Trump impeachment begins: it could pop in the first four hours

The second impeachment against Donald Trump will start on Tuesday.

It already seems clear: The trial will provide depressing insights into the state of US democracy.

• Donald Trump * is facing his second impeachment procedure.

• On Tuesday (February 9th) the trial against the ex-president * starts in the USA.

• Trump was already burdened with explosive court documents in advance (see initial report).

• This ticker is continuously updated.

Update from February 9, 2.10 p.m

.: The new impeachment process against ex-President Donald Trump begins today at 7 p.m. in front of the US Senate according to German time.

The core theme will be Trump's role in storming the Capitol.

According to reports from the

New York Times

, the first four hours after the start of the trial will clarify whether it is constitutional to bring an accused former president to justice.

Republicans and Democrats have different views on this.

Some Republicans argued beforehand that Trump could no longer be held accountable.

They stressed that it is constitutionally not possible, regardless of whether a misdemeanor or a crime has been committed, to bring a former president to justice for impeachment.

According to the

New York Times,

Democrats and constitutional scholars called this

purely "politically expedient arguments".

Democratic House impeachment executives are expected, according to the US newspaper, to assert Democrats generally that a president can be tried for offenses committed in office regardless of when the trial takes place.

Otherwise, according to the Democrats, there would be no way to hold a president accountable for misconduct in the last few weeks of a term.

Update from February 8, 10:23 p.m

.: It is considered unlikely that Donald Trump's impeachment proceedings will end with a conviction.

A two-thirds majority in the Senate is necessary for a guilty verdict.

Because Democrats and Republicans alike have 50 Senators, at least 17 Republicans would have to vote with the Democrats.

That hardly seems possible - especially since Trump still enjoys great support from large sections of the party and the grassroots.

According to a poll by polling institute Ipsos over the weekend, 56 percent of US citizens believe Trump should be convicted and expelled from office.

For Republican supporters, however, it is only 15 percent.

A poll by the

US newspaper Politico

came to similar results.

Accordingly, a total of 58 percent are in favor of a conviction, in the Republican camp the proportion is just under a fifth (19 percent).

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The second impeachment trial against Donald Trump will begin on Tuesday (February 9, 1:00 p.m. local time; 7:00 p.m. CET) in the Senate.

© Paul Morigi / AFP

Donald Trump in impeachment: Chairman, chief prosecutor & Co. - four people in focus

Update from February 8, 6:17 p.m

.: The impeachment proceedings against former US President Donald Trump have parallels to a normal process, with prosecutors, defense lawyers and a presiding judge.

Accordingly, four participants come into focus.

A brief overview.

• Patrick Leahy / Chairman

  : Leahy will lead the process as the senior Democratic Senator and thus Executive Senate Chairman.

  The 80-year-old has been a member of the Senate since 1975, where he and his party colleague Bernie Sanders represent the state of Vermont *.

  In addition to political work, Leahy has appeared in several Batman films.

• Bruce Castor & David Schoen / Trump's lawyers

  : After Trump's actual defense team dropped out at short notice, the ex-president is now represented by Castor and Schoen.

  Until now, they were hardly known to the public.

  Castor hit the headlines in 2005 when he refused to initiate criminal proceedings against sitcom legend Bill Cosby on charges of sexual violence.

  Schoen works for Trump advisor Roger Stone and the arrested sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

• Jamie Raskin / Prosecutor

  : The Democratic MP from Maryland * heads the nine-member team of prosecutors - in English: Impeachment Manager - against the ex-president.

  For the 58-year-old, the process is also a deeply emotional affair: a few days before the Capitol was stormed, Raskin's son, suffering from depression, had committed suicide.

  "I will not lose my son at the end of 2020 and my country and republic in 2021," Raskin said on

  CNN

  .

  "That will not happen."

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Raskin vs. Trump: The chief prosecutor has asked Trump to testify under oath in the upcoming trial and to face a "cross-examination".

The ex-president does not want to follow this.

© Consolidated News Photos / imago

Donald Trump in impeachment: Documents with depressing insights - "Storm the damned Capitol!"

