It is predicted that the Senate’s impeachment vote could be reached as early as the 13th (local time) as soon as the lawyers of the former US President Donald Trump decided to shorten the time for the impeachment trial.
According to the New York Times (NYT) on the 12th, former President Trump’s attorney David Shoan said he could only spend three to four hours of the 16-hour pleadings given from that day.
Earlier, the House Impeachment Prosecution Committee, acting as a prosecutor, claimed the charges over two days, but it is highly likely that the former President Trump will finish the defense within one day of the day.
After both sides of the debate are over, the senators can inquire for 4 hours, and after that, after both sides make a final pleading, a vote on the impeachment bill is made.
Inquiries from the senators are likely to lead directly to the middle of the day after Trump’s defense team’s defense has ended, CNN reported.
If this happens, a vote on the impeachment bill could be reached on the 13th.
The first Saturday, the 13th, was skipped, and the former President Trump was supposed to speak until Sunday, the 14th.
“The final vote on Trump’s impeachment could take place on Saturday,” NYT said. “This is the fastest presidential impeachment trial in US history.”
The lawyers are expected to focus on the assertion that the speech of former President Trump on the eve of the invasion of parliament on the 6th of last month is a political speech protected by freedom of expression, not for inciting a civil war.
It is also expected that the claim that the impeachment of the retired president itself is unconstitutional will be repeated.
The Senate voted on the 9th and decided that the impeachment trial against Trump was constitutional.
It is also known that Bruce Caster, who bought Trump’s anger, will also appear in the pleadings on the day.
On the 9th, the first day of the impeachment trial, Caster was criticized by Republican senators for his gibberish defense.
It is said that former President Trump also shouted while watching the pleadings on TV.
The defense team reviewed the defense strategy with former President Trump the night before, CNN reported.
The lawyers are known to have met three Republican senators, including Lindsey Graham, Ted Cruz, and Mike Lee the day before.
Some point out whether it is appropriate for the senators, who are supposed to play the role of fair jury in the impeachment trial, to contact one side.
The House Impeachment Prosecution Committee caught the eye by presenting an undisclosed congressional intrusion video in the two-day pleading up to the previous day, but the prospect that the Trump impeachment bill will pass in the Senate is unlikely.
The passage requires a’rebellion vote’ of 17 Republican senators.
(yunhap news)