[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 23 (Monday, February 8, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S563]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                              Impeachment

  Mr. President, now, on impeachment, tomorrow, the second impeachment 
trial of Donald J. Trump will commence, only the fourth trial of a 
President or former President in American history and the first trial 
for any public official who has been impeached twice.
  For the information of the Senate, the Republican leader and I, in 
consultation with both the House managers and former-President Trump's 
lawyers, have agreed to a bipartisan resolution to govern the structure 
and timing of the impending trial. Let me say that again. All parties 
have agreed to a structure that will ensure a fair and honest Senate 
impeachment trial of the former President.
  Each side will have ample time to make their arguments: 16 hours over 
2 days for the House managers, the same for the former President's 
counsel. If managers decide they want witnesses, there will be a vote 
on that, which is the option they requested in regard to witnesses.
  The trial will also accommodate a request from the former President's 
counsel to pause the trial during the Sabbath. The trial will break on 
Friday afternoon before sundown and will not resume until Sunday 
afternoon.
  As in previous trials, there will be equal time for Senators' 
questions and for closing arguments and an opportunity for the Senate 
to hold deliberations, if it so chooses.
  And then we will vote on the Article of Impeachment. If the former 
President is convicted, we will proceed to a vote on whether he is 
qualified to enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit under the 
United States.
  The structure we have agreed to is eminently fair. It will allow for 
the trial to achieve its purpose: truth and accountability. That is 
what trials are designed to do: to arrive at the truth of the matter 
and render a verdict. And following the despicable attack on January 6, 
there must be truth and accountability if we are going to move forward, 
heal, and bring our country together once again. Sweeping something as 
momentous as this under the rug brings no healing whatsoever. Let's be 
clear about that.
  Now, as the trial begins, the forces aligned with the former 
President are preparing to argue that the trial itself is 
unconstitutional because Donald Trump is no longer in office, relying 
on a fringe legal theory that has been roundly debunked by 
constitutional scholars from across the political spectrum.
  Just yesterday, another very prominent, conservative, Republican 
constitutional lawyer, Chuck Cooper, wrote in the Wall Street Journal 
that Republicans are dead wrong if they think an impeachment trial of a 
former President is unconstitutional.
  Here is what he wrote:

       Given that the Constitution permits the Senate to impose 
     the penalty of permanent disqualification only on former 
     officeholders, it defies logic to suggest that the Senate is 
     prohibited from trying and convicting former officeholders. 
     The Senators who supported Mr. Paul's motion should 
     reconsider their view and judge the former president's 
     misconduct on the merits.

  That is no liberal. That is Chuck Cooper, a lawyer who represented 
House Republicans in a lawsuit against Speaker Pelosi, a former adviser 
to Senator Cruz's Presidential campaign, driving a stake into the 
central argument we are going to hear from the former President's 
counsel.
  Now, I understand why this fringe constitutional theory is being 
advanced. For the past few weeks, the political right has been 
searching for a safe harbor, a way to oppose the conviction of Donald 
Trump without passing judgment on his conduct; to avoid alienating the 
former President's supporters without condoning his, obviously, 
despicable, unpatriotic, undemocratic behavior. But the truth is no 
such safe harbor exists. The trial is clearly constitutional by every 
frame of analysis--by constitutional text, historical practice, Senate 
precedent, and basic common sense.
  Presidents cannot simply resign to avoid accountability for an 
impeachable offense nor can they escape judgment by waiting until their 
final few weeks in office to betray our country. The impeachment powers 
assigned to the Congress by the Constitution cannot be defeated by a 
President who decides to run away or trashes our democracy on the way 
out the door. This trial will confirm that fact.
  The merits of the case against the former President will be 
presented, and the former President's counsel will mount a defense. 
Ultimately, Senators will decide on the one true question at stake in 
this trial: Is Donald Trump guilty of inciting a violent mob against 
the United States, a mob whose purpose was to interfere with the 
constitutional process of counting electoral votes and ensuring a 
peaceful transfer of power? And, if he is guilty, does someone who 
would commit such a high crime against his own country deserve to hold 
any office of honor or trust ever again?
  Consistent with the solemn oath we have all taken to ``do impartial 
justice according to the Constitution and laws'' of the United States, 
that is the question every Senator must answer in this trial.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
order for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Duckworth). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.