Trump’s impeachment was appropriate, trial is constitutional

Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, said on Sunday that the Senate impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump was constitutional and that Trump’s alleged involvement in the U.S. Capitol riot was an impassable offense .

Romney’s comments come after several Senate Republicans expressed support for a contested legal argument that holding a Senate trial after a president has left office is unconstitutional.

“It’s pretty clear that the effort is constitutional,” Romney said in an interview on CNN. “I believe that what is alleged and what we have seen, which is an incitement to insurgency, is an impenetrable offense. If not, what is it?”

Trump became the first US President to be impeached by the House twice after the House charged him with serious crimes and misdemeanors for inciting an insurgency on the U.S. Capitol on January 6 that left five people dead, including a police officer from the Capitol.

A week after the insurgency, 10 Republicans joined the 222 Democrats in voting to indict Trump. The Senate impeachment trial is scheduled to begin the week of February 8.

The process will begin on Monday when the House tables its impeachment article in the Senate. Senators will be sworn in as jurors on Tuesday.

The Senate will need 67 votes to condemn Trump. If all Democrats back a conviction, they would need 17 Republicans to join them. If the Senate condemns Trump, he could be barred from becoming president again in 2025.

GOP Senators Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania had called on Trump to step down. Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky told colleagues he has yet to decide whether or not to vote to condemn Trump.

Romney was the only Republican in the Senate to join the Democrats in trying to remove the president from office in December 2019.

Trump was first impeached for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress after he pressured Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden. The Republican Senate acquitted him.