US Senate votes Donald Trump's second impeachment trial is constitutional and should continue 6park.com
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© AAPn this image from United States Senate television, Bruce Castor, Counsel to former US President Donald J. Trump, makes his argument during the second impeachment trial of President Trump in the US Senate in the US Capitol in Washington, DC.
The US Senate has voted that the second impeachment trial against former US president Donald Trump is constitutionally valid and will continue.
The vote followed four hours of arguments from Mr Trump's lawyers and Democratic impeachment managers.
It passed with 56 votes to 44, meaning six Republicans voted in favour of the motion.
The defeated former president stands charged by the House with inciting the deadly mob attack on the Capitol on January 6 to overturn the election in what prosecutors argue is the "most grievous constitutional crime".
Mr Trump was impeached one week before he left office and one week after he told his supporters to "fight like hell" before they laid siege on the Capitol.
The rioting resulted in five deaths.
What did the prosecutors argue?
Impeachment managers — who act as the prosecutors — argued Mr Trump incited insurrection, and that a former president must be held to account for all conduct in office, regardless of whether that conduct occurred in his final week.
"There is no January exception to the impeachment power, that presidents can't commit grave offences in their final days and escape any congressional response," Democrat Joe Neguse said.
Democrats cited legal scholars and precedent from a secretary of war's 1876 impeachment to detail both the historical precedent and the violence of the rioting to argue that the trial was constitutional.
David Cicilline, a Rhode Island Democrat, told senators that the argument the Senate didn't have jurisdiction to try Mr Trump rested on a "purely fictional" legal premise.
Mr Cicilline said: "The Senate can and should force [former] president Trump to stand trial."
Raskin teared up as he recounted the riot
Jamie Raskin, the lead House impeachment manager, grew emotional as he spoke about his personal experience in the Capitol on January 6.
He had been joined there by family members that day, which was the day after he buried his son, who took his own life in December.
His daughter and son-in-law were in an office in the Capitol.
They hid under a desk, where they sent what they thought were their final texts.
Mr Raskin said: "They thought they were going to die."
Separated from them in the House chamber, Mr Raskin described people around him calling to say goodbye to their families, and members removing their congressional pins to try to evade detection.
He said he heard the rioters "pounding on the door like a battering ram", a sound he said he would "never forget".
He choked up as he recounted his daughter telling him she never wanted to return to the Capitol again.
Through tears, Mr Raskin said: "This cannot be the future of America."
What did Trump's lawyers argue?
Mr Trump's defence lawyers said the impeachment must be ruled unconstitutional, because it was not a power to be used against a former president who was now a private citizen.
Lawyers David Schoen said Democrats were fuelled by a "hatred" of Mr Trump and had a fear that they would lose power.
He said if the trial moved forward, it would make "everyone" look bad, and other countries that wished the US harm would watch with "glee".
Mr Trump's other lawyer, Bruce Castor, acknowledged in his opening remarks that his client lost the election to President Joe Biden.
Mr Trump has repeatedly disputed the results of the election, falsely claiming he won in a "landslide".
There was no widespread fraud in the election, as was confirmed by election officials across the country, and dozens of legal challenges by Mr Trump and his allies were dismissed.
Mr Trump's team said he was protected by freedom of speech when he told his supporters to "fight like hell" to overturn his election defeat.
They said he was using "fight" as a general term, not a direction to be violent.
Who voted for the trial to proceed?
Six Republicans joined the 50 Democrats in voting that Mr Trump's impeachment trial could proceed.
Republican Senators Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Ben Sasse of Nebraska, Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania and Mitt Romney of Utah voted as previously indicated to dismiss Mr Trump's lawyers' claims.
Louisiana Republican Senator Bill Cassidy also flipped his vote to side with the Democrats.
Two weeks ago, he had voted in favour of an effort to dismiss the trial.
Senator Cassidy told reporters the impeachment managers' arguments were "strong arguments", but that Mr Trump's lawyers did a "terrible job".
Cassidy said: "I have always said I was approaching this with an open mind."
Texas Senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn were both critical of the way Mr Trump's lawyers handled their arguments, but still voted to dismiss the trial.
What do these numbers mean for the trial outcome?
For the former president to be convicted, two-thirds of the Senate has to vote in favour of it.
Currently, 50 senators are Democrats and 50 are Republicans, so in order to secure a conviction, 17 Republicans will have to side with the Democrats.
So that means an additional 11 Republicans would have to flip their vote for the Democrats to gain a conviction.
Where was President Joe Biden?
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Biden would not have time to watch the trial, and would not "opine on back and forth arguments" taking place during the proceedings.
Pushing for the passage of his COVID-19 relief package, Biden was to meet with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Tuesday local time. 
He would also visit the Pentagon and National Institute of Health later this week. 6park.com