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Shouldn't be in the mood for a statement under oath: Ex-President Donald Trump
Photo:
LEAH MILLIS / REUTERS
In the impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump, the prosecutors asked the former US president to testify under oath.
Democratic MP Jamie Raskin wrote a letter to Trump as the chief prosecutor.
It says that Trump's lawyers had rejected numerous allegations in a statement despite the "overwhelming burden of proof".
Therefore a personal statement is necessary.
Either in the proceedings before the Senate or shortly before.
If the ex-president refuses to testify, this could be used against him in the so-called impeachment proceedings, wrote Raskin.
In the past, even incumbent presidents like Gerald Ford and Bill Clinton have testified in such trials.
"So there is no doubt that you can testify in this process."
According to the media report, Trump does not want to testify
For Trump, a statement under oath could be risky, especially since the Democrats would probably ask him on many topics.
Should he then be proven to be untruthful, he could be prosecuted.
Trump should therefore do everything in his power to avoid making a statement - even if this will now be more difficult after the end of his term in office.
As the US broadcaster NBC News reports, citing Trump's attorney Bruce Castor, Trump will not obey the request to testify under oath.
In a letter to Raskin, Trump's lawyers also wrote that there could be no negative effects because the proceedings were "unconstitutional" anyway.
The then US president did not appear in the first impeachment proceedings against Trump, which had been initiated because of the Ukraine affair.
It ended with an acquittal by the then Republican-dominated Senate.
Trump is accused of “inciting a riot”
The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives decided to initiate impeachment proceedings for "incitement to riot" on January 13 - a week after Trump supporters stormed the Capitol.
The then president is accused, among other things, of inciting his supporters to the riots at a rally.
Among other things he had said: "If you don't fight like the devil, you will have no more land".
As ex-president, Trump can no longer be removed from office.
The Senate could block him for future offices at the federal level, which would make a candidacy in the presidential election in 2024 impossible.
However, the two-thirds majority in the chamber necessary for a conviction is not in evidence.
17 Republicans would have to vote with the 50 Democrats.
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