News / Politics

Trump faces Senate Court of Impeachment today

Tuesday, 09 February 2021 4:17 PM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 09 February 2021 7:24 PM ]

Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer(C) (D-NY) walks with Democratic lawmakers on Capitol Hill February 9, 2021, in Washington, DC. (Photo by AFP)

Former US President Donald Trump's team has submitted his legal defense ahead of the Senate Court of Impeachment.

Trump, who will become the first US president to face two impeachment trials, faces his second impeachment trial on Tuesday.

Ex-President Trump to face 2nd impeachment trial in Congress

After a 2020 full of tension and political protests, the United States is about to be consumed by the 2nd impeachment trial of ex-president Donald Trump.

Last month, Trump was impeached for his role in inciting insurrection leading to the deadly January 6 attack on Capitol Hill.

He told his supporters in a speech on that day, “If you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.”

Trump loyalists responded shouting "fight for Trump" as they smashed their way into the Capitol, which houses the Congress.

Trump's legal team laid out their first extended 78-page impeachment defense on Monday, arguing that the Senate Court of Impeachment was unconstitutional, politically motivated, an infringement of free speech rights, and merely “political theater”, adding that the Senate had no power to sit in judgment of a former president.

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Pro-Trump rioters storm the US Capitol as Congress certifies the Electoral College

Senate “lacks jurisdiction” to try a former president because, by definition, he cannot be removed, the lawyers argued in the defense, claiming Trump did not “direct anyone to commit unlawful actions” or deserve blame for the conduct of what they called a “small group of criminals” who stormed into the Capitol building.

The lawyers said in Trump's defense that the former president’s claims of a stolen election, that were delivered at the rally outside the White House before the pro-Trump loyalists staged the attack, were protected by the First Amendment.

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