First report from February 8th

: Washington - From Tuesday it will be serious again for Donald Trump: In the US Senate the impeachment against the ex-president, who has actually already left office, starts.

It seems highly questionable whether the process will actually end with impeachment.

And yet the hearings are explosive.

Findings from lawsuits against "Capitol Striker" weigh heavily on Trump.

Donald Trump: Second impeachment starts on Tuesday - court documents burden ex-president

The incidents of Epiphany are the trigger for the second impeachment.

Trump is the first US head of government to face two impeachment proceedings.

In the last few meters of his presidency, he had reiterated his allegations of election fraud - and sent his supporters on the way to the Capitol at a performance.

The afternoon culminated in a riot in the heart of US democracy.

The procedure should now also clarify whether Trump's behavior was the cause of the shocking events.

And

statements by protagonists of the Capitol Storm strongly suggest it,

according to a report in the

Washington Post

.

"Trump wants all physically capable patriots to come," a court quoted from a message from a defendant to members of a self-established "militia".

Trump sees himself exposed to violent allegations: "Mob brought into ecstasy and aimed like a loaded cannon"

The bartender from Ohio * is said to have started preparations for a train to Washington as early as November - after Trump's first election fraud allegations.

Watkins have led "dozen" people, some of whom forcibly entered the Capitol, is the allegation to the woman.

According to the report, the leaders of the impeachment process against Trump * also express clear allegations.

Trump had "conjured up a mob in Washington, brought him into ecstasy and aimed like a loaded cannon on Pennsylvania Avenue," it said in a document.

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Chaos at the Capitol: Trump supporters on January 6th on the steps of the venerable building.

© Carol Guzy / www.imago-images.de

Evidence should also come from other court documents.

More than two dozen defendants in the Capitol trials explicitly cited Trump as a reason for their behavior, the

Washington Post

claims to have learned.

A private message from a QAnon follower * is said to provide particularly impressive material.

He wrote to an “ally” with a view to January 6th: “I'll be there for the biggest party ever if Pence leads the Senate turnaround.

Or I'll be ready when Trump tells us to storm the bloody Capitol;

I'll do it then! ”Trump had asked his Vice President Mike Pence to reject the counted result of the electoral vote.

A step to which Pence would not have been legally justified - and which the vice-president failed to take.

Trump's impeachment process starts: Prominent Republican demands defection from ex-leader

As expected, Trump's lawyers reject the allegations after a last-minute staff move.

Trump only used his constitutional right to “express his belief that the election results are questionable,” they replied to the indictment.

Trump's son Donald Jr.

again has pointed out that his father was guilty if attackers made plans before the day of the Capitol Storm.

However, the allegations also leave an impression on Trump's party.

A prominent Republican from the US House of Representatives, Liz Cheney, has called on her party to break away from the ex-president.

Cheney told Fox News on Sunday the Republican Party should no longer stand by Trump.

"Someone who provoked an attack on the US Capitol to prevent the counting of voters' votes, which resulted in the deaths of five people," and someone who refused to stop the violence immediately could have no leadership role in the party in the future.

Donald Trump: The scope of the impeachment is probably unclear - Democrats apparently satisfied even without a President's statement

Shortly before the start of the procedure, some technical questions remain unanswered.

For example, whether witnesses are heard and how many days of negotiation are set for the impeachment.

However, the broadcaster CNN considers a duration of one to two weeks to be possible.

Experts agree that the chances of success for impeachment proceedings are rather low.

According to CNN, it is also unlikely that Trump will testify himself - the ex-president's legal team have already rejected such a request and behind the scenes, the Democrats believe that they can achieve their cause without a subpoena from Trump.

It should probably read: To present the ex-president again as an irresponsible rebel - especially with a view to a possible renewed candidacy of Trump.

Meanwhile, the new US President Joe Biden is facing a difficult term of office, as an author of US political science analyzes * - not only because of the politics of his predecessor.

(

fn with material from dpa

).

*

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.

List of rubric lists: © Kena Betancour / afp