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Trump's Historic Second Impeachment Trial Starts Tuesday

Ken Bredemeier

   WASHINGTON - The historic second impeachment trial of former President
   Donald Trump starts Tuesday in the U.S. Senate, with Trump accused of
   inciting insurrection a month ago by urging his supporters to confront
   lawmakers at the U.S. Capitol as they were certifying that Democrat Joe
   Biden had defeated Trump in the 2020 election.

   The protest turned into mayhem, as about 800 supporters of Trump
   stormed past authorities into the Capitol, smashed doors and windows,
   ransacked some congressional offices and scuffled with police. Five
   people were left dead, including a Capitol Police officer whose death
   is under investigation as a homicide and a rioter shot by a police
   officer.

   The 100 senators --50 Republicans and 50 Democrats --hearing the
   impeachment case against the single-term president are in a unique
   position: many of them were witnesses themselves to the chaos of
   January 6 as they fled the Senate chamber for their own safety.

   With a two-thirds vote needed for conviction, 17 Republicans would have
   to turn against Trump, their Republican colleague, for him to be
   convicted, assuming all 50 Democrats vote to convict. As such, Trump
   almost certainly will be acquitted, just as he was a year ago when he
   was accused of soliciting the president of Ukraine to dig up dirt
   against Biden ahead of last November's election.

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