(Washington) The US Senate approved on Saturday the possibility of calling witnesses in the trial of Donald Trump, accused of “inciting insurgency.” The move could delay the final vote on the ruling for days, if not weeks, as Republican leader Mitch McConnell announced that he would vote to acquit the former president.
In a vote that caused confusion within the Senate itself, all 50 Democrats and five Republicans, out of 100, voted in favor of a motion to allow witnesses to be called.
In a quick series, this vote came after the surprise announcement by the leader of the Elected Democrats leveling an accusation against Donald Trump, Jimmy Ruskin, that he wanted to summon a Republican parliamentarian to testify.
At the opening of the fifth day of the former president’s trial for his role in the fatal assault on Capitol Hill, Mr. Ruskin announced that he wanted to summon Republican Jaime Herrera Beutler.
This elected member of the House of Representatives reported a sharp exchange between House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy and Donald Trump during the January 6 attack.
Citing a conversation he was told of, Jaime Herrera Beutler explained that Mr. McCarthy called the assaulted Republican president to ask him to publicly urge the rioters to calm down.
Then Mr. Trump claimed that he had heard that these protesters were in fact “Antifa,” an extreme left movement. Mr. McCarthy reportedly responded that they were indeed Trump supporters.
Jaime Herrera Beutler wrote in a statement on Saturday, “At that time, according to Mr. McCarthy, the President said, ‘Well, Kevin, I imagine these people are even more angry with you about the election’ that was won by his rival Joe Biden. ”
The latter was one of 10 Republicans, out of 211, to vote for Donald Trump’s January 13 trial in the House of Representatives.
Democrats now want to hear it.
Five Republicans joined the Democrats in the vote to call witnesses: Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Mitt Romney and Ben Sassy as well as Lindsay Graham, Donald Trump’s great ally, after a last-minute turnaround.
The political trial, which took place quickly this week, can continue now, with Republican attorneys indicating that they can also summon multiple witnesses.
McConnell will vote for acquittal
Earlier Saturday, Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell announced that he would vote to acquit Donald Trump, accused of “inciting to revolt” during the attack on Capitol Hill, in a letter to his parliamentary group that was reported by US media shortly before. Historic trial resumes.
PHOTO MANDEL NGAN, French press agency
Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell
The announcement of the influential strategist is the death knell for the Democrats’ hopes of indicting the former president, as it now appears more unlikely that 17 Republican senators and 50 Democrats will vote to convict him. Explaining that he believed the Senate did not have the power to rule on a former president in the event of impeachment, he wrote: “In light of these conclusions, I will vote acquittal.”
“Although this is a difficult decision, I am convinced that the impeachment trials are a tool aimed primarily at removing an“ official from his positions, ”and therefore we do not possess the required skills,” explains Republican.
Consequently, the senator follows the constitutional argument put forward by 45 lawyersH President of the United States.
But Mitch McConnell is keen to point out that a president could be sued after leaving the White House. One way to respond to Democratic prosecutors, who argued that recognizing that the president cannot be tried in the Senate after his departure means that US leaders will have discretion to commit crimes in the final weeks of their term.
“The constitution makes clear that presidential crimes committed in office can be prosecuted after the president leaves office,” says Mitch McConnell.
The senator, a former close ally of Donald Trump, has not spoken to him since acknowledging the victory of his rival, Joe Biden, in mid-December.
For weeks, Mr. McConnell questioned his vote at this trial and claimed that the Capitol Hill rioters, pro-Trump demonstrators, had been “showered with lies” and “urged” to act “by the president and other powerful people.”
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