“I have presided over hundreds of hours in my time in the Senate. Leahy has shrugged off criticism from Republicans that he would not be objective in the role. He can also theoretically rule on the admissibility of evidence, but can be overruled by a Senate vote. Leahy will perform key duties, including reading questions submitted by legislators.
Roberts declined to participate in this trial, however, and there is no law regarding who should preside over the impeachment trial of a former president. He will preside over the trial, a role typically reserved for the chief justice of the Supreme Court.Ĭhief Justice John Roberts presided over Trump’s first impeachment trial, as is required by the US Constitution.
Here is who’s who in Trump’s impeachment trial: Senator Patrick Leahy, president pro tempore of the Senate Senator Patrick Leahy ĭemocrat Leahy is the longest-serving senator in the chamber, and is third in the line of presidential succession. While a conviction would not remove Trump, who will not testify during the trial, from office, it could lead to him being barred from holding future federal office through a subsequent Senate vote. Trump’s defence team will argue that a speech he gave before the riot is protected under the First Amendment of the US Constitution, that he was denied due process, and that the proceedings are unconstitutional as Trump is no longer in office. Nine House Democrats, appointed as so-called “impeachment managers”, will argue that Trump pointed the rioters “like a loaded cannon” towards the Capitol and that his actions and words in the weeks leading up to the insurrection contributed to the violence. Two-thirds of the 100-member Senate would need to vote to convict Trump, and with Democrats only holding 50 seats in the chamber, that is considered unlikely. The proceedings will mark the first time a former president has faced an impeachment trial. The trial is set to begin just under a month after the US House of Representatives impeached Trump for “incitement of insurrection” in relation to the deadly January 6 storming of the US Capitol and to repeated false claims the US election was stolen from him. Former US President Donald Trump will face his second impeachment trial in the United States Senate this week.