# The Trump Impeachment Trial
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-trial/846524
**Category:** Politics & Elections
**Created:** [January 16, 2020, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-trial/846524 "2020-01-16T20:12:52Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)
#### Post date: [January 16, 2020, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-trial/846524/21 "2020-01-16T23:11:43Z")
> [@JohnT](#):
>
> It will not be televised. As per McConnell’s and the GOP’s wishes.
Ah… so it\* is\* the Revolution then!
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### Author:  [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)
#### Post date: [January 17, 2020, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-trial/846524/22 "2020-01-17T00:04:28Z")
Is there a schedule out for the trial?
Will it still be ongoing when Trump delivers the State of the Union? (has he accepted the invitation yet?)
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### Author:  [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)
#### Post date: [January 17, 2020, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-trial/846524/23 "2020-01-17T00:44:46Z")
> [@bengangmo](#):
>
> Is there a schedule out for the trial?
> Will it still be ongoing when Trump delivers the State of the Union? (has he accepted the invitation yet?)
It starts on Tuesday the 21st at 1:00 p.m. and will continue each day thereafter starting at 1:00 p.m. each day on Mondays through Saturdays.
It may still be going on at the time Trump has scheduled to give the SotU, in which case he will probably postpone giving it. He has accepted the invitation, practically the same hour it was offered, if I recall correctly.
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### Author:  [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)
#### Post date: [January 17, 2020, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-trial/846524/24 "2020-01-17T00:48:15Z")
> [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](#):
>
> Brit here who has no idea if this is a stupid question or not: is the vote to remove from office an anonymous or public one?
Public. Every senator is called by name, one by one, to stand and say “guilty” or “not guilty.”
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### Author:  [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)
#### Post date: [January 17, 2020, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-trial/846524/25 "2020-01-17T00:51:42Z")
> [@Velocity](#):
>
> Public. Every senator is called by name, one by one, to stand and say “guilty” or “not guilty.”
It doesn’t have to be that way, but precedent indicates it will be. See Rule XXIII from the Senate rules for the trial of Bill Clinton, page 10 (15 in [this PDF](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CDOC-106sdoc2/pdf/CDOC-106sdoc2.pdf)).
~Max
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### Author:  [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)
#### Post date: [January 17, 2020, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-trial/846524/26 "2020-01-17T00:59:44Z")
People need to accept that Trump will be acquitted.
That being said, we need to take what we can from the trial. Play the long game. Trump will be acquitted, which will likely be a political shot in the arm in the short term.
But we all know that there will be a time when Trump’s house of cards falls, because we all know that Trump really and truly is an unmitigated disaster, and that it’s inevitable he will take a good chunk of this country’s wealth and prestige down with him. Impeachment is a way to get Republicans and cowardly “moderate” Democrats on the record once and for all.
There will be a reckoning.
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### Author:  [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)
#### Post date: [January 17, 2020, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-trial/846524/27 "2020-01-17T01:08:12Z")
> [@asahi](#):
>
> People need to accept that Trump will be acquitted.
That has always been my understanding… I am expecting something very close to a party line vote, with maybe one or two “defectors” on each side.
~Max
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### Author:  [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)
#### Post date: [January 17, 2020, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-trial/846524/28 "2020-01-17T01:18:16Z")
> [@Max\_S](#):
>
> That has always been my understanding… I am expecting something very close to a party line vote, with maybe one or two “defectors” on each side.
>
> ~Max
I’ve tried to explain repeatedly that we’re not living in Watergate times - it’s a different era now. Before the ball got rolling on impeachment, we had a 2+ year period that included blatantly obvious politically-motivated firings and retribution. The president and his cabinet lie their asses off hundreds of times in a week. And it’s not really moving the needle.
The president’s corruption and gaslighting have effectively become normalized. This behavior isn’t exceptional. Like mass shootings, opioid addiction, and obesity, it’s kinda weird when we _don’t_ see it. Our house is on fire but instead of heeding the fire alarm, we just snooze. We get angrier at people who tell us the building is on fire than we do the arsonists who set it ablaze in the first place.
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### Author:  [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)
#### Post date: [January 17, 2020, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-trial/846524/29 "2020-01-17T01:24:30Z")
> [@asahi](#):
>
> I’ve tried to explain repeatedly that we’re not living in Watergate times - it’s a different era now.
From what I’ve read, it’s been a different era since Iran-Contra.
~Max
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### Author:  [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)
#### Post date: [January 17, 2020, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-trial/846524/30 "2020-01-17T15:25:46Z")
Trump’s attorneys will include Ken Starr and Alan Dershowitz, also known as The Scheme Team.
