The Second Impeachment Is Underway

Yesterday the US Senate convened to decide whether the 2nd impeachment of former President Donald J. Trump is constitutional. The House Impeachment Managers and the legal counsel for the former president argued approximately two hours each in order to convince the Senate of their opposing views on the legality and constitutionality of the impeachment. The House Impeachment Managers apparently gave the most convincing argument, as at the end of the day all 48 Democrat Senators, the two independent Senators and six Republican Senators affirmed the impeachment as constitutional.

So today and tomorrow will be dedicated to the House Impeachment Managers presenting their arguments. Friday and Saturday are dedicated to the former president’s legal counsel. The proceedings after that depends on how long they need to debate, and whether they will allow witnesses in the legal proceedings.

We need to keep in mind that the jurors in this impeachment trial are also victims of and witnesses to the siege of Capitol Hill on January 6th. Regrettably, the TV audience is not able to see the senators and their reactions to the arguments laid before them by the House Impeachment Managers today as they seek to remind them of Trump’s propagation of “the Big Lie” which they argue led to the insurrection on January 6th. I cannot but wonder who is more affected by the line of argument, the tweets, videos and timelines presented: the TV audience whose sole focus is on the prosecution / defense and the evidence they put forth. Or the victims / witnesses / jurors whose focus I can only hope is directed there as well. I wonder whether being on the Senate floor precisely five weeks later, with the Impeachment Managers reminding the jurors how they were victims and witnesses that day, will affect their faith in and oath to the Constitution.