Trump’s second impeachment trial results in favor of conviction

On Jan. 13, 2021, the House of Representatives impeached former President Donald Trump for the second time, making Trump the first president to face impeachment trials.

Recall that back in Dec. of 2019, the House adopted two articles of impeachment against Trump: abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. The trial resulted in Trump being acquitted with no republicans in favor of conviction.

Trump’s charge for incitement of insurrection stemmed from Democrats’ accusation that he provoked his supporters to storm the U.S. Capitol and disrupt President Joe Biden’s Electoral College which left five people dead, including a Capitol Police officer according to Time.

The impeachment trials took place on Feb. 9.

House managers presented previously unseen riot footage, video and audio clips, video and social media postings from supporters, footage from Trump rallies and statements made by Trump as key evidence for the trials according to CNet.

All evidence suggested that Trump used violent and descriptive language to rile up his supporters, and deliberately used false claims about election fraud to overturn the election.

On the other side of the trial, Trump’s defense team stuck to a few strategies to outweigh the evidence.

The defense team presented an analysis of the constitution in regards to the First Amendment. According to Time, the defense argued that the trial is unconstitutional and a violation of Trump’s rights and said “Mr. Trump’s speech deserves full protection under the First Amendment.”

The House managers argued that the First Amendment is not a free-speech question, “it is a matter of the betraying of a presidential oath.”

Trump’s lawyers presented social media and video footage saying that the former president did not promote the riot. The footage also provided evidence of a democratic leader’s “reckless, dangerous and inflammatory rhetoric in recent years.”

On Feb. 13, the senate declared Trump not guilty of the article of impeachment. The prosecutors did not present sufficient evidence to build up to a crime of insurrection according to the Washington Post.

In order for a president to be impeached, 67 votes are needed to rule the majority. The votes were 57-43, 50 democrats and 7 republicans voted guilty and 43 republicans voted not guilty according to the New York Times.

Although Trump did not get convicted, his trial is considered the most bipartisan vote in favor of conviction according to the Washington Post.