Trump impeachment trial to start Feb. 8

WASHINGTON — A Senate trial for the impeachment of former President Donald Trump won’t start until the week of Feb. 8, although the House will deliver its impeachment article Monday.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., reached an agreement to delay the start of the trial, to allow both sides to prepare legal arguments and to allow the Senate to continue to work on confirming President Joe Biden’s Cabinet nominees.

“We all want to put this awful chapter in our nation’s history behind us,” Schumer said, referring to the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol siege by a mob 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.”

Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., said she is ready to carry out her constitutional duty to hear the facts in the case that will be presented to the Senate by House impeachment managers.

“We are all witnesses and victims to Jan. 6,” Cortez Masto told Nevada reporters about the Capitol breach by Trump loyalists following a rally where the president urged the crowd to fight.

“To me, this is something where the facts cannot be distorted,” said Cortez Masto, a former Nevada attorney general, who added that she would weigh the arguments in the case before making a determination of guilt.

Not the first trial

Cortez Masto and Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., voted to convict Trump on two impeachment resolutions in 2020 for charges of obstruction of Congress and abuse of office after the president pressured the president of Ukraine to supply damaging information against political rival Joe Biden. The Senate did not convict Trump.

The Jan. 6 riot left five people dead, including a Capitol Hill policeman, and forced a lockdown of the House and Senate. Lawmakers and Vice President Mike Pence were whisked to safety as violent rioters overran police officers at doors and windows.

House Democrats were joined by 10 GOP lawmakers on Jan. 13 in voting to impeach Trump.

The Nevada delegation voted along party lines, with Democrats Dina Titus, Steven Horsford and Susie Lee voting to impeach and Republican Mark Amodei voting against impeachment.

“Domestic terrorists encouraged by the president of the United States attempted to destroy our democracy and prevent the peaceful transfer of power,’’ Titus said after the riot and before the House voted to impeach.

Respecting the process

Pelosi said the House has been respectful of the Senate and its procedures. She said the House managers would transfer the article of impeachment Monday and were prepared to argue the case for conviction “to ensure that no one is above the law.”

“When the article of impeachment is transmitted to the Senate, the former president will have had nearly two weeks since we passed the article” to prepare for the trial, Pelosi said.

All 50 Senate Democrats would need to vote to convict and secure the support of 17 Republicans to achieve the two-thirds majority, or 67 votes, necessary to convict the president on the impeachment charge.

Lawmakers could also then vote on a resolution that would prohibit Trump from holding federal office again. Trump, the only president to be impeached twice, has said he would be a candidate for president in 2024.

Biden focused on agenda

The White House has remained supportive of the Senate holding a trial but has strongly emphasized the need for lawmakers to prioritize President Joe Biden’s proposals to produce and distribute vaccines and provide relief to Americans suffering from the pandemic.

Biden has proposed a $1.9 trillion relief package that would provide direct checks of $1,400 to citizens, extend and increase federal unemployment benefits, provide aid to small businesses and ramp up production of vaccines and increase testing.

White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters during a briefing that lawmakers need to move forward with the trial and the Biden relief package.

“What cannot be delayed through this process is his proposal to get relief to the American people at this time of crisis,” Psaki said.

Senate leaders were expected to meet over the weekend and next week to map out the trial.

Although several Senate Republicans, including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who have publicly blamed Trump for inciting the riotous crowd, only a few GOP lawmakers have said they would consider a vote to convict the former president.

Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., said that if the point of impeachment and a Senate trial is to remove a president, there was no point in dedicating time to conduct proceedings against a president who has already left office.

Contact Gary Martin at gmartin@reviewjournal.com. Follow @garymartindc on Twitter. The Associated Press contributed to this story.