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### Author:  [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)
#### Post date: [January 17, 2020, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-trial/846524/31 "2020-01-17T15:38:04Z")
Clinton gave a SOTU speech during his trial. He did not mention the trial in the speech.
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### Author:  [@LAZombie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LAZombie)
#### Post date: [January 17, 2020, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-trial/846524/32 "2020-01-17T15:55:31Z")
Excellent point:
\*\*Senate Dems Running for President Must Recuse Themselves from Impeachment Trial
\*\*
"Senators Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Michael Bennett and Amy Klochubar must recuse themselves from any participation in President Trump’s upcoming Senate trial or be guilty of interfering in the 2020 election.
By sitting on the jury and voting to impeach, they each commit the crime that Trump is accused of committing. Anything less than complete recusal would be an abuse of power, comparable to one of the charges brought against the president, and which will be debated and voted upon in the coming weeks."
> **[Senate Dems Running for President Must Recuse Themselves from Impeachment Trial](https://www.westernjournal.com/senate-dems-running-president-must-recuse-impeachment-trial/?utm_source=Email&utm_medium=patriotupdate&utm_campaign=dailyam&utm_content=libertyalliance)**
>
> Senators running for president must recuse themselves from any participation in Trump's upcoming Senate trial or be guilty of interfering in the election.
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### Author:  [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)
#### Post date: [January 17, 2020, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-trial/846524/33 "2020-01-17T16:00:40Z")
> [@MulderMuffin](#):
>
> Am I a complete Pollyanna to think that there’s a glimmer of a chance that the continuing release of damning evidence will sway at least a few senators? That they’ll feel and appreciate the gravity of the task at hand and really _listen_?
I think there’s only two senators whose votes are actually in question, as opposed to them just pretending there’s a chance they can be persuaded. Those two are Doug Jones (D) Alabama and Joe Manchin (D) West Virginia. There’s no way that any of the Republicans, even Susan Collins, haven’t already made up their minds. Some of them are just putting on an act to try and fool the more gullible voters.
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### Author:  [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)
#### Post date: [January 17, 2020, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-trial/846524/34 "2020-01-17T16:07:50Z")
> [@LAZombie](#):
>
> Excellent point:
>
> \*\*Senate Dems Running for President Must Recuse Themselves from Impeachment Trial
> \*\*
>
> "Senators Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Michael Bennett and Amy Klochubar must recuse themselves from any participation in President Trump’s upcoming Senate trial or be guilty of interfering in the 2020 election.
>
> By sitting on the jury and voting to impeach, they each commit the crime that Trump is accused of committing. Anything less than complete recusal would be an abuse of power, comparable to one of the charges brought against the president, and which will be debated and voted upon in the coming weeks."
>
> [https://www.westernjournal.com/senate-dems-running-president-must-recuse-impeachment-trial/?utm\_source=Email&utm\_medium=patriotupdate&utm\_campaign=dailyam&utm\_content=libertyalliance](https://www.westernjournal.com/senate-dems-running-president-must-recuse-impeachment-trial/?utm_source=Email&utm_medium=patriotupdate&utm_campaign=dailyam&utm_content=libertyalliance)
Although I agree the president is guilty and should be removed from office, I also agree that if a senator is running for president, they should recuse themselves.
It would have been advisable for Bennett and Klochubar to drop out earlier so that they could vote, it is not like they were going to win anyway.
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### Author:  [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)
#### Post date: [January 17, 2020, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-trial/846524/35 "2020-01-17T16:11:23Z")
> [@FlikTheBlue](#):
>
> I think there’s only two senators whose votes are actually in question, as opposed to them just pretending there’s a chance they can be persuaded. Those two are Doug Jones (D) Alabama and Joe Manchin (D) West Virginia. There’s no way that any of the Republicans, even Susan Collins, haven’t already made up their minds. Some of them are just putting on an act to try and fool the more gullible voters.
Gasp! Surely Romney will make a stand here! You slander him, sir!
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### Author:  [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)
#### Post date: [January 17, 2020, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-trial/846524/36 "2020-01-17T16:13:35Z")
> [@LAZombie](#):
>
> Excellent point:
>
> \*\*Senate Dems Running for President Must Recuse Themselves from Impeachment Trial
> \*\*
>
> "Senators Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Michael Bennett and Amy Klochubar must recuse themselves from any participation in President Trump’s upcoming Senate trial or be guilty of interfering in the 2020 election.
>
> By sitting on the jury and voting to impeach, they each commit the crime that Trump is accused of committing. Anything less than complete recusal would be an abuse of power, comparable to one of the charges brought against the president, and which will be debated and voted upon in the coming weeks."
