Democrats Debate Pace And Strategy Of Impeachment Trial As Leaders Finalize Rules

Topline

Senate leaders moved closer to finalizing the rules of former President Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial a day before it was set to begin, though Democrats remain deeply divided over the strategy they should deploy.

Key Facts

Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) are close to reaching an agreement that would allow for 16 hours of debate from each side starting Wednesday, and the opportunity for witnesses to be called, according to multiple reports.

Under the proposed rules, the Senate on Tuesday would debate the constitutionality of the trial—a key point of debate for Republicans—followed by a vote on the matter. 

The trial would break during the Jewish Sabbath, after 5 p.m. EST on Friday through Saturday, at the request of Trump attorney David Schoen. 

Democrats are split over whether to call witnesses, with some arguing the lawmakers themselves—who were all present during the riot—are enough, while others think it necessary to have people such as the Capitol Police officers describe their experiences or Georgia GOP officials to detail Trump’s coercion, according to Politico.

Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) are eager for the trial to finish swiftly, Politico reports, citing anonymous sources, and some senior Democrats believe the trial to already be a lost cause after 45 Republican senators voted to declare it unconstitutional.

“If the managers decide they want witnesses there will be a vote on that,” Schumer emphasized during a press conference on Monday, acknowledging the House managers still “weren’t sure” if they wanted witnesses. 

Chief Critic

Trump’s legal team dismissed the second impeachment trial as a “brazen political act” in a trial brief filed Monday. “One might have been excused for thinking that the Democrats’ fevered hatred for Citizen Trump and their ‘Trump Derangement Syndrome’ would have broken by now, seeing as he is no longer the President,” the trial lawyers wrote, forecasting the argument they will make this week. “And yet for the second time in just over a year the United States Senate is preparing to sit as a Court of Impeachment, but this time over a private citizen who is a former President.”

In response, Democratic impeachment managers called for Trump’s conviction arguing the former presidents “incitement of insurrection against the United States government” is the “most grievous constitutional crime ever committed by a President.”

Crucial Quote 

“We have the unusual circumstance where on the very first day of the trial, when those managers walk on the floor of the Senate, there will already be over 100 witnesses present, and those will be the House and Senate members,” House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff, the lead impeachment manager during Trump’s first impeachment, said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “Whether you need additional witnesses will be a strategic call for the House managers.”

Big Number

24. That’s how many hours each side was allowed to debate during Trump’s first impeachment trial. 

Surprising Fact

In January 2020, when the Senate debated whether to call witnesses during Trump’s first impeachment trial, Schumer was adamant not doing so would make the trial a “sham”  and a “grand tragedy.”

What To Watch For 

If no witnesses are called, the trial could finish as soon as next week. Trump’s first impeachment trial lasted two weeks and 6 days. Aside from witnesses, Democratic impeachment managers are planning to use video clips and audio recordings from January 6 in an emotional appeal to Republicans. 

Tangent

Last week, House impeachment managers formally requested Trump testify during the trial, but the former president’s attorneys declined

Key Background

For Trump to be convicted, 17 Republicans will need to break ranks and join all 50 Democrats. Just five Republicans—Mitt Romney of Utah, Ben Sasse of Nebraska, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania—voted with Democrats against an order disputing the constitutionality of the trial last month. 

Further Reading

Democrats’ big shift in Trump’s second impeachment (Politico)

POLITICO Playbook: Democratic impeachment managers feeling muzzled (Politico)


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