Donald Trump's Second Impeachment Trial to Start in February

Senate Democratic Party Leader Chuck Schumer announced the schedule on Friday night after he reached a deal with the Republicans, who wanted a two-week delay in starting the trial to give Trump to prepare his defence.

He said that Speaker Nancy Pelosi will deliver the Articles of Impeachment, as the chargesheet voted by the House of Representatives is known, to the Senate on Monday and the Senators will be sworn-in as jurors the next day, but the trial itself will not start till two weeks later.

"Make no mistake, a trial will be held in the US Senate, and there will be a vote whether to convict the President," Schumer said

Impeachment is the framing of charges against an official by the House, which then holds a judicial-style trial with senators as the jury. Two-thirds of them, 67 members in the 100-member Senate, will have to vote to convict. Last year the Senate could not convict him at his first impeachment.

Trump has been accused of inciting an "insurrection" — the January 6 storming of the Capitol building while Congress was in the middle of counting the electoral college votes from the November 3, 2020, election and ratifying the election of Joe Biden as President and Kamala Harris as Vice President.

The delay in starting the trial also helps Biden, who wants his cabinet and other senior officials confirmed by the Senate and move forward his agenda to deal with the Covid-19 crisis and its economic fallout. "The more time we have to get up and running to meet these crises, the better," he said. (IANS)