Donald Trump became the first president of the United States to be approved by the House of Representatives for a second impeachment .
Before the one approved this Tuesday, the first impeachment (the imputation or formal accusation in the process of impeachment that the Senate decides) took place a year ago.
Then, the president was accused of conspiring with the government of Ukraine to obtain an electoral benefit and obstruction of the justice, charges that were dismissed in the Republican majority Senate.
He is now accused of “incitement to insurrection” for encourage their supporters to protest on Capitol Hill on January 6, the day thousands of people stormed the headquarters of Congress to stop Democrat Joe Biden’s certification of victory.
“We know that the president of the United States incited this insurrection, this armed rebellion against our country. You must leave. It is a clear and present danger to the nation we all love, “Speaker of the House, Democrat Nancy Pelosi, said in the debate.
- Green light to impeachment: Trump becomes the only US president to face a second impeachment trial
Most Republicans ( except ten ) , they opposed it, considering it a political revenge: “I have seen first-hand the dark evil of political violence and it must stop (…). It will only serve to further divide the nation, “said Republican Minority Leader Steve Scalise.
The accusation must be settled in the Senate, where the sentence (whose maximum penalty is dismissal) requires two thirds of the senators. To reach that number, all Democrats should have the support of 17 Republicans, something that seems unlikely.
Further , the still leader of the Republican majority in the Senate, Mitch MConnell, noted in a statement that given the procedures and precedents in the Senate, “there is simply no possibility that a serious and fair trial may be concluded before President-elect Joe Biden takes office. ”
Trump, who leaves office on 25 of January, denies the accusations and has described this process as a “continuation of the witch hunt” against him.
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Regardless of what the Senate decides, Trump is the first president to see the Lower House pass a second impeachment .
His name had already joined two other presidents who were tried in Congress.
The Clinton case
Although the threat fell on the heads of numerous American leaders, only two were brought to impeachment before Trump.
The most recent was Bill Clinton, the 42 th President of the USA, who was indicted after being accused of perjury in front of a grand jury and of obstruction of justice , after he lied about the nature of his relationship with intern Monica Lewinsky, whom he allegedly asked to lie.
In December 1998, the House of Representatives voted for 228 to 212 in favor of prosecuting Clinton on the first indictment, and 221 to 212 for the second.
At that time, the level of popular approval of Clinton as president was 72%.
And when the case reached the Senate, in 1999, the accusation was far from getting the two-thirds of the votes it needed to conclude in conviction.
“In their haste to remove the president, (the Republican congressmen) never stopped to think if the accusations could be proven beyond any reasonable doubt,” reads an analysis published by the BBC at that time.
The Johnson case
The other US president brought to impeachment was the 20 º , Andrew Johnson, who served for two terms from 1865.
It was processed by the House of Representatives in 1868, alone 11 days after he removed Edwin Stanton, his “Minister of War,” who did not agree with his policies.
Unlike Clinton, however, Johnson was narrowly spared: two-thirds in the Senate were not reached by a single vote .
Not everyone appreciated Johnson, but Iowa Senator James Grimes justified his support by saying, “I cannot agree to destroy the smooth functioning of the Constitution just so that we can get rid of an unacceptable president. ”
What is it an “impeachment”?
The US Constitution establishes that the president “must be desti taken from his post if he is accused of and convicted of treason, bribery, or other crimes or serious crimes. ”
The process begins in the House of Representatives, where the simple majority of the deputies can decide to formally accuse the president, which is called “impeachment.”
That impeachment begins what is properly the impeachment trial, which is the responsibility of the Senate and which may result in the removal of the president if so decided by two thirds of the senators, something that has never happened in the history of the country.
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