On January 13, 2021 the House of Representatives voted to Impeach Trump for the High Crime and Misdemeanor of Incitement to Insurrection for events leading up to, and on, January 6, 2021, at the United States Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. Impeachment in the House is in the nature of an Indictment requiring a trial in the Senate where Conviction requires a two thirds vote of Senators present and voting. Upon obtaining a two thirds vote in the Senate the President is considered to be Convicted and Removed.
The not so smart lawyers representing Trump are arguing that the Senate is powerless to act because Trump is no longer President. It is their position that the remedy for committing Impeachable Acts is Conviction and Removal and you can’t remove someone who has already left and the Constitution requires that you do both, “convict and remove”, or do nothing.
The “both or nothing” argument is silly as Trump’s lawyers would have found out if they had gone to court seeking to enjoin the Senate from seeking to try Trump in the first place. They would have been told by any competent Court that the most reasonable interpretation of the Convict and Remove language in the Constitution does not require the Senate to do the impossible nor does the expiration of time render the Senate a nullity. If, at the conclusion of a Senate Trial, two thirds of the Senate finds that the President has committed high crimes and misdemeanors while President they should enter a Judgement of Conviction.
They would have done the best they could with the information that was presented to them. Let’s call it “do the best you can” theory as opposed to “both or neither” theory.
I like, “do the best you can”. It’s very American.
Slip out the back Jack at 11:55PM. C’mon man. You’re not going to get rid of the United States Senate and let grifters skate that easy.
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