Senator Chris Murphy, D-Conn., On Sunday argued that the senate has “a constitutional responsibility” to hold the impeachment lawsuit against former President Donald Trump.
“There is clear precedent for the Senate to proceed with an impeachment lawsuit after articles have been sent, even after an official has left office, and so my analysis here roughly begins and ends with what my constitutional responsibility is”, said the Democratic senator. Sunday.”
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“I don’t think our job ends just because the president has stepped down, in part because impeachment involves not only the provision to remove an official from office, but also to disqualify him from future office, so there are continues to impact President Trump as convicted. “
The Senate will initiate a second impeachment trial against Donald Trump on Tuesday after the House voted to impeach the former president last month.
The House voted to impeach Trump by a vote of 232 to 197 on charges of instigating an uprising, with 10 Republicans joining all Democrats. It would take 17 Republicans to join all 50 Senate Democrats to condemn Trump for the impeachment article, an outcome that is highly unlikely.
Late last month, Senator Rand Paul, R-Ky., Introduced a point of order claiming it is unconstitutional for the Senate to hold an impeachment trial against a former president. It was defeated by a vote of 55-45, with five Republicans joining all 50 Senate Democrats, meaning an additional 12 Republicans would have to change their position for the conviction to pass.
Murphy argued on Sunday that Trump’s impeachment process “won’t stop” the rest of the Senate’s affairs, saying that “the Senate can walk and chew gum at the same time.”
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“We will be back next week,” he told host Chris Wallace. “We will start Monday by confirming another cabinet chair by the president.”
“We will likely hold hearings and committees next week to help other nominees move forward,” Murphy continued. “And because last week we pushed forward the process regarding the COVID emergency bill that is going to save the economy of this country, we will spend next week writing that legislation as well.”
He stressed that “the Senate will do all three things next week.”
“We’re going to take our constitutional responsibility and have a trial,” said Murphy, noting that “it won’t be long.” He went on to say that the Senate will also “forward nominees and we will continue to promote COVID emergency legislation.”
“The Senate can do all of those things and we will do it,” he continued.
If Trump were convicted, the Senate could vote again to prevent Trump from ever holding public office again.
The Senate has never heard an impeachment trial for a president who was no longer in office, but Democrats argue that the primary goal is removing Trump from the realm of the administration.
Wallace asked Murphy on Sunday if he believes Trump incited the crowd to attack the Capitol on January 6.
“Even when the riot happened, the president had a chance to turn it around, but instead turned it on knowing what was going on in the Capitol,” Murphy countered. “So I think the matter is absolutely clear, both at that White House meeting and during the riot itself, the president took steps to make things worse, not better.”
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He added that he believes that once all the evidence is provided, “there will be no choice but to condemn,” noting that he thinks the “condemnation will be a two-pronged vote.”
Fox News’ Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.