Chuck Schumer, the majority leader in the US Senate, announced Friday, January 22, 2021, that the House of Representatives will raise the questioning of former President Donald Trump to the Senate on Monday, January 25, which means the start of trial procedures that may prevent him from returning To preside again.
Schumer said before the Senate that the House of Representatives will submit the accountability article to the Senate, which will hold the impeachment trial for Donald Trump, stressing that the trial will be complete and fair.
Trump's trial is due to take place as he is being held accountable for his role in the riots and violence in the Congress building on January 6, 2021.
Thus Trump will become the first president in the United States to be tried twice as parliament, in order to impeach him.
While members of the Republican Party in Congress seek to postpone Trump's trial until February 2021, demanding that he be given a time to prepare to defend himself in the accusations against him.
In a statement, Mitch McConnell, the Republican minority leader in the Senate, demanded that the indictment be postponed until January 28, provided that the first phase begins after this date, as Trump will have only two weeks to present his defense.
But the Democratic members of the House of Representatives have finished preparing the indictment against Trump for submission to the Senate.
It should be noted that Trump traveled to Florida as soon as his presidency ended and boycotted Biden's inauguration.
"No free exit card for Trump."
The President of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, said, Thursday, January 21, 2021, that she will consult in the coming days with Democratic representatives about the extent of the Senate's readiness to start Trump's trial.
Pelosi indicated, in her first press conference at the Capitol building under the new US administration, that she would speak with officials about the timing of the Senate’s readiness to prosecute "whoever was the President of the United States, for his role in inciting the armed rebellion with the Capitol, especially as he helped some of his supporters to cause chaos." ", Stressing that there is no free exit card for him without a trial.
However, the President of the US House of Representatives refused to give a time frame for the date of Trump's trial, noting that the next few days will witness discussion of the date of the trial in Congress, and that sending the articles of accusation to the Senate is linked to the extent of the House's willingness to receive it or not.
However, she added, "Everyone is asking (about the timing of the impeachment trial in the Senate), I will not tell you when it will happen. We had to wait for the Senate, for there to be a session. They have now informed us that they are ready to receive, and the question is other questions about how the trial will proceed, But we are ready. "
Pelosi, who previously described Trump as a threat to the United States, thanked God for the ex-president's exit from the White House, stressing that "pursuing impeachment measures at the start of the new session of Congress will not undermine efforts to support unity among its members. I am not concerned about that."
Biden's position on Trump's trial
In the first comment from the new US administration on the trial procedures of the former president, White House spokeswoman Jane Sackey said, Wednesday, January 20, 2021, that Biden will leave Trump's trial mechanisms to the Senate.
In a White House briefing, Saki said in the new administration's first statement that Biden had run against Trump. Because he knew that he was not suitable for the presidency, confirming her confidence that "the Senate can fulfill its constitutional duty while continuing to run the business of the American people."
She also added that the White House "will leave behind the mechanisms, timing and details of how Congress proceeds with the trial procedures," noting that the new US administration will not interfere in that.
The White House's comforting statements regarding its non-interference in Trump's trial coincided with the Democratic Party, the party of President-elect Joe Biden, controlling the majority of the seats in the US Senate, to gain control of the two chambers of Congress, in addition to the White House, for the first time in a decade.
Two new members of the US Senate were sworn in before Vice President Kamala Harris.
Harris will be the decisive voice in any vote in the Senate between Democrats and Republicans, who both now have 50 members, making the Democratic Party prevail.
Trial in the Senate
A Senate trial is known to take place when any US president in office is accused of a crime.
On January 13, 2021, the House of Representatives voted in favor of trying Trump a second time to impeach him.
It is noteworthy that 10 Republicans in the House of Representatives voted in favor of trying Trump.
However, the Democrats will need the support of 17 Republicans to succeed in trying Trump, because a conviction requires the approval of two-thirds of the House.
The case was referred to the Senate, but there was no time to complete the trial procedures before Trump left office, that is, before January 20, 2021.
But this does not mean that Trump will evade accountability, as senators can vote to prevent him from running for any future government office.
The trial is scheduled to begin with the Senate members serving as a jury, then the prosecution team (seven Democrats led by Adam Schiff, head of the Intelligence Committee) will deliver the opening statement, which includes the indictment (Trump is accused of abusing his power to pressure Ukraine for personal political gain, And also by obstructing justice by preventing him from appearing before the House of Representatives), and submitting support for these accusations in general.
After the prosecution team is finished, it is up to Trump's defense team to refute those allegations through the opening statement as well.
And here comes the decisive moment in that trial that began more than five months ago, when there will be a vote on whether witnesses should be called (most likely they will not appear in person in the courtroom; rather, the testimony will be recorded and shown in court through the recorded video), and this The vote does not require the approval of two-thirds of the members; Rather, it needs a simple majority, i.e. 51 members.
The trial start date has yet to be confirmed, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has not formally transferred the impeachment clauses to the Senate, a move that leads to the start of the trial the next day, in accordance with Senate rules. Pelosi said she would send the items "soon," but did not provide a specific timeline.
There will also be trials for other officials who stormed the Congress building.