Talking Points: What's The Point Of A Senate Trial For Trump?
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The U.S. Senate will soon be under Democratic control, and by all accounts, there will be a trial of former President Donald Trump at some point.
The goal would obviously not be to remove him from office, but some senators seek to keep him from running for president again, which he has indicated he could do in 2024.
The conviction requires a 2/3 vote in the Senate, which would require 17 Republican senators voting for conviction. Barring Trump from future office would take only a majority vote of the Senate.
Most legal scholars say a vote to keep him from running again could only happen after he had been convicted by that 2/3 Senate majority. Constitutional law professor David Schultz agrees with that.
"The idea that you could do that -- prevent the president from running again -- by a majority vote when the impeachment and conviction process requires 2/3, well why even bother do an impeachment and do a trial? Why not just have a majority vote of the House and a majority vote of the Senate to ban the president from running again?" Schultz said on WCCO Sunday Morning.
It is not clear if there are enough votes in the Senate to convict Trump. Again 17 Republicans would have to vote against him, and he still clearly has a strong hold on his supporters across the country.
Seventeen also seems like a high number considering only 10 House Republicans voted yes on impeachment.