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Today, Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, will transfer to the United States Senate a single article of impeachment against former President Donald J. Trump for incitement of the Capitol Hill invasion back on January 6th. She held off sending them over when she heard from then Majority Leader Mitch McConnell that the Senate would not take up the business until at least January 19th, when it came back into session.
I’m guessing she didn’t want to stomp all over the Inauguration, so now we get to see what the U.S. Senate under Majority Leader Chuck Schumer will do with this.
Some on the right have argued that this was an impeachable offense, but not criminal. There has been a lot of evidence collected since the Impeachment article was passed that have gone toward saying that the plan was already in the works, that it started before Trump was even finished, and that many people left the rally to go home.
Some have argued that the Senate should dismiss this as out of order, since Trump is no longer President. This has precedent, but doubtful that it will happen with the Democrats holding 51-50 majority.
What it seems the goal is now is to prevent President Trump from ever running again. That’s all that it could accomplish, and if it could accomplish this is uncertain. If there were a conviction and he were still President, they you could choose to remove him AND never let him run again. The Democrats are hoping that they will be able to use that last part to make it so that Trump doesn’t run in 2024, and if you can believe the Main Stream Media, Minority Leader McConnell agrees:
“Mitch said to me he wants Trump gone,” one Republican member of Congress told CNN. “It is in his political interest to have him gone. It is in the GOP interest to have him gone. The question is, do we get there?”
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The ongoing Republican whisper campaign, according to more than a dozen sources who spoke to CNN, is based on a shared belief that a successful conviction is critical for the future of the Republican party. Multiple sources describe this moment as a reckoning for the party.”Trump created a cult of personality that is hard to dismantle,” said a former senior Republican official. “Conviction could do that.”
McConnell privately says he wants Trump gone as Republicans quietly lobby him to convict
I tend to agree with the quotes from Sen. Ron Johnson and Sen. Lindsey Graham. Should 17((There’s that number again, Q people.)) republicans decide to vote to impeach and remove former President Trump, those in the GOP that already want Trump to create a new party and see the GOP destroyed will have all the more reason to do just that.
Lastly, during the first impeachment trial, then President Trump had various lawyers there on his behalf to put forth his case. This time around, who is going to represent him? Last time around he could say that he was too busy with governing the country to be present for his own hearing. This time around, he could appear in person and play to the cameras once again. Of course, the cameras could just be on and feature the Senators and House Managers berating him and not show him speaking in his own defense.
It would be a risky move, but it is not outside the realm of possibility.
And what if, during this time, he did bring up other evidence that he won the election, or items about people in the room, etc. Letting a former President have the floor could be pretty risky for the Senate. Maybe Majority Leader Schumer should make a deal so that he doesn’t show up.
