The US House of Representatives on Monday presented a single article of impeachment to the US Senate accusing former US president Donald Trump of inciting the storming of the Capitol, setting in motion the first-ever impeachment trial of a former president.
In a procession, the nine House impeachment managers walked the article through the same ornate halls of the US Congress that were overrun by Trump supporters on Jan. 6 and delivered it to the Senate.
US Representative Jamie Raskin, the lead impeachment manager, then read out the charge against Trump on the Senate floor, where the former president continues to enjoy significant support from Republican senators.
Photo: Bloomberg
“Donald John Trump engaged in high crimes and misdemeanors by inciting violence against the government of the United States,” Raskin said.
“He threatened the integrity of the democratic system, interfered with the peaceful transition of power and imperiled a coequal branch of government,” Raskin read.
The Senate trial of the 74-year-old Trump, who was impeached by the Democratic-majority House on Jan. 13 for an unprecedented second time, is to begin the week of Feb. 8.
US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said that the 100 members of the Senate, who are to act as jurors, would be sworn in yesterday and a summons issued to Trump.
Democrats and Republicans agreed to delay the start of the trial for two weeks to allow Trump to prepare his defense against the charge of “incitement of insurrection,” and for the Senate to confirm US President Joe Biden’s Cabinet appointees.
US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts presided over Trump’s previous Senate trial — which ended with his acquittal — but the Senate president pro tempore is to preside over this trial.
The president pro tempore is the senior senator of the party with the majority in the Senate, currently the Democrats.
Patrick Leahy, 80, who was elected to the Senate in 1974, holds the position.
US Senator John Cornyn said that having a senator serve as both the judge and the jury raised a conflict of interest, but US Senator Lindsey Graham dismissed Cornyn’s concerns.
“I’ve known Pat a long time. I believe and hope he’ll be fair,” Graham said.
“When presiding over an impeachment trial, the president pro tempore takes an additional special oath to do impartial justice according to the constitution and the laws,” Leahy said. “It is an oath that I take extraordinarily seriously.”
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
RIVER TRAGEDY: Local fishers and residents helped rescue people after the vessel capsized, while motorbike taxis evacuated some of the injured At least 58 people going to a funeral died after their overloaded river boat capsized in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital, Bangui, the head of civil protection said on Saturday. “We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. “We don’t know the total number of people who are underwater. According to witnesses and videos on social media, the wooden boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on the Mpoko River on Friday. The vessel was heading to the funeral of a village chief in