By Adity Kamath
In February 2020, Trump was impeached on two charges: abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. It all started when he asked the President of Ukraine to investigate the company, Bursiman, for which the son of current President, Joe Biden, worked. In exchange for the investigation, Trump would agree to a face-to-face meeting with the President of Ukraine. After numerous public hearings and an extensive investigation, he was acquitted of his impeachment.
On January 13th, 2021, former President Donald Trump became the first president to face two impeachments. The House of Representatives voted 232-197 to impeach Trump for his role in the January 6th riots. Trump’s second impeachment charged him with incitement of insurrection. In his first impeachment, no Republican voted to impeach, but in his second impeachment, seven Republicans voted for his impeachment. Adding to the historic nature of the proceedings is that he is no longer in office and the members of the Senate who decided his fate were among the victims of the Capitol Hill siege.
Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial was held on Tuesday, February 9th, beginning with constitutional arguments such as whether Donald Trump is subject to the jurisdiction of a court of impeachment. The trial went on for three more days addressing arguments on the substance of articles of impeachment, followed by questions from the senators. On Saturday, February 13th, both sides received the opportunity to present further evidence as well as their concluding arguments. At the close of final arguments, the Senate voted on the conviction or acquittal of Donal Trump. The vote was 57-43 in favor of conviction, but a two-thirds vote (67) was required to convict Trump. Seven Republicans voted to convict Trump, making it the most bipartisan impeachment vote in US history.
Donald Trump’s acquittal means that he is free to run for public office again, including in the 2024 presidential election. He gets to keep all of his benefits from being a former president, his annual pension, for example. However, a few government officials aren’t satisfied with the verdict. Georgia prosecutors have opened up an investigation into a phone call Trump made to Georgia’s Secretary of State during his presidency, asking him to “find more votes.” Another investigation is going on in New York with a focus on potential financial crimes Trump may have committed.
Sources:
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/impeachment-process-works/story?id=51202880
https://en.as.com/en/2021/01/14/latest_news/1610637719_701767.html
https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/05/politics/senate-impeachment-trial-vote-acquittal/index.html
https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/trump-impeachment-trial-02-13-2021/index.html
Photo:
https://www.poynter.org/reporting-editing/2021/front-pages-on-trumps-impeachment-again/