World
Trump's second impeachment trial begins today
Washington: Former US President Donald Trump is going on trial today for a second impeachment with the week-long show expected to define the contours of US politics for the next few years.
Trump is being charged for inciting deadly storming the US Capitol amid debate over the constitutionality of trying a president after he has left office last month.
A group of nine House Democratic impeachment managers will prosecute the case. They have accused Trump of betraying the country and the Constitution by acts of violence after fallaciously claiming the presidential election had been "stolen" from him by vote fraud.
The Senate trial follows only the fourth impeachment of a president in U.S. history. But it is unlike all others in that Trump is the only president to have been impeached twice by the House of Representatives. He is also the only ex-president to face a Senate trial.
The trial may provide clues on the direction of the Republican Party following Trump's riotous presidency.
Senate Democrats are expected to prevail in Tuesday's vote on the constitutionality of the trial. An effort to block the trial on those grounds was defeated 55-45 last month.
The proceedings are expected to last only a week,making it the quickest impeachment trial in history with both sides taking up to 16 hours to make their case before a final vote next week. He was impeached by the House but acquitted by the Senate last year over charges that he had pressured Ukraine for political dirt on his opponents.