WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – Bruce Castor, a lawyer employed by the former US president, Donald Trump, urged lawmakers not to trivialize impeachment and warned that the pressure to respond in kind will be enormous once the political pendulum shifts.
Castor laid out the defense’s arguments in the Senate, which started Trump’s second impeachment trial earlier in the day and deliberated on whether it has jurisdiction over the case.
Castor called on lawmakers to reverse the tide and preserve impeachments as “the ultimate safety valve” and “the most rare treatment.”
Democrats and some Republicans seek to use the sole Article of Impeachment – the “incitement of insurrection” – to disqualify Trump from ever again holding public office, including running for president in 2024. The Article of Impeachment alleges that in the months preceding the deadly January 6 attack at the US Capitol, Trump repeatedly issued false statements asserting without evidence that the election results were the product of widespread fraud and should not be accepted by Americans.
Castor defended Trump’s statements as speech protected by the First Amendment, including the speech he gave on January 6 in which he called on his supporters to “Stop the Steal”.
Castor also argued that the Senate lacks jurisdiction over Trump because he holds no public office from which he can be removed.
Castor added that now that Trump is out of office he could be arrested if there were legal grounds.
“The people, who stormed this building and breached it, were not accused of conspiring with the president,” Castor added.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Justice Department said more than 200 defendants had been charged in federal court in connection with the violent unrest at the Capitol on January 6 that saw five killed, inclduing a Capitol police officer who was beaten to death by Trump supporters.
After hearing both sides, the Senate is expected to vote on the trial. Unless the case is dismissed over a lack of jurisdiction, the House managers, who act as prosecutors, and Trump’s lawyers, each will be given 16 hours over two days to lay out their arguments for a Senate conviction.
The Constitution requires a two-thirds vote for a conviction in the Senate, meaning that at least 17 of the 50 Senate Republicans must join their Democratic colleagues. Last month, only five voted against a procedural motion to dismiss the trial on constitutional grounds, an indication that the impeachment lacks the necessary support.
Sourse: sputniknews.com
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