Kiev. Ukraine. Ukraine Gate – February 10, 2021 – International News
A majority of members of the US Senate on Tuesday, February 9, voted to impeach former President Donald Trump, agreeing with the Democrats’ argument that the procedure of impeachment of the president, who is no longer acting and is a private person, is allowed by the US Constitution.
Trump’s lawyers have argued that the Senate has no legal authority to prosecute the former president’s impeachment.
Democrats in the House of Representatives announced Donald Trump’s impeachment a few days before he officially resigned on January 20. Trump was accused of inciting the uprising.
After a four-hour debate in which both sides presented their arguments, the question of the constitutionality of the process of impeachment of the resigned president was put to a vote in the Senate. A simple majority of votes is required to continue the process. As a result, 56 senators recognized the constitutionality of the impeachment, and 44 Republican senators disagreed.
Six Republicans in the Senate supported the impeachment – Bill Cassidy, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Mitt Romney, Ben Sasso and Pat Toomey.
Immediately after this vote, the session in the Senate ended. The senators will meet again to continue the impeachment process on Wednesday, February 10, at 12 noon local time.
Impeachment managers from the House of Representatives and Trump’s defense team have up to 16 hours to speak for two days.
Trump’s impeachment proceedings were initiated because of statements made by Trump on January 6. That day, supporters of the Republican, who gathered in the US capital for a rally in support of him, stormed the US Congress, trying to prevent the approval of the results of the presidential election held on November 3 last year, which was won by Democrat Joe Biden.
The article of the indictment in the resolution approved by the House of Representatives is one – incitement to revolt.
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In fact, this is the second impeachment for Trump.