He may have left office, but the second impeachment of former U.S. President Donald Trump will proceed.
According to ABC News, the U.S. House leadership delivered the single article of impeachment against Trump to the Senate Monday evening. This is the second time in two years that the process of trying Trump is taking place.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said the trial will tentatively begin on Monday, February 8, as reported by ABC. The delay is in response to a request from Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to delay the trial and give Trump's legal defence team more time to prepare.
Trump has been charged with one count of inciting an insurrection. He is alleged to have encouraged a crowd of supporters to descend upon the Capitol Building in Washington, DC and disrupt the Electoral College certification of President Joe Biden's election victory. The crowd entered the building, causing extensive damage, and five people died in the melee, including a Capitol Police officer.
Proponents of impeachment have said Trump was directly responsible for what has been referred by some as an attempted coup. However, ABC reported that some Senate Republicans had argued such a trial would be unconstitutional since Trump is no longer in office.
The trial will be the fourth involving a U.S. president in the nation's history, and the first involving a former president. No president has ever been convicted and removed from office this way. Andrew Johnson was tried in 1868 for violating the Tenure of Office Act, Bill Clinton in 1999 for lying to a grand jury about an extramarital affair, and Trump last year for abuse of power and contempt of Congress.
A House committee had approved articles of impeachment in 1974 against Richard Nixon for his role in covering up the Watergate affair, but Nixon resigned before the full House could vote on them.
