[dropcap][/dropcap]
Former President Trump and his legal team faced yet another impeachment trial, but was acquitted once again.
Trump was impeached on the charge of inciting the attempted insurrection at the United States Capitol on Jan. 6. The trial started on Feb. 9 and concluded on Feb. 13. The House of Representatives had voted to impeach Trump back on Jan. 13, just one week before Trump had left office.
“The trial in the Senate took place after he left office because the Senate went into recess following the counting of the Electoral College votes,” Dr. Courtney Smith, history and political science professor at Cabrini, said. “Senate rules prevented the body from reconvening in time for the trial to commence before noon on Jan. 20.”
Trump’s defense was led by personal injury lawyer Michael van der Veen from Philadelphia, along with David Schoen and Bruce Castor. On Jan. 12, the day before the House debated the article of impeachment, Nancy Pelosi named nine Democratic representatives to be managers in a Senate conviction trial: Jamie Raskin (lead manager), Diana DeGette, David Cicilline, Joaquin Castro, Eric Swalwell, Ted Lieu, Joe Neguse, Madeleine Dean and Stacey Plaskett.
Most Republicans believe that convicting a former president is unconstitutional. That was a crucial argument point made by Tump’s team.
“They don’t want him to be able to run for another public office, including the presidency,” Dr. Joseph Fitzgerald, history and political science professor at Cabrini, said. “He can undermine our nation’s democratic system by lying, which he did for four years while in office.”
Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell believes Trump is responsible for the attacks on the United States Capitol but does not believe in the Senate convicting a former president.
“There’s no question, none, that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day,” McConnell said. “The Constitution gives us a particular role. This body is not invited to act as the nation’s overarching moral tribunal.”
The Senate needed 17 Republicans to cross party lines in order to convict Trump and charge him. Out of the 17 needed, only seven senators changed sides. The seven senators were Mitt Romney of Utah, Richard Burr of North Carolina, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Ben Sasse of Nebraska and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania. Of these Senators, Mitt Romney was the only Republican to vote for conviction in Trump’s first impeachment trial back in 2020.
Some of these names come as expected, but some are surprising to some. Dr. James Hedtke, Cabrini political science and history professor, predicted some of these names when he was asked about possible Republican votes to convict.
“I think some possible Republican defections include Sasse, Romney, Collins, Murkowski and perhaps Toomey,” Hedtke said.
The final vote tally to convict Trump was 57-43. In order to convict, the Senate needed two-thirds of the votes. It was predicted by Smith, Fitzgerald and Hedtke that the required 67 votes would not be reached.
Now that Trump was acquitted, the door is open for a run in the 2024 presidential election. Nobody knows for sure whether he will run or even be the candidate put forward from the Republican party.
“There is a strong possibility that Trump will run again for president either as a Republican or an independent. Remember, the 74-75 million voters who supported him constitute an extremely large political base,” Hedtke said. “Will this fade over the next four years? That question is yet to be answered.”
