Trump’s home managers and defense team will have 16 hours every two days to present two arguments.
Republican and Democratic leaders in the U.S. Senate have agreed a timeline for former President Donald Trump’s second impeachment lawsuit begins Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader announced Chuck Schumer.
The timeline provides for four days of equally divided arguments between U.S. House of Representatives managers, who file an impeachment lawsuit against the former president, and Trump defense lawyers, said Schumer Monday.
“All parties have agreed on a structure that will ensure that the former president has a fair and honest Senate impeachment test,” Schumer said.
“Both sides will have plenty of time to make their arguments.”
The U.S. House of Representatives joined Trump last month for “provoking a revolution” for his role in building a cluster of supporters, who attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. . Trump through his lawyers denies the accusation.
Under the terms of the timeline announced by Schumer, each house manager and Trump defense lawyers will have 16 hours over two days to present their individual arguments.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced the timeline for Trump’s impeachment lawsuit in comments on the Senate floor Monday [Jonathan Ernst/Reuters]
The Senate will rest for Sunday, starting at sunset on Friday, and return earlier than Sunday afternoon to complete the work, Schumer said.
Early next week, after concluding the initial arguments, the Senate intends to debate and decide whether to call witnesses, including Trump himself, before the case- to end the law, Schumer said.
Republican leader Mitch McConnell said the agreed timeline “preserves due process and the rights of both parties” and would give seniors “sufficient time to review the matter and the arguments ”.
Trump’s defense
Trump’s lawyers maintain that the former president did not provoke a riot at the U.S. Capitol last month and have argued that his impeachment by the House of Representatives should resigned by the Senate this week.
In a pre-trial summary submitted Monday, Trump’s legal team, Bruce Castor and David Schoen, offered a strong response to Democrats’ House allegations that the former president is guilty of “terrorism incitement”.
Democrats have heeded Trump’s speech to supporters just before the Capitol riot, in which he urged them to “fight” to block the confirmation of Joe Biden’s election victory, as evidence of “encouragement.”
Trump’s lawyers argue that, in addition to his views being defended by the U.S. First Amendment, which guarantees freedom of speech, “not a single word explicitly incited violence or injustice or interestingly ”.
Trump’s legal team said that, in addition to his speech not to include incitement, the impeachment process itself is illegal.
Trump was first introduced in 2019 for abuse of power to put pressure on the Ukrainian government. He was released after a two-week trial in the Senate.
It is the only U.S. president twice introduced.