House Managers Get to Present Their Case: Impeachment Update

(Bloomberg) -- Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial is underway in the Senate.

The nine House managers prosecuting the former president argue that he betrayed his oath of office by inciting the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. Trump’s lawyers counter that he didn’t prod his supporters to violence and simply exercised his First Amendment rights.

House Managers to Present Their Case (6 a.m.)

House impeachment managers will have as much as 16 hours over two days to present their case to convict Trump, starting at noon on Wednesday. After that, his lawyers will follow with their presentation of up to 16 hours in a trial likely to run into the weekend, if not beyond.

On Tuesday, the House Democrats showed a damning, if selective, video montage with Trump urging action juxtaposed against the violence of the mob that left his rally to attack the Capitol. And after a shaky start, Trump’s lawyers denounced what one of them called “the political weaponization of the impeachment process,” fueled by “base hatred” and fear that Trump will run again in 2024.

But those were just the preliminaries.

The House Democrats pushing for Trump’s impeachment won an initial victory Tuesday, but it might not be an omen of success. Six Republican senators joined Democrats in a 56-44 vote that the trial of a former president is constitutional. Several of the GOP members bemoaned a rambling opening performance by Trump lawyer Bruce Castor.

Yet 17 Republicans would have to join all of the Senate’s Democrats if Trump’s critics are to muster the 67 votes that would be needed to convict him at the end of the trial, an outcome that remains very unlikely.

Where to Watch:

You can catch the proceedings live on the Bloomberg Terminal or streaming on the web at bloomberg.com. Cable news networks CNN, Fox News and MSNBC are likely to show significant portions of the trial. C-SPAN 2, which covers Senate floor proceedings, will broadcast it on cable and online.

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