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Trump is accused of тАШincitement of insurrectionтАЩ for his actions and words leading up to the deadly US Capitol riot.
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- The Senate impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump will begin at 1pm ET (18:00 GMT) on Tuesday.
- TuesdayтАЩs proceedings will focus on the constitutionality of holding impeachment proceedings for a former president, with up to four hours of debate allocated to the issue. If a simple majority votes to proceed, the prosecution and defence will have 16 hours each to present their case.
- House impeachment managers will argue that TrumpтАЩs campaign of misinformation to overturn the victory of President Joe Biden, and his comments to supporters before the US Capitol riot on January 6, amounted to тАЬincitement of insurrectionтАЭ.
- TrumpтАЩs defence will argue that he cannot be convicted after leaving office, and that his words are protected as free speech.
Welcome to Al JazeeraтАЩs coverage of the impeachment trial. This is Joseph Stepansky.
House managers: Trump тАШhas no good defenseтАЩ
In a legal papers filed on Tuesday, House impeachment managers argued that a pre-trial brief filed by the Trump campaign тАЬconfirms that he has no good defense of his incitement of an insurrection against the Nation he swore an oath to protectтАЭ.
тАЬInstead, he tries to shift the blame onto his supporters, and he invokes a set of flawed legal theories that would allow Presidents to incite violence and overturn the democratic process without fear of consequences,тАЭ they wrote.
The managers also rejected the argument that they do not have jurisdiction over Trump since he has left office, saying the interpretation is тАЬrejected by scholars across the political spectrumтАЭ.
BREAKING: U.S. House of Representatives Files Reply to Former President TrumpтАЩs Impeachment Trial Briefhttps://t.co/pzgZhiC1DD
тАФ House Judiciary Dems (@HouseJudiciary) February 9, 2021
House impeachment managers to present new evidence
House impeachment managers, who will serve as prosecutors in TrumpтАЩs impeachment trial, will present evidence not previously seen to bolster their case, senior aides told reporters on Tuesday.
The aides would not tell reporters whether the managers will call witnesses to testify, if it is allowed in the trial rules passed by the Senate.
On Tuesday, House impeachment manager Ted Lieu tweeted: тАЬWe are ready.тАЭ
We are ready.
тАФ Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) February 9, 2021
What to watch in TrumpтАЩs second impeachment trial
Nine House managers are set to argue that TrumpтАЩs actions and words amounted to тАЬincitement of insurrectionтАЭ, which they say is a тАЬhigh crimeтАЭ as laid out in the US Constitution.
TrumpтАЩs defence will argue the trial of a former president is unconstitutional and that TrumpтАЩs speech prior to the riot was not an incitement and was free speech protected by the constitution.
A two-thirds majority is required to convict the president, an extremely long shot given Democrats have only 50 seats in the 100-chamber body and that most Republicans have already staked out the position that the trial is unconstitutional.
Read more about what to watch for in the trial here.
Supporters of former President Donald Trump climb on walls at the US Capitol on January 6 [File: Stephanie Keith/Reuters]The legal arguments in TrumpтАЩs impeachment trial
As the United States Senate opens its second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump, senators will grapple with thorny political and legal questions as House managers тАУ who are prosecuting the case тАУ and TrumpтАЩs defence face off.
Those questions include whether or not it is constitutionally legal for a former president to face an impeachment trial. The consensus among constitutional scholars is that it is.
Senators will also be asked to determine whether TrumpтАЩs words incited the violent breach of the US Capitol on January 6 тАУ as Congress met to certify BidenтАЩs victory тАУ and if those words are protected under freedom of speech.
Read more about those legal arguments here.
Trump supporters near the US Capitol on January 6 [File: Shay Horse/Getty]WhoтАЩs who in TrumpтАЩs impeachment trial
Nine House impeachment managers, selected by speaker Nancy Pelosi, will serve as prosecutors in the case against Trump.
The former presidentтАЩs defence will be lead by David Schoen, a criminal defence lawyer who previously represented Trump ally Roger Stone on charges of lying under oath to lawmakers investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election, and Bruce Castor, a former Pennsylvania district attorney known for his decision not to prosecute Bill Cosby in 2005 after a woman accused the entertainer of sexual assault.
Senator Patrick Leahy, the longest serving legislator in the chamber, will preside over the trial. That role is usually reserved for the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. John Roberts, who oversaw TrumpтАЩs first impeachment trial, declined to take part in this trial.
Find out more about the key players in TrumpтАЩs impeachment here.
Impeachment managers deliver an article of impeachment against former President Donald Trump on January 25 [File: Melina Mara/Reuters]
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