TRump is acquitted a second time

2/15 UPDATE:

On February 13th, Donald Trump was acquitted by the US Senate for a second time. He was acquitted of the charges of inciting the violence and insurrection that occurred during the riot in the Capitol on January 6th. His trial started on February 9th and was concluded on February 13th. The final vote was ten votes away from a conviction; 57 senators voted guilty and 43 voted not guilty. A two-thirds majority was needed for a conviction.

Prior to the final vote, Senator Rand Paul held a vote to dismiss the impeachment entirely on the grounds that it was unconstitutional to try a President when they were not in office. That motion was dismissed by a 55 to 45 vote.

Legally, Trump can still run for president in 2024 and he will still receive all of the resources other past Presidents have. Trump is not, however, free from legal troubles. States like Georgia and New York have started investigations into his businesses and presidential phone calls.

In the trial itself, Trump’s lawyers used multiple strategies to convince the Senators to vote ¨not guilty¨. They claimed he only incited peaceful protests and that his speech was protected by the first amendment. Whatever the claimed reasons, not enough Republicans believed he was guilty of inciting insurrection to convict him.

The country is still extremely split around the trial. Some Republicans believe the trial should not have even occurred, while many Democrats believe Trump should have been convicted.

The trial was the fourth impeachment trial in US history, the first trial that has even begun after the President has left office, and also the first trial in which a previously-impeached president was tried. No impeachment trial has ever successfully convicted the president, but they do often leave a mark.

1/21 UPDATE:

(Scroll down to see earlier updates and the original story.)

On January 19th, Senator Mitch McConnell said on the Senate floor that the mob that had overwhelmed the Capitol was "fed lies" and "provoked by the President and other powerful people." This statement has great significance- it cements a break between Senator McConnell and President Trump.

Mitch McConnell is one of the most powerful figures in the Senate right now (despite the fact that he will soon cease to be the Senate Majority Leader due to the Republicans' loss of the Senate majority), and his vote in the impeachment trial will be incredibly influential among fellow Senate Republicans. If he votes to convict, President Trump will likely lose the case in the Senate and be the only President ever convicted by the Senate after impeachment.

Of course, President Trump has already left office. However, he can still be convicted in the Senate; a conviction potentially has the power to prevent him from ever holding political office again.

While Senator McConnell has not openly stated whether he believes that President Trump committed impeachable offences, his January 19th statement does not bode well for the former President's chances of being acquitted in the Senate.

1/15 UPDATE:

(Scroll down to see earlier updates and the original story.)

On January 13th, the House of Representatives voted to impeach Donald Trump for a second time. 232 representatives, including 10 Republicans, voted to impeach. 197 votes, all Republicans, voted against impeaching.

He is the only president to ever face a Senate impeachment trial twice. So far, the Senate will not be voting on whether to convict President Trump until January 19th. Even if the Senate votes for conviction at the earliest possible date, it is unlikely they will come to a final conclusion before Biden’s inauguration.

The biggest debate surrounding the impeachment is discussing whether a president needs to be convicted after they are out of office and whether it will be worth it. While it might seem redundant to convict a President after they have already left office, a conviction could have serious ramifications for President Trump. The President has suggested several times that he might run for election in 2024. A Senate conviction could potentially bar him from ever holding future public office.

The most influential Republican in the Senate trials will be Senator Mitch McConnell. Currently serving as the Senate majority leader, McConnell's vote will have a great impact on the results of the trial. If he votes to convict, it might produce a domino effect among other Republican legislators. Senator McConnell currently maintains that he will not make a decision until all of the facts and evidence are heard in the Senate trial.

It's clear than unlike in the last conviction trial, President Trump isn't totally safe in the Senate. In the 2020 impeachment, it was almost assured that the Senate would vote to acquit. In 2021, that prospect is tinged with doubt. Whether or not President Trump becomes the first President in American history to be impeached and convicted is, as of right now, anything but certain.

1/11 UPDATE:

(Scroll down to see the original story.)

On January 11th, the Democrats of the House of Representatives introduced a resolution to impeach Donald Trump mere days before the end of his presidency. While this second impeachment may not be done in time to take him out of office, it could still remove his future political career and cancel his lifelong pension. The impeachment article has over 200 cosponsors.

The Democrats have been clear that an impeachment trial will occur if Vice President Pence does not invoke the 25th Amendment soon. However, it is not likely that the 25th Amendment will be invoked, and concern has risen for how the impeachment trial will impact Joe Biden’s incoming presidency. The trial could take resources, focus, and power away from Biden, so some have suggested that Congress wait to advance impeachment until Biden has settled in. Others, like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, have claimed that Trump's threat to the country is real and impending, and that delaying the trial would be a mistake.

No American President has ever been impeached twice, so the logistics of how it will play out are still being determined. Another issue being debated is whether a President can be impeached after he is no longer in office. The answers to these questions may not be straightforward, but in these unprecedented times, those answers are crucial.

On January 6th, 2021, our nation's Capitol was breached by a group of armed rioters waving Trump flags. They climbed up the walls, broke windows, and stole from the Capitol. Multiple explosives were found and secured before damage or death ensued.

During the riots, Congress was in the middle of certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election. However, as events progressed, the nation’s leaders were forced to interrupt the democratic election process. They put on gas masks to protect themselves from tear gas, fled to a back entrance, and escaped with windows being smashed in as they left. At least five people died as a result of the attempted siege and there were many other counts of injuries.

Many public officials, including those previously in support of Trump, have now rescinded their approval. Some have even called for his removal. At least 26 House Democrats have called for the 25th Amendment to be evoked. The 25th Amendment states that if the President is unable to perform his duties, the Vice President must step in and take over until the next Inauguration Day. Democrats Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, Republican Adam Kinzinger, and many more have called for Pence to stand in until January 20th. And that's not the only new threat to President Trump's presidency; some House members have also discussed going through with another impeachment process, one that may have the power to remove President Trump from office entirely.

After news of the riots began to saturate every news feed, President Trump officially announced that he would commit to a peaceful transition of power. Up until that point, the President had not conceded the election, telling his followers and supporters that the election had been stolen and that he could still win. In the middle of the conflict, President Trump released a Twitter video encouraging the rioters to "go home," but not condemning them, saying things like "we love you" and "you're very special." In contrast to the President, Vice President Mike Pence, along with public figures George W. Bush, Boris Johnson, and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, publicly denounced the rioters.

The original protests were intended to counter the Congressional process of election certification. During this process, Congress certifies each of the states' election results. Some supporters of President Trump believed that stopping Congress from certifying the election was their last chance to fight President-elect Biden's victory. The protests quickly devolved into riots.

At least four people died during the riots, with at least one rioter having been shot by police. These violent riots have been condemned by politicians and public figures on all sides of the political spectrum, but they didn't stop the democratic process. Congress reconvened to certify the Presidential election results after the riots occurred, staying long after midnight to assure the sanctity of the United States' democratic election process.

This story is still updating as events progress. There will be more information to come in future updates.