Now that the inauguration is behind us and the new administration is in place, attention is returning to the second impeachment of former President Donald Trump and his trial in the Senate.
Minority Leader Mitch McConnell suggested Thursday that the trial be delayed until next month, to give House impeachment managers and Trump’s legal team more time to prepare. Ultimately, the timing will be set by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who can trigger the start of the trial when she sends the House charges for "incitement of insurrection" to the Senate, along with McConnell and new Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
"We’re ready as team," said East Bay Congressman Eric Swalwell. "We’ve spent many hours putting the case together."
Swalwell is one of nine House impeachment managers leading the effort.
"We believe we have a case that will show our president incited our citizens to attack our Capitol and it’s a pretty clear-cut case," he told KCBS Radio’s "The State of California" Thursday.
If the Senate votes to convict, Swalwell likened the subsequent process to a typical courtroom penalty phase, as Senators would indeed need to hold another vote on whether Trump should be allowed to hold public office ever again.
The Dublin representative also gave an insider’s look at what kind of evidence to expect during the impeachment proceedings.
"This was not a heat of passion crime," Swalwell explained, saying Trump "knew what his words meant" in the weeks, days and hours leading up to the riot. He also said it’s clear the president did nothing to stop the siege as it was happening in not activating the National Guard or appearing on television to appeal to the group, part of Trump’s "knowledge and intent."
As for Republicans, some have called on President Biden to stop the impeachment process, using his call for unity among lawmakers against him.
"There’s a lot that we can unite around, but to me, unity - as President Biden said yesterday - means that enough of us come together to act for all of us," Swalwell said. "I recognize that we not only want this to be fair, but perceived as fair, but right now we’re waiting for the Speaker to send the articles over and (we’re) eager to get into the courtroom and make our case."
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