>
> [https://www.westernjournal.com/senate-dems-running-president-must-recuse-impeachment-trial/?utm\_source=Email&utm\_medium=patriotupdate&utm\_campaign=dailyam&utm\_content=libertyalliance](https://www.westernjournal.com/senate-dems-running-president-must-recuse-impeachment-trial/?utm_source=Email&utm_medium=patriotupdate&utm_campaign=dailyam&utm_content=libertyalliance)
I agree. And, in furtherance of this principle, I think it is only fair that members of the accused’s political party recuse themselves as well.
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### Author:  [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)
#### Post date: [January 17, 2020, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-trial/846524/37 "2020-01-17T17:09:58Z")
> [@JohnT](#):
>
> Trump’s attorneys will include Ken Starr and Alan Dershowitz, also known as The Scheme Team.
Really tripling down on the “Party of Rape” philosophy. Dersh has been credibly accused of sexual assault, and Starr had to resign from Baylor due to his abominable handling of sexual assault on campus: [Baylor University sexual assault scandal - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baylor_University_sexual_assault_scandal)
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### Author:  [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)
#### Post date: [January 17, 2020, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-trial/846524/38 "2020-01-17T17:13:37Z")
> [@JohnT](#):
>
> Trump’s attorneys will include Ken Starr and Alan Dershowitz, also known as The Scheme Team.
> [@iiandyiiii](#):
>
> Really tripling down on the “Party of Rape” philosophy. Dersh has been credibly accused of sexual assault, and Starr had to resign from Baylor due to his abominable handling of sexual assault on campus: [Baylor University sexual assault scandal - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baylor_University_sexual_assault_scandal)
Too bad Johnny Cochran’s dead. He could probably get trump off. _“If the allegations don’t fit, you must acquit!”_
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### Author:  [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)
#### Post date: [January 17, 2020, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-trial/846524/39 "2020-01-17T17:29:39Z")
LOL, the 10th Article of Impeachment for Andrew Johnson…
[https://www.nps.gov/anjo/learn/historyculture/article-x.htm](https://www.nps.gov/anjo/learn/historyculture/article-x.htm)
Some choice quotes:
> [@](#):
>
> SPECIFICATION SECOND. In this, that at Cleveland, in the State of Ohio, heretofore, to wit, on the third day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, before a public assemblage of citizens and others, said Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, speaking of and concerning the Congress of the United States did, in a loud voice, declare in substance and effect among other things, that is to say:
>
> “I will tell you what I did do. I called upon your Congress that is trying to break up the government.”
>
> "In conclusion, beside that, Congress had taken much pains to poison their constituents against him. But what had Congress done? Have they done anything to restore the union of these States? No: on the contrary, they had done everything to prevent it; and because he stood now where he did when the rebellion commenced, he had been denounced as a traitor. Who had run greater risks or made greater sacrifices than himself? But Congress, factious and domineering, had undertaken to poison the minds of the American people.
> [@](#):
>
> SPECIFICATION THIRD - In this, that at St. Louis, in the State of Missouri, heretofore, to wit, on the eighth day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, before a public assemblage of citizens and others, said Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, speaking of and concerning the Congress of the United States, did, in a loud voice, declare, in substance and effect, among other things, that is to say:
>
> …
>
> “… When you read the speeches that were made, and take up the facts on the Friday and Saturday before that convention sat, you will there find that speeches were made incendiary in their character, exciting that portion of the population, the black population, to arm themselves and prepare for the shedding of blood. You will also find that that convention did assemble in violation of law, and the intention of that convention was to supersede the reorganized authorities in the State government of Louisiana, which had been recognized by the government of the United States; and every man engaged in that rebellion in that convention, with the intention of superseding and upturning the civil government which had been recognized by the government of the United States I say that he was a traitor to the Constitution of the United States, and hence you find that another rebellion was commenced, having its origin in the _radical Congress_.”
>
> (_Emphasis_ in my citation, JT)
Imagine! Getting impeached for saying mean things about Congress in a speech before a couple of hundred people in Cleveland!
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### Author:  [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)
#### Post date: [January 17, 2020, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-trial/846524/40 "2020-01-17T17:53:13Z")
> [@LAZombie](#):
>
> Excellent point:
>
> \*\*Senate Dems Running for President Must Recuse Themselves from Impeachment Trial
> \*\*
If every Senator who has said or done something that has tipped off their lack of impartiality were to recuse themselves for the trial, the Chief Justice would preside over an empty chamber.
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