Donald Trump on Monday asked the senators responsible for trying him for "
incitement to insurgency
", to immediately close his trial which, if it is unlikely to end with a conviction, could cost him dearly in terms of image .
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The indictment adopted after the assault on the Capitol is "
unconstitutional in several ways, and one would suffice to declare it immediately null and void
", wrote his lawyers Me David Schoen and Bruce Castor in an argument of 78 pages sent to the upper house of Congress on the eve of the opening of the debates.
"
Giving free rein to this political staging would be a danger for our democracy
", they add, resuming their main line of defense: Donald Trump cannot be tried in the context of the impeachment procedure since he cannot is no longer in power.
To plead otherwise is, according to them, "
totally ridiculous
".
The prosecution should also transmit during the day, its last written arguments to the Senate, on the eve of a trial whose outcome seems decided in advance.
The Constitution indeed fixes the need for a two-thirds majority for a guilty verdict.
However, the Senate has one hundred elected and 45 Republican senators have already made it known that they do not consider themselves competent to judge "
a simple citizen
".
A year ago, the upper house of Congress had already acquitted Donald Trump on trial for “
abuse of power
” because he had asked Ukraine to investigate his rival Joe Biden.
Read also: How Donald Trump watched imperturbably the assault on Capitol Hill
This time, he is accused of having "
incited
" his supporters to invade the seat of Congress, when the elected officials certified the victory of the Democrat in the presidential election.
A week after the bloody coup strength, and while he remained only one week at the White House, he was indicted ( "
impeached
") a second time by the House of Representatives Democratic majority, which n ' had arrived at no president before him.
"
It's a masquerade
", "
there is no chance that he will be condemned,
" criticized Republican Senator Rand Paul.
“
The only question is, are they going to call witnesses?
How long will it last ?
», Added his colleague Lindsey Graham.
Read also: Could Donald Trump be made ineligible?
These logistical questions are still open.
The trial is due to start Tuesday at 1:00 p.m. and the first task of the senators will be to agree on the conduct of the hearings.
Normally debates are scheduled to take place every afternoon from Monday to Saturday, but David Schoen, a practicing Jew, asked to be able to keep Shabbat.
Whatever the calendar chosen, Republicans and Democrats seem to agree to advance at a rapid pace, the former because they do not want to linger on an embarrassing sequence, which divides their ranks;
the latter because they want to focus on their priority: approving the candidates and the laws of Joe Biden.
The new president, who has promised to work to reconcile America, has from the start refrained from intervening in this trial.
On Monday again, questioned about the sentence that should be imposed on his predecessor, he simply noted that he had "
been invited to testify and had refused
".
"
We will let the Senate handle all this,
" added Joe Biden during a brief exchange with the press.
"
He will not spend a lot of time watching the hearings, if at all,
" added White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki, stressing that the president's priority was to pass an aid plan to counter the effects of the pandemic.
Read also: How the Capitol was invaded by supporters of Donald Trump
On the Democratic side, the accusation will be brought by the elected representative of the House of Representatives Jamie Raskin who, until now, has been discreet in the media, reserving his arrows for arguments versed in the procedure.
Donald Trump "
created a powder keg, lit a match and then sought to personally profit from the chaos that followed,
" he says.
In the hearings which will be televised live across the United States, he should, according to sources quoted in the media, try to bring the debates back to the facts and use numerous videos to bring the scene to life for senators.
This strategy could be damaging for Donald Trump who, at 74, cherishes the idea of a new candidacy in 2024.
Even though it retains a strong supporter base, the attack on the Capitol has eroded its popularity.
According to an Ipsos / ABC News poll released Sunday, 56% of Americans think the ex-president should be condemned and barred from running for re-election, but more than 80% of Republicans are against it.