Joe Biden no relation United States presidential impeachment
The second impeachment trial of Donald Trump, the 45th president of the United States, began on February 9, 2021, and concluded with his acquittal on February 13. Donald Trump had been impeached for the second time by the House of Representatives on January 13, 2021. The House adopted one article of impeachment against Trump: incitement of insurrection. He is the only U.S. president and only federal official to be impeached twice. He was impeached by the House seven days prior to the expiration of his term and the inauguration of Joe Biden. Because he left office before the trial, this was the first impeachment trial of a former president. The article of impeachment addressed Trump's attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results (including his claims of election fraud and his efforts to pressure election officials in Georgia) and stated that Trump incited the attack on the Capitol in Washington, D.C., while Congress was convened to count the electoral votes and certify the victory of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.At the beginning of the trial, Senator Rand Paul forced a vote to dismiss the impeachment charge on the basis that it was unconstitutional to try a former president, arguing that impeachment only applies to current federal officers and that the punishment of removal from office was moot under the circumstances. Supporters of proceeding with the trial argued that the Constitution also permits disqualification from holding future office, which the House had requested in its article of impeachment. The motion was defeated in a 55–45 vote, with all Democrats, both independents, and five Republicans (Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Mitt Romney of Utah, Ben Sasse of Nebraska, and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania) voting against the motion. This was the first time that a former president had been tried, and only the second time the Senate tried someone who had already left office, after Secretary of War William W. Belknap in 1876. Jamie Raskin was the lead impeachment manager and the primary author – along with Representative David Cicilline and Representative Ted Lieu – of the impeachment article, which charged Trump with inciting an insurrection by sparking the Capitol attack. Joaquin Castro, Eric Swalwell, Madeleine Dean, and Stacey Plaskett also assisted in delivering the oral arguments for conviction.
Trump's defense was led by Michael van der Veen, a personal injury lawyer from Philadelphia, along with David Schoen and Bruce Castor. Van der Veen's style and substance during the trial drew ridicule and criticism from many, with gasps and laughter in the Senate when he stated that he would seek to depose at least 100 people at his Philadelphia office, including Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi and Vice President Kamala Harris. Trump had originally hired Butch Bowers and Deborah Barbier to represent him, but they quit along with three other lawyers after "the former president wanted the lawyers representing him to focus on his allegations of mass election fraud" and his false claim that "the election was stolen from him."At the conclusion of the trial, the Senate voted 57–43 to convict Trump of inciting insurrection, falling 10 votes short of the two-thirds majority required by the Constitution, and Trump was therefore acquitted. Seven Republican senators joined all Democratic and independent senators in voting to convict Trump, the largest bipartisan vote for an impeachment conviction of a U.S. president or former U.S. president. After the vote on the acquittal, Mitch McConnell said it is no doubt that Trump is practically and morally responsible for inciting the events at the Capitol but he voted against conviction due to his interpretation of the United States Constitution.Aftermath
After being acquitted in the Senate impeachment trial, Trump has continued to face legal troubles, including the threat of criminal action or civil litigation. The prospect that Trump could face a criminal prosecution or civil lawsuit arising from the Capitol assault was raised by a number of Republican members of Congress, including Representative Liz Cheney, Senator Marco Rubio and Senator minority leader Mitch McConnell.The office of Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger started an investigation into Trump's attempts to overturn the state's election results, including a phone call the former president made to Raffensperger. The Fulton County district attorney, Fani Willis, has also started a criminal investigation into whether Trump should be charged for soliciting election fraud, a violation of Georgia state law. Trump has expressed concern that he could be criminally charged for his actions surrounding the Capitol storming. Trump separately faces an investigation in Manhattan relating to his company's business dealings.Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution disqualifies from federal or state office anyone who has taken an oath to support the Constitution and either "engaged in insurrection or rebellion" against the Constitution, or "given aid to the enemies" of the US. Although the section's text does not explicitly describe how it is invoked, by congressional precedent, disqualification is invoked by a simple majority of both chambers, and can be removed by a supermajority of both chambers. During the second impeachment of Donald Trump, Section 3 was cited in the Article of Impeachment as part of the basis for barring Trump from holding future office. It is disputed whether Section 3 can be used as a potential "alternate path to disqualification [from office]" if the Senate votes to acquit Trump of the impeachment charge. Democrats such as Richard Blumenthal, Chris Murphy, Dick Durbin, and Ben Cardin, have considered invoking Section 3 to bar Trump from holding office again, though such a move would enter uncharted constitutional and legal territory.
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