US Senate Starts Former President's Impeachment Trial
2021-02-10
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1The historic second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump started Tuesday in the United States Senate.
2The House of Representatives impeachment managers opened the trial with video from the deadly attack at the U.S. Capitol building on January 6.
3Five people died, including a woman who was shot by police inside the building and a police officer who died the next day of his injuries.
4The 13-minute video shows Trump claiming that he won the election and telling supporters, "We're going to walk down to the Capitol" along with images of lawmakers in the Capitol building.
5Lawmakers were meeting to confirm President-elect Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 presidential election.
6The video includes scenes of the mob breaking windows and pushing past police officers to enter the building.
7As then-Vice President Mike Pence and lawmakers left for safety, the rioters marched through the Senate chamber - the same place where senators will vote whether Trump is guilty of "incitement of insurrection" against the United States.
8U.S. Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland led the House impeachment case against Trump.
9He said "That's a high crime and misdemeanor" and noted "If that's not an impeachable offense, then there's no such thing."
10Impeachment is the first step in the removal of a federal official in the United States.
11The Senate is required by the Constitution to decide whether to remove an impeached president from office.
12Raskin told how he could not reach his own children and talked about how others suffered and died.
13He said, "Senators, this cannot be our future. This cannot be the future of America. We cannot have presidents inciting and mobilizing mob violence against our government and our institutions because they refuse to accept the will of the people under the Constitution of the United States."
14Bruce Castor was the first lawyer to represent Trump in his defense.
15In his opening statement Tuesday, Castor agreed that Trump had lost the election - a fact Trump never admitted.
16"President Trump is no longer in office," he said.
17"The object of the Constitution has been achieved. He was removed by the voters."
18Castor defended what Trump said to supporters as "political speech."
19He argued that the former president has not been charged in any of the cases against the rioters.
20Reports say the U.S. government has charged more than 200 people with involvement in the Capitol attack. More charges are expected.
21Also speaking for Trump's defense was David Schoen.
22He said the impeachment trial is unconstitutional because Trump is out of office.
23"Many Americans see this process for exactly what it is: a chance by a group of partisan politicians seeking to eliminate Donald Trump from the American political scene and seeking to disenfranchise 74 million-plus American voters," he said.
24Trump is the first president to be impeached two times.
25He is also the first to face impeachment charge after leaving office.
26In a document sent to the Senate before the start of the trial, the House said "President Trump's incitement of insurrection requires his conviction and disqualification from future federal officeholding."
27A conviction would require a two-thirds majority of the Senate.
28It means that at least 17 Republican senators would need to join the Senate's 50 Democrats and independent members in voting against Trump.
29Timothy Naftali is a professor at New York University and an expert on impeachment.
30He told the Associated Press, "In trying to make sense of a second Trump trial, the public should keep in mind that Donald Trump was the first president ever to refuse to accept his defeat."
31"This trial is one way of having that difficult national conversation about the difference between dissent and insurrection," Naftali said.
32Presidential impeachment trials have only been held three times before.
33All three, Andrew Johnson, Bill Clinton and then Trump last year, were found not guilty of the charges.
34I'm Caty Weaver.
1The historic second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump started Tuesday in the United States Senate. 2The House of Representatives impeachment managers opened the trial with video from the deadly attack at the U.S. Capitol building on January 6. Five people died, including a woman who was shot by police inside the building and a police officer who died the next day of his injuries. 3The 13-minute video shows Trump claiming that he won the election and telling supporters, "We're going to walk down to the Capitol" along with images of lawmakers in the Capitol building. Lawmakers were meeting to confirm President-elect Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 presidential election. 4The video includes scenes of the mob breaking windows and pushing past police officers to enter the building. As then-Vice President Mike Pence and lawmakers left for safety, the rioters marched through the Senate chamber - the same place where senators will vote whether Trump is guilty of "incitement of insurrection" against the United States. 5U.S. Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland led the House impeachment case against Trump. He said "That's a high crime and misdemeanor" and noted "If that's not an impeachable offense, then there's no such thing." 6Impeachment is the first step in the removal of a federal official in the United States. The Senate is required by the Constitution to decide whether to remove an impeached president from office. 7Raskin told how he could not reach his own children and talked about how others suffered and died. He said, "Senators, this cannot be our future. This cannot be the future of America. We cannot have presidents inciting and mobilizing mob violence against our government and our institutions because they refuse to accept the will of the people under the Constitution of the United States." 8Bruce Castor was the first lawyer to represent Trump in his defense. In his opening statement Tuesday, Castor agreed that Trump had lost the election - a fact Trump never admitted. 9"President Trump is no longer in office," he said. "The object of the Constitution has been achieved. He was removed by the voters." 10Castor defended what Trump said to supporters as "political speech." He argued that the former president has not been charged in any of the cases against the rioters. Reports say the U.S. government has charged more than 200 people with involvement in the Capitol attack. More charges are expected. 11Also speaking for Trump's defense was David Schoen. He said the impeachment trial is unconstitutional because Trump is out of office. 12"Many Americans see this process for exactly what it is: a chance by a group of partisan politicians seeking to eliminate Donald Trump from the American political scene and seeking to disenfranchise 74 million-plus American voters," he said. 13Trump is the first president to be impeached two times. He is also the first to face impeachment charge after leaving office. 14In a document sent to the Senate before the start of the trial, the House said "President Trump's incitement of insurrection requires his conviction and disqualification from future federal officeholding." 15A conviction would require a two-thirds majority of the Senate. It means that at least 17 Republican senators would need to join the Senate's 50 Democrats and independent members in voting against Trump. 16Timothy Naftali is a professor at New York University and an expert on impeachment. He told the Associated Press, "In trying to make sense of a second Trump trial, the public should keep in mind that Donald Trump was the first president ever to refuse to accept his defeat." 17"This trial is one way of having that difficult national conversation about the difference between dissent and insurrection," Naftali said. 18Presidential impeachment trials have only been held three times before. All three, Andrew Johnson, Bill Clinton and then Trump last year, were found not guilty of the charges. 19I'm Caty Weaver. 20Hai Do reported this story for VOA Learning English. Mario Ritter Jr. was the editor. 21_______________________________________________________________ 22Words in This Story 23manager -n. someone who directs a specific effort 24scene -n. part of a movie or video 25insurrection -n. a usually violent attempt to take control of a government 26achieve -v. to reach a goal 27partisan -adj. strongly supporting one party over another 28eliminate -v. to remove 29disenfranchise -v. to prevent a person or group of people from having the right to vote as provided by law 30We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.