After four hours of emotional testimony and bitter debate, Day One of the Trump impeachment trial has drawn to a close in the Senate.
Senate votes trial is constitutional
The Senate voted to move ahead with the historic impeachment trial, despite some Republican concerns that impeaching a president already out of office would be unconstitutional.
The vote was 56-44.
The six Republicans who joined with the Democrats on voting to continue the trial were Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Mitt Romney of Utah, Ben Sasse of Nebraska, and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania.
Cassidy had switched his vote from a previous point of order brought up last week by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. He said he did not view the 55-to-45 vote on Paul’s resolution as revealing how senators would vote when it comes to whether or not to convict Trump.
It was a vote in a moment of time. And so, based upon what senators knew at that point and felt at that point, they then voted. But we will now have, hopefully, presentations from both sides, and we will consider the evidence as impartial jurors,” he said on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday.
Senate approves impeachment timeline
The trial is slated to continue through the weekend with no days off, under a resolution authored by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and GOP Leader Mitch McConnell.
The eight-page bipartisan resolution set out the rules and timeline for Trump’s second impeachment trial in an effort to complete the unprecedented proceedings in a fair and speedy fashion.
Trump’s defense team got two hours to explain why the Senate trial shouldn’t go forward, and the House impeachment managers, led by Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., gott two hours to explain why the trial is warranted even for a departed president.
“Unlike the previous impeachment, Leader McConnell and I are introducing the resolution together. No one can claim it’s not fair,” Schumer, D-N.Y., said Tuesday. The resolution passed 89-11.
The trial will begin again Wednesday at noon in a similar fashion.
Democrats pull up graphic video of Capitol riot
As could be expected, lead impeachment manager Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., immediately cued up a graphic video of the Jan. 6 attack.
The Democratic video mashup of Trump’s own words encouraging his supporters to “fight like hell” was followed by graphic images of rioters then breaking down barricades at the Capitol and yelling profanities at officers, such as “f**k D.C. police.”
In one clip, rioters were seen berating and beating up Capitol police as they force their way into the Capitol. One officer died directly from his injuries, while another 140 officers were injured in the siege.
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