details of how long it will take. The Democratic leader wants to balance impeachment with the confirmation of Biden’s cabinet members and the approval of a coronavirus bill.
“The Senate must and will do all three,” he said Friday.
The first trial Trump faced last year over allegations of abuse of power and congressional obstruction took about three weeks. The Republican Senate acquitted him.
This story evolves. Please check again for updates.
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