McConnell, Paul: Second Trump impeachment trial unconstitutional
Kentucky’s senators both signaled Tuesday that they believe the second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump is unconstitutional, leaving little reason to believe either will ultimately convict the 45th president of inciting the Jan. 6 insurrection of the U.S. Capitol.
Sens. Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul joined the majority of Republicans in a largely partisan vote that was carried by Democrats, 56-44, allowing the trial to proceed on Wednesday. Six Republican senators joined all Democrats to move forward.
Tuesday’s proceedings were intended to focus solely on the question of whether the Senate has the jurisdiction to conduct a trial of a president once he has left office.
But Democratic House impeachment managers began their case by playing a harrowing 13-minute video that chronicled the events of Jan. 6, from Trump’s rally on the ellipse to the storming of the U.S. Capitol by his supporters.
Featured prominently in the video compilation were McConnell’s own comments from the Senate floor before the raid on that day, when the still-Majority Leader dismissed some of Trump’s election fraud claims as “sweeping conspiracy theories.”
McConnell’s own words were spliced between video of rioters on the Capitol steps, fighting police officers moments before they breached the doors of the complex.
Rep. Jamie Raskin, the lead impeachment manager for House Democrats, argued that disallowing a trial of a former election official would create a “brand new January exception” to the U.S. Constitution, creating “an invitation to the president to take his best shot at anything he may want to do on his way out the door.”
The Maryland congressman noted that the end of a presidential term is when the impeachment process most needs to be protected, since that is the period when elections are most vulnerable to attacks.
Democrats also pointed to the historical precedent of an 1876 Senate trial of a former secretary of war, who resigned to avoid such a proceeding that would probe allegations of corruption. The House impeached him anyway and the Senate went on to proceed with a trial, ultimately choosing not to convict William Belknap.
Trump’s defense began with a rambling and largely unfocused presentation by his lead counsel, Bruce Castor, who largely avoided touching the central question of constitutionality.
“This trial is about trading liberty for security from the mob? Honestly, no. It can’t be. We can’t possibly be suggesting that we punish people for political speech in this country,” Castor said.
David Schoen, another Trump attorney, handled the constitutional portion of the defense, arguing that by delaying transfer of the impeachment article in January, Speaker Nancy Pelosi deprived the former president of having Chief Justice John Roberts -- a neutral arbiter -- preside over the trial.
Schoen said the delay caused “intentional abandonment or waiver of jurisdiction,” and prevented Trump the opportunity for “due process.”
But by that time McConnell had already said he would not bring the Senate back for a trial ahead of President Joe Biden’s inauguration.
“McConnell could have agreed to hold the trial right after the impeachment,” said Jonathan Ladd, an associate professor of Public Policy & Government at Georgetown University in Washington. “He insisted it should be delayed until after the inauguration and then voted today that it’s unconstitutional to hold the trial after the inauguration.”
In the immediate aftermath of the attack, McConnell had expressed some openness to convicting Trump and potentially disqualifying him from holding office again, but only through anonymous confidantes. Two weeks ago, he joined Paul and 43 other GOP senators supporting a motion questioning the constitutionality of the trial.
Paul, who appeared to be the only maskless senator on the floor on Tuesday, argued in an op-ed on FoxNews.com Tuesday that Democrats were hypocritical in blaming Trump for incitement based on political rhetoric.
“You either go after the Democrats who ‘incited violence’ or you say that political speech always inspires great passion, and the speaker is not responsible for the actions of the listener unless clearly calling for violence,” he wrote. “President Trump deserves the same standard as the other side. He deserves the protections of our Constitution.”
Despite McConnell and Paul’s votes, the trial will proceed Wednesday at noon, kicking off 16 hours of arguments that will be made over the next several days and extending through the weekend.
One person who claims not to be watching: the current president.
At an Oval Office event with business leaders, Biden said he was not tuning in to the trial of the man he defeated.
“The Senate has their job and they are about to begin it and I am sure they are going to conduct themselves well. And that’s all I am going to have to say about impeachment,” the president said.
This story was originally published February 9, 2021 at 5:52 PM with the headline "McConnell, Paul: Second Trump impeachment trial unconstitutional ."
