Commentary
By Venkatesh Raghavan
Former President Donald Trump’s impeachment proceedings, though seeming to be weak from the numbers point of view, witnessed a strong water-tight presentation from the Democrats linking his January 6 speech to the footage of shocking violence that took place at the Capitol on that day. Rioter demanding to know where exactly is the counting of votes taking place in an intimidating manner to the law-enforcing authorities was shown in the footage. The footage also showed how two senators, Mitt Romney and Chuck Schumer managed to flee the violent eruption very narrowly.
The prosecutors contended that the violence that took place at Capitol comes across as a well-orchestrated move and the footage showing Trump’s speech besides what transpired on January 6 should be construed as strong circumstantial evidence. On the numbers front though, the House which has an even split of 50 senators from both Democrats and Republicans failed to show sufficient support for the impeachment to get implemented. For, impeachment of the President requires a two-thirds majority in the senate. However, only six Republicans voted in favor of impeachment, with the required numbers falling short of the 67-mark by 11 votes. The silver lining for the Democrats was a couple of Republican senators terming the presentation in front of the house as a compelling case.
The impeachment trial accused Donald Trump of inciting insurrection by means of an inflammatory speech. Earlier, the Republican lawyers who tried to nip the action at bud argued that since Trump had already remitted office, impeachment proceedings could not be initiated. However, the US constitution does not bar impeachment proceedings even after a President has stopped being in office. The Democrats who were faced with the task of initiating prosecution, used Trump’s clarion call to his supportive audience, “Fight like hell.”
Arguing in favour of Trump’s impeachment, Jamie Raskin, termed it as a dangerous precedent for America if such misdemeanor goes unpunished. Acts of incitement and mobilization of mob violence against the US government by its own President who refuses to accept the people’s mandate is unacceptable, he added. Senators who took Trump’s side voiced the opinion that the Democrats were seeking grounds to bar Trump from running for office again in the future.
Both Democrats and Republicans wanted to get over with the trial at the earliest, with President Joe Biden keen on clearing his agenda on slate to combat the Coronavirus as swiftly as he can. Media reports mentioned that the outcome of the trial can be expected as early as the coming Monday.
An impeachment trial means allegations levelled against a sitting president for committing crimes. The previous occasion such a thing came close to happening was when President Bill Clinton from the Democrat camp was accused of perjury about his intimate relationship with a White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Clinton however, admitted to his indiscretion and was saved from the embarrassment.
