US Senate Rules Trump Impeachment 'Constitutional'...6 Republican Votes Defect (Summary)

Impeachment Prosecution Team VS Defense Team 4-Hour Debate Ends in Constitutionality
Impeachment Trial Begins with 13-Minute Video of Congressional Intrusion
17 Republican Defectors Needed for Approval...Low Feasibility

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] The Senate impeachment trial of former U.S. President Donald Trump has officially begun. This is the first impeachment trial of a president after leaving office in U.S. history. Although Trump’s legal team argued that the trial was unconstitutional, the Senate voted that it was constitutional, marking the start of the formal impeachment proceedings. If this impeachment passes, it is expected to open the way for the U.S. Democratic Party to block former President Trump’s 2024 presidential bid at its root. However, since a significant number of defections from the Republican Party are required for the impeachment to pass, the prevailing analysis is that the actual possibility of impeachment is low.

According to foreign media including CNN, the U.S. Senate began the impeachment trial of former President Trump on the 9th (local time). Jamie Raskin, the Democratic Party’s lead impeachment manager and a member of the House of Representatives, appeared before the Senate that day and proposed first watching a video edited in chronological order of the January 6 Capitol riot, which was led by Trump’s ardent supporters, saying, "The trial against former President Trump will be based on calm and strong facts."

The approximately 13-minute video alternated scenes of former President Trump inciting his supporters by saying, "We fight like hell. We’re going to the Capitol," and footage of protesters storming the Capitol and engaging in intense physical clashes with police officers. The final scene ended with a sentence posted by Trump on Twitter: “We will remember this day forever.”

Representative Raskin emphasized the necessity of passing the impeachment, stating, "If this is not an impeachable offense, then there is no issue for which a president can be impeached in this world," and added, "The transfer of power is the most dangerous moment in every democracy, and we witnessed it in the most astonishing way. And we endured it."

In response to the Democrats’ offensive, Trump’s legal team argued that impeaching a former president is unconstitutional and unprecedented in U.S. history. According to the Associated Press, David Schoen, one of Trump’s defense attorneys, argued, "Impeachment of a president who has already left office is unconstitutional," and added, "The more than 74 million Americans who supported Trump in the last election see this impeachment as an attempt to remove Trump from politics and strip the rights of his supporters."

As both sides fiercely debated the constitutionality of the impeachment trial for four hours, the Senate proceeded to vote on the constitutionality of the trial and concluded that it was constitutional. The vote saw unanimous support from Democrats, while six Republicans defected, resulting in 56 votes in favor and 44 against. Accordingly, the Senate impeachment trial entered the full hearing phase.

The U.S. political media outlet Politico analyzed that the reason the Democrats launched such a strong offensive from the outset was to block former President Trump’s potential 2024 presidential bid at its root. Earlier, Trump had repeatedly stated before and after leaving office that he would run in the next presidential election, and the Democrats plan to pass a law banning Trump from holding public office after passing the impeachment, using it as a justification to prevent him from running for president altogether.

However, for the impeachment to pass, two-thirds of the entire Senate?67 out of 100 senators?must vote in favor, meaning 17 Republicans would need to defect. Therefore, the likelihood of the impeachment passing is expected to be low.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.