Trump’s impeachment trial to begin on February 8, says US Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer
- ‘It will be a full trial, it will be a fair trial,’ said Schumer
- Trump is the first president to be impeached twice and the first to face a trial after leaving office
Opening arguments in the US Senate impeachment trial for Donald Trump over the Capitol riot will begin the week of February 8, the first time a former president will face such charges after leaving office.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced the schedule on Friday evening after reaching an agreement with Republicans, who had pushed for a delay to give Trump a chance to organise his legal team and prepare a defence on the sole charge of incitement of insurrection.
The February start date also allows the Senate more time to confirm President Joe Biden’s Cabinet nominations and consider his proposed US$1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief package — top priorities of the new White House agenda that could become stalled during trial proceedings.
“We all want to put this awful chapter in our nation’s history behind us,” Schumer said about the deadly January 6 Capitol siege by a group of pro-Trump supporters. “But healing and unity will only come if there is truth and accountability. And that is what this trial will provide.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will send the article of impeachment late on Monday, with senators sworn in as jurors on Tuesday. But opening arguments will move to February.
Trump’s impeachment trial would be the first of a US president no longer in office, an undertaking that his Senate Republican allies argue is pointless, and potentially even unconstitutional. Democrats say they have to hold Trump to account, even as they pursue Biden’s legislative priorities, because of the gravity of what took place — a violent attack on the U.S. Congress aimed at overturning an election.
