Trump Bears 'Unmistakable' Responsibility for Capitol Riot, House Impeachment Brief Argues
- by Virginia Carter
- in World Media
- — Feb 3, 2021
Over the weekend, Trump announced a new line-up for the legal defense team that would be representing him next week during the Senate impeachment trial, raising concerns among Washington insiders over the last-minute changes.
The House Democrats wrote that Trump's embrace of unfounded accusations that the 2020 election was stolen from him helped foment his supporters' attack on the Capitol.
Some legal experts have said it is appropriate to hold the trial after Trump has left office, but there is no clear answer in the U.S. Constitution and no court has ruled on the issue.
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"That's why the Democratic senators should call Lindsey Graham's bluff", he added. Nowhere in the Constitution does it say that a private citizen can be put on trial in the Senate. The process has now moved to the Senate, where a trial is set to begin next week.
The date looms despite all but five Republicans voting to challenge the constitutional grounds of convicting a former president. "But despite our differences, our carefully considered views of the law lead all of us to agree that the Constitution permits the impeachment, conviction, and disqualification of former officers, including presidents".
There is also controversy as to whether the trial is the most efficient remedy for an impeached president no longer in office.
A Donald Trump supporter holds an ‘Impeach Liz Cheney’ sign during a protest
In the brief, the nine House impeachment managers argue that Trump is not protected by the First Amendment's freedom of speech provision, which was never intended, they wrote, to allow a president to "provoke lawless action if he loses at the polls". "It is tearing the country apart at a time when we don't need anything like that".
Trump was impeached by the House on January 13.
Central to the House's argument is that Trump's public statements and actions threatened American democracy at its core in a way that the US has never seen in modern times.
The Senate voted 55-45, meaning that impeachment will go ahead. Schoen previously served as an attorney for Trump surrogate and pardonee Roger Stone.
Here is an overview of the once-academic debate that has taken on new importance. "Only after President Trump is held to account for his actions can the Nation move forward with unity of goal and commitment to the Constitution". "Over the past year, increasingly over the past six months, he turned to me for advice", Schoen had said during that interview, adding that Epstein wanted to be billed for that service, but he declined because, he "wasn't sure where the relationship was going".
'Can you imagine the slap in the face that is to the 75 million or more voters who voted for Donald Trump?'
