Trump acquitted once again

House+intelligence+chairman+Adam+Schiff+delivers+the+opening+statement+of+the+impeachment+trial.+Later+that+week%2C+former+president+trump+would+be+acquitted+a+second+time.+

Photo courtesy of Reuters

House intelligence chairman Adam Schiff delivers the opening statement of the impeachment trial. Later that week, former president trump would be acquitted a second time.

Iliana Moreno, Co-Editor-in-Chief

Following the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the US Capitol, house democratic lawmakers passed resolutions to impeach former President Donald Trump.

After passing in the House of Representatives, the case headed to the Senate, where senators heard both sides of the prosecution and defense in order to vote to remove a former president from office.

In order to convict the former president, the Senate needed to reach the super threshold; however they fell 10 votes short with all democratic senators and 10 GOP senators voting to impeach Trump, making it the most bipartisan impeachment in history, according to the Washington Post.

During the trial, the House impeachment managers argued that the former president was an instigator, after the groundwork for the insurrection had been in works for months.

They claimed that Trump laid the groundwork for this event through misleading and false claims given before and up until the day of the attack on the Capitol.

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) said, “He built this mob over many months with repeated messaging until they believed that they had been robbed of their vote and they would do anything to stop the certification.”

New footage of the January 6 attack was presented by the impeachment managers, most notably a video where officer Eugene Goodman stops Sen. Mitt Romney (R- UT) from heading towards the rioters.

To close the argument, lead impeachment manager Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) said, “My dear colleagues, is there any political leader in this room who believes that if he is ever allowed by the Senate to get back into the Oval Office, Donald Trump would stop inciting violence to get his way?”

In the rebuttal from Trump’s lawyers, they focused the argument claiming that political speech is protected, and the Senate cannot convict a former president that is now a private citizen.

Senior Camila Abbud said, “By not doing so [convicting Trump], it is an indication that this type of behavior is tolerated and there are no such things as consequences.”

One of the lawyers from Trump’s legal defense, Michael van der Veen used edited videos to argue that the democrat’s language and rhetoric is “indistinguishable”.

Lead of Trump’s legal team, Bruce Castor Jr. lead the opening argument with, “We can’t possibly be suggesting that we punish people for political speech in this country.”

Even after the acquittal, former president Trump remains the only president to ever be impeached twice.