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| US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi |
U.S. lawmakers who control the fate of President Donald Trump left Washington for a holiday break on Friday with no agreement over how they will handle the Senate trial to consider his impeachment charges in January.
Trump, a Republican, stands little chance of being convicted and removed from office by the Republican-controlled Senate, which will weigh the two impeachment charges that were passed on Wednesday by the Democratic-led House of Representatives.
Republicans and Democrats are at loggerheads over how the trial will play out. Democrats want to call top Trump aides as witnesses, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has not yet sent the impeachment package to the Senate, a bid to increase pressure on Republicans in the upper chamber.
Alan Dershowitz, a high-profile lawyer who may join Trumpโs legal team for the trial, said he thought the Senate could press ahead even if Pelosi never sent the impeachment articles.
โThe defendant has a right to a speedy trial and the president has the right to a disposition by the Senate if he chooses,โ Dershowitz said in an interview. Another person familiar with Trumpโs legal team echoed that view.
Many Republican lawmakers prefer a quick trial to get the matter behind them, and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell has dismissed the idea of calling witnesses. He said Democrats are delaying because they have lost confidence in their case.
The House will not be able to send over the impeachment articles until it reconvenes on Jan. 7, at the earliest, according to a Democratic congressional aide. The Senate is due to return on Jan. 3 but will not hold votes until Jan. 6, according to McConnell.
No matter the outcome, Democrats have ensured that Trump will go down in history as one of only three U.S. presidents to be impeached, following Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Bill Clinton in 1998. Richard Nixon resigned in 1974 as he faced impeachment.
Trump, 73, is accused of abusing his power by holding back $391 million in security aid to Ukraine in an effort to get Kiev to announce a corruption investigation of former Vice President Joe Biden, a leading candidate for the Democratic nomination to face Trump in the November 2020 election.
The president is also charged with obstruction of Congress for directing administration officials and agencies not to cooperate with the impeachment inquiry.
Trump has dismissed his impeachment as a hoax and partisan bid to undo his surprise 2016 election win. He says he did nothing wrong.
โPROFOUNDLY IMMORALโ
A Senate trial would kick off a politically charged year.
The trial could pose logistical challenges for the four Democratic senators in the race, as the first nominating contest takes place in Iowa on Feb. 3, as well as for Democrats up for re-election in conservative-leaning House districts.
Republican groups have been running ads targeting Democrats they perceive as vulnerable because of their impeachment votes.
Some 31 House Democrats represent districts that backed Trump in 2016, but only three voted against impeachment on Wednesday. One of those lawmakers changed parties on Thursday.
Trumpโs presidency has polarized the United States, dividing families and friends and making it more difficult for politicians in Washington to find middle ground as they confront challenges such as the rise of China and climate change.
Christianity Today, a magazine founded by the late U.S. evangelist Reverend Billy Graham, called on Thursday for Trumpโs removal from office in an editorial that branded the effort to get Ukraine to probe Biden as โprofoundly immoral.โ
Trump questioned Christianity Todayโs success and dismissed its push for his removal.
โNo President has done more for the evangelical community, and itโs not even close,โ Trump tweeted.
Christianity Today Editor Mark Galli, in response, said Trumpโs conduct was an urgent concern.
โWe rarely comment on politics unless we feel it rises to the level of some national โฆ concern that is really important. And this would be a case,โ he told CNN in an interview. โThis is something we need as a movement to think about, pray about at this time in our life.โ
Evangelical Christians make up about 25% of voters, according to Pew Research, and have been a bedrock of Trumpโs support. In 2016, he took over 80% of the groupโs votes, according to Pewโs polling.
Fewer than half of Americans want Trump removed from office, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Thursday.
REUTERS
