The second impeachment trial of former US president Donald Trump is set to start in the Senate on Tuesday as the Republican’s defence team has decried the trial as a “brazen political act” of retribution. Trump’s impeachment trial will feature 100 US senators sitting as jurors.
Trump was charged with “incitement of insurrection” by the House of Representatives last month over his role in the violent siege of the US Capitol on January 6 where a pro-Trump mob attacked the legislature.
The attack came ahead of Congress’ certification of Joe Biden as the next US President, in a bid to stop the process and after a video posted by Trump where he asked his supporters to rally to the Capitol as he falsely claimed the November 3 elections are rigged.
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The legal team of Trump denounced the case as unconstitutional on Monday and said it is “absurd” to hold the 74-year-old former president responsible for the attack on Capitol, which left five dead.
By inciting supporters to storm Congress, the Democrats, in a preview of their prosecuting arguments, have accused Trump of committing the “most grievous constitutional crime” in the 232-year-old history of the presidency in the US, reports AFP.
The trial is set to start at 1pm (18:00 GMT) while much of Capitol Hill is still locked down under intense security one month after the attack. As of now, nearly 6,000 National Guards members are deployed in Washington amid fears of another extremist attacks.
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The proceedings will constitute a four-hours debate followed by vote on the constitutionality of trying an ex-president, according to a bipartisan deal.
The following couple of days, the Senate will hear arguments with 16 hours provided over two days per side.
While Trump has declined to testify in the Senate, after the arguments, Senators will pose questions to the two teams and if any side wants to call witnesses, a majority vote will decide that.
The trial is expected to extend into next week.
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US President Joe Biden has refused to comment on whether his predecessor should be found guilty or denied the right to hold future political office.
If convicted, the Senate will then vote on whether Trump should be barred from ever holding a federal office again.
However, convicting Trump is a tough deal as the majority vote of 67 senators is needed in the house, which means 17 Republicans would need to break ranks and join all 50 Democrats.
