The United States Senate was expected to render a verdict in the second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump over the weekend, after Trump’s lawyers concluded their arguments.
The Senate was scheduled to reconvene on Saturday morning. He is scheduled to hold a debate on whether witness testimony should be allowed, followed by closing arguments.
The ball is now in the Republican court, as a minimum of 17 Republican senators would have to join all Democrats to reach the two-thirds majority required to find Trump guilty of “incitement to insurrection.”
While the Republican vote seems like an unlikely scenario, Democrats hope they can win over enough Republican senators to convict Trump for his role in the January Capitol riots.
Republican Senators Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Ben Sasse of Nebraska, Mitt Romney of Utah, and Susan Collins of Maine are some of the names Democrats could try to persuade.
These four are frequent critics of Trump and have said in the past that he incited the insurrection. They have also joined Democrats twice in voting against Republican efforts to dismiss impeachment.
Approaching impeachment ‘objectively’
Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy could also turn the tables. Cassidy voted in favor of the Republican effort to dismiss the trial two weeks ago. However, he changed his vote this week, saying that Trump’s lawyers had done a “terrible” job arguing that the trial was unconstitutional.
Cassidy was seen taking considerable notes during Friday’s trial. He said impeachment managers had raised some “intriguing questions” and hoped Trump’s defense councils would fully answer them.
He added that he was “trying to address it [the impeachment] objectively.”
Trump’s team quickly concludes
It took Trump’s attorneys just three hours to wrap up their presentation on Friday, calling the impeachment trial unconstitutional and an “act of political revenge.”
“The Senate should vote quickly and decisively to reject it,” said defense attorney Michael van der Veen.
They argued that Trump’s January 6 protest speech, in which he told his supporters to “fight”, was rhetorical.
The former president’s attorneys showed several video clips of prominent Democrats, including President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, using the word “fight” in their previous speeches.
“Please stop the hypocrisy,” said Trump’s attorney David Schoen.
Trump’s defense team also said the trial was an attempt to remove the former president from the political arena.
“Let’s be clear: this trial is so much more than President Trump,” said defense attorney Bruce Castor.
“It’s about canceling 75 million Trump voters and criminalizing political views. That’s what this essay is really about. ”
If Trump is convicted, the Senate could hold a second vote to ban him in a future re-election.
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