‘I think the trial is stupid’: Republicans raise doubts ahead of Donald Trump’s impeachment

The Republicans on Sunday indicated that Democrats will have to fight to secure former US President Donald Trump’s conviction when the Senate opens his impeachment trial on February 9, reported AFP.

On Monday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is expected to send senators a single article of impeachment passed in the House of Representatives that blames Trump for inciting the US Capitol violence on January 6, which killed five people.

However, as the two parties prepare for what is likely to be a quick trial, Republicans have started raising doubts about the impeachment, pushing it back with political and constitutional arguments.

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The Democrats control 50 seats in the 100-seat chamber and can secure 17 Republican votes to reach the two-thirds majority needed to convict.

“I think the trial is stupid. I think it’s counterproductive. We already have a flaming fire in this country and it’s like taking a bunch of gasoline and pouring it on top,” Marco Rubio, the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, told Fox News Sunday.

Although he acknowledged that Trump bears some responsibility for what happened.”

Other Republicans argued that the Senate has no authority to put a private citizen — as Trump now is — on trial.

Senator Mike Rounds told NBC that the constitution does not allow for the impeachment of a former president.

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The Capitol riots were documented on videos seen around the world — as were Trump’s earlier exhortations to the crowd to “fight” for his presidency — complicating his defence.

His case may have suffered further after the New York Times reported Friday that Trump had considered ousting the US acting attorney general in favour of a low-ranking official receptive to his efforts to overturn the election result.

Biden has publicly taken a hands-off approach to the impeachment, eager to put Trump in the rear-view mirror and seek progress on fighting the coronavirus pandemic and reviving a devastated economy.

Biden spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Friday that the president “believes that it’s up to the Senate and Congress to determine how they will hold the former president accountable.”

And Daniel Goldman, who was lead counsel for the House’s first impeachment inquiry, tweeted Sunday that “the only way to ensure this lawless, authoritarian, anti-democratic conduct never happens again is to hold him accountable.”