Impeachment Briefing: The Senate Has It From Right here

That is the Impeachment Briefing, The Instances’s e-newsletter concerning the impeachment investigation. Enroll right here to get it in your inbox.

What occurred at this time

• At about 7 p.m., the Home of Representatives delivered its article of impeachment in opposition to Donald J. Trump to the Senate, charging him with incitement of riot. This can be a ceremonial and extremely choreographed process through which the Home impeachment managers bodily carry the doc throughout the Capitol.

• After strolling the article via the halls {that a} mob ransacked simply weeks in the past, the lead impeachment supervisor — Consultant Jamie Raskin, Democrat of Maryland — learn it on the Senate ground. The article is 4 pages lengthy, and studying it took about 5 minutes.

• The article states that when Mr. Trump addressed his supporters on Jan. 6, he “willfully made statements that, in context, inspired — and foreseeably resulted in — lawless motion on the Capitol.”

• It additionally notes his earlier efforts to subvert the election outcomes and says his actions “threatened the integrity of the democratic system, interfered with the peaceable transition of energy, and imperiled a coequal department of presidency.”

• Officers confirmed that Senator Patrick J. Leahy, Democrat of Vermont, would preside over the trial in his function as president professional tempore of the Senate. Usually, the chief justice of america presides over such trials, however the truth that Mr. Trump is not in workplace creates some wiggle room.

The final two weeks

In case you’re discovering it onerous to consider it has been solely 12 days for the reason that Home voted to question Mr. Trump, we are able to’t blame you. Lots has occurred since then.

The most important factor that occurred, after all, is that President Biden was inaugurated, lessening the sensible implications of the impeachment trial. However the trial continues to be extremely important — each as a public sign of how a lot Republicans are prepared to tolerate from a pacesetter of their get together, and since if the Senate have been to convict Mr. Trump, it might vote to bar him from working once more.

Many Republican senators have argued that Mr. Trump’s departure makes impeachment a pointlessly divisive train, and if he’s finally acquitted, it might be for that purpose: The timing permits Republicans to take situation with process, quite than defending Mr. Trump’s actions.

Senators Chuck Schumer of New York and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Democratic and Republican leaders, reached an settlement final week to delay the trial for 2 weeks, to permit time each for Mr. Trump’s legal professionals to arrange their protection and for the Senate to work on confirming extra of Mr. Biden’s cupboard nominees.

What occurs subsequent

Impeachment is now formally within the Senate’s arms, however the trial received’t begin till Feb. 9. We talked to Nicholas Fandos, one in every of The Instances’s congressional reporters, about what’s in retailer.

What occurs within the two weeks earlier than the trial begins?

On Tuesday, the Senate will convene as a court docket of impeachment for the primary time in order that senators can take an oath to manage “neutral justice” and situation a summons to Mr. Trump to reply the cost in opposition to him. However after that, the trial will basically be placed on pause till Feb. 9 to permit the prosecution and protection to attract up and submit a sequence of written briefs laying out their arguments. Within the meantime, the Senate will go on engaged on affirmation of nominees to President Biden’s cupboard.

As soon as the trial begins, can we count on it to run equally to the final impeachment trial?

We count on the substantive a part of the trial to look roughly just like the one final 12 months, simply on fast-forward. All sides will get to current its case, senators could have time to query them, and the chamber will vote on whether or not to name for added witness testimony. That ought to all happen in simply three or 4 days.

If senators do wish to hear from witnesses, that might improve the size of the trial by weeks. But when not, there could possibly be a vote to convict or acquit Mr. Trump by the top of the week of Feb. 8.

Are there open questions that you just hope might be answered within the subsequent two weeks?

The 2 largest questions proper now are the place Republicans will land on Mr. Trump’s guilt and whether or not they’ll wish to hear from extra witnesses. Conceivably, any senators might announce their positions on these points within the subsequent two weeks, however my guess is that they’ll chew their tongue, bide their time and wait till February to make these calls.

What else we’re studying

• Two weeks earlier than the impeachment trial begins, the Senate’s divisions are already hardening. Senator Mitt Romney of Utah, who forged the one Republican vote to convict Mr. Trump the primary time he was impeached, appears ready to take action once more, whereas many different Republicans are bashing the choice to carry a trial in any respect.

• Consultant Eric Swalwell of California, one of many Home impeachment managers, appeared on MSNBC to argue for the constitutionality of holding a Senate trial in opposition to somebody who’s not president. He cited the 1876 impeachment trial of William Belknap, which was held after he had resigned as battle secretary.

The Impeachment Briefing can be accessible as a e-newsletter. Enroll right here to get it in your inbox.