House delivers articles of impeachment

Senate trial to begin Jan. 21

Talia Lissauer

Twenty-eight days after the House of Representatives voted to impeach President Donald Trump, the House hand-delivered the articles of impeachment to the Senate. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi also announced the House managers for the Senate trial who will lead the case against President Trump.

Pelosi attempted to delay the trial until Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell promised a fair trial; however, the House sent over the articles of impeachment before the official rules of the trial had been decided on.

According to Pelosi, although they have not seen the layout of the trial, postponing sending the articles allowed new evidence to arise before the Senate trial began. Since the vote, several emails have surfaced and witnesses have agreed to comply with the investigation.

In a press conference, Pelosi named the seven Democrats to lead the case against President Trump in the Senate. Rep. Adam Schiff will be the head of the team. House managers are the prosecutors in the trial and work to convince senators to remove President Trump from office. 

 Donald Trump is the third president to be impeached and face a trial in the Senate, however, both previous presidents were acquitted by the Senate. Trump’s impeachment is historic because he is the first to be running for reelection during the impeachment process. The terms of his reelection will be decided by the Senate.

The trial will require all 100 senators to be present. This poses an issue for three presidential candidates — Amy Klobuchar, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren —  as they will have to take time away from the campaign trail right before Iowa caucus begins.

The upcoming trial has created a lot of controversy between the parties, as Democrats are calling for more witnesses to testify and more evidence to be taken into consideration. Republicans argue that enough evidence was accepted during the House hearings.  

The Senate trial is expected to start Jan. 21 and will begin with all senators being sworn in as official jurors. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts will oversee the trial.