In the beginning there was a historical oath. “All people are ordered to remain silent under the threat of deprivation of liberty,” cried the senate minister. This instruction, which was issued for the first time in 1868 and has only been issued twice since then, forbids the otherwise talkative senators from speaking in the plenary – at least during the impeachment process against the US President Donald Trump, where they act as a jury.
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The impeachment process, which entered its decisive phase with awe-inspiring ritual on Tuesday, is keeping the United States in suspense. The political fate of the president will be decided in Washington over the next few days. Even though the outcome – thanks to the republican majority – seems to be predetermined, the process is likely to generate headlines that go far into the Presidential campaign will reach out.
Who are the main players – and when will it be really exciting?
The procedure
Until late at night, both sides quarreled bitterly about the procedure. In the name of Trump,republican Mitch McConnell a short process under restrictive conditions that benefit the President. Indictment and defense have only 24 hours, spread over three days, to keep their opening pleas. The previous evidence flows into the process, but can still be suppressed afterwards. Applications from DemocratsThe Republicans were icy cold to request additional documents or to summon witnesses. This should now only be voted on after the plea, if at all. The Democrats denounced the rules as “national shame” and “sham process”.
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Judge without judgment: John Roberts (M.), Chief Justice of the Supreme Courts, leads the process
MARK WILSON / AFP
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The judge
According to the U.S. Constitution, the chairman of the Supreme Courts, Constitutional Justice John Roberts, the proceeding. Roberts was once the Republican President George W. Bush appointed and is considered a conservative. However, he interprets his role in the process rather defensively, as he already demonstrated on Tuesday: He mainly monitors compliance with the rules and the correct procedure. Decisions to summon witnesses or the length of the trial are unlikely, especially after the Democrats’ application debacle.
The accusers
The Democrats are represented by seven MPs, most of whom have already led the Trump case in the House of Representatives. Their main function is to present the charges and the evidence gathered. The main prosecutor is Adam Schiff, who was a California state attorney before he was a politician. For the Republicans, Schiff is a hate figure, he is stylized as a villain to mobilize his own supporters against the Democrats: Trump insults him as “Adam Schitt” – alluding to the curse word. So far, however, Schiff has not been impressed. He doesn’t follow the president on Twitter at all, he says.
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The accusation
The Charges against Trump consists of two points: He is accused of having misused his office to protect the to get Ukrainian government to do that, against his rival Joe Biden To initiate an investigation. Then he then hindered the investigation of the Congress. “When the founding fathers wrote the constitution, they had exactly this type of abuse of power by the president in mind,” said Adam Schiff. The president is not a king, but is subject to the law.
As evidence, the Democrats present the testimony of the hearings in the House of Representatives, such as that of EU Ambassador Gordon Sondland. Also the famous memo about the phone call between Trump and the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Selenskyj is a key piece of evidence from the Democrats’ perspective.
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Stylized as the villain: Democrat Adam Schiff leads the indictment against Trump
Alex Wroblewski / AFP
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The investigation
In addition to the statements already made, the Democrats want to summon at least 14 other witnesses who have not yet testified, also because the Trump administration has prevented this. Ex-security advisors John Bolton and Trump’s current chief of staff Mick Mulvaney are on this list. In addition, new documents are to be used, including papers from the secret service NSA, It is probably about eavesdropping on conversations between Ukrainian politicians. The Republicans only want to allow a new vote on these points later. You can prevent the wishes of the Democrats with their 53-vote majority – like on Tuesday.
the defenders
Pat Cipollone, the chief legal officer of the White House, is considered the “quarterback” of the Trump team. “The president did absolutely nothing wrong,” he said at the start. Jay Sekulow already represented Trump in the Russia affair; Celebrity lawyer Alan Dershowitz takes over the constitutional arguments; Ken Starr was the independent investigator, whose 1998 report on impeachment Bill Clintons led. In addition, there are other lawyers and eight Republicans who have been particularly loudly committed to Trump, including Jim Jordan and Mark Meadows. What is striking is who does not represent Trump: Rudy Giuliani, his private lawyer. The ex-mayor of New York is too closely involved in the affair.
The Trump strategy
Trump’s central argument is as simple as it is controversial: impeachment requires concrete crimes, and neither abuse of power nor congress impediment met this requirement, In your 110-page written counter-plea The defense lawyers do not deny that Trump urged Ukraine to investigate Biden to gain campaign benefits. But Trump has the right to control his foreign policy at his own discretion.
Prominent constitutional lawyers – and the Democrats – deny this: impeachment does not require a specific crime – also because there were no criminal laws when the constitution was written.
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The “quarterback”: Trump’s chief lawyer Pat Cipollone
Julio Cortez / AP
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