Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Bulletin. (Bend, OR) 1963-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 9, 2021)
A14 THE BULLETIN • TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2021 Trial Sen. Pat- rick Leahy, D-Vt., the president pro tempore of the Sen- ate, who is presiding over the im- peachment trial of for- mer Presi- dent Don- ald Trump, swears in members of the Senate on Jan. 26 for the im- peachment trial. Continued from A1 Schumer said Monday that the deal would “allow for the trial to achieve its purpose: truth and accountability” — and force Republicans to go on the record “The merits of the case against the former president will be presented, and the former president’s counsel will mount a defense,” Schumer said. “Ultimately, senators will decide on the one true question at stake in this trial: Is Donald Trump guilty of incit- ing a violent mob against the United States, a mob whose purpose was to interfere with the constitutional process of counting electoral votes and ensuring a peaceful transfer of power?” In a new filing Monday, the nine House impeachment managers said the evidence for Trump’s conviction was already “overwhelming” and vowed to prove their case in the com- ing days. “We live in a Nation governed by the rule of law, not mob violence in- cited by Presidents who cannot accept their own electoral defeat,” they said. McConnell and Trump’s defense team also praised the trial agreement in brief statements. “This process will provide us with an opportunity to explain to Senators why it is absurd and unconstitutional to hold an impeachment trial against a private citizen,” Trump’s lawyers said, hours after they filed a 78-page legal brief — their most complete legal defense of Trump’s conduct to date. In it, they relied heavily on the challenge to the constitutionality of impeaching a former president, as well as a First Amendment defense of Trump’s rhetoric leading up to the riot — which sought to disrupt the final congressional certification of Trump’s loss. Mindful that they need to persuade 34 Republican senators to secure an acquittal, Trump’s lawyers cast their defense in a political light, calling the rapid impeachment effort the cul- mination of a long Democratic cam- paign to “silence a political opponent and a minority party” through im- peachment. “The Senate must summarily reject this brazen political act,” Trump at- torneys Bruce Castor, David Schoen and Michael van der Veen wrote. They said the lone impeachment arti- cle was “unconstitutional for a variety of reasons, any of which alone would be grounds for immediate dismissal.” The defense team added: “Taken together, they demonstrate conclu- sively that indulging House Demo- crats hunger for this political theater is a danger to our Republic, democ- racy and the rights that we hold dear.” The nine House impeachment managers filed expansive arguments in favor of Trump’s conviction last week, accusing him of “a betrayal of historic proportions” by promoting the false claim that he, not Demo- cratic candidate Biden, won the No- vember election. Trump then stoked anger among his supporters, sum- moning them to Washington and finally directing them toward the Capitol as Congress met to count the electoral votes, the managers said. “If provoking an insurrectionary riot against a Joint Session of Con- gress after losing an election is not an impeachable offense,” they wrote, “it is hard to imagine what would be.” Trump’s attorneys outlined their rebuttal to that charge Monday: Sim- ply put, Trump was engaged in free speech protected by the First Amend- ment when he questioned the elec- tion results — highlighting “electoral integrity issues essential to his career that he has consistently advocated, a position unpopular with his political opponents.” “The attempt of the House to transmute Mr. Trump’s speech — core free speech under the First Amendment — into an impeachable offense cannot be supported, and convicting him would violate the very Constitution the Senate swears to up- hold,” they wrote. In a brief filing Monday, the man- agers criticized that free-speech ar- gument as “utterly baseless,” saying Trump’s false claims and incendiary rhetoric were entitled to no such pro- tection. “When President Trump de- manded that the armed, angry crowd at his Save America Rally ‘fight like hell’ or ‘you’re not going to have a country anymore,’ he wasn’t urg- ing them to form political action committees about ‘election security in general,’ “ they said, quoting the Trump defense’s words. The Democratic managers wrote: “The House did not impeach Presi- dent Trump because he expressed an unpopular political opinion. It im- peached him because he willfully in- cited violent insurrection against the government.” The decision on whether to convict Trump and potentially bar him from future office is now in the hands of an evenly split Senate, with 67 votes out of 100 needed to secure a conviction. Senate Television via AP, file IMPEACHMENT TRIAL EXPLAINED What’s ahead and what could happen BY MARY CLARE JALONICK The Associated Press WASHINGTON — For- mer President Donald Trump’s historic second impeachment trial begins Tuesday, forcing the Senate to decide whether to con- vict him of incitement of insurrection after a violent mob of his supporters laid siege to the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. While Trump’s acquit- tal is expected, Democrats hope to gain at least some Senate Republican votes by linking Trump’s actions to a vivid description of the vio- lence, which resulted in five deaths and sent lawmak- ers fleeing for safety. The House impeached Trump on Jan. 13, one week later. Trump’s lawyers say the trial should not be held at all because the former pres- ident is now a private citi- zen. They argue that he did not incite the violence when he told his supporters to “fight like hell” to overturn his defeat. A look at the basics of the upcoming impeachment trial: How does the trial work? As laid out by the Con- stitution, the House votes to impeach and the Sen- ate then holds a trial on the charge or charges. Two thirds of senators present can convict. The House appointed nine impeachment man- agers who will present the case against Trump on the Senate floor. Trump’s de- fense team will have equal time to argue against con- viction. The chief justice of the United States normally pre- sides over the trial of a pres- ident, but because Trump has left office, the presiding officer will be Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., who is the ceremonial head of the Sen- ate as the longest-serving member of the majority party. Once the senators reach a final vote on the impeach- ment charge — this time there is just one, incitement of insurrection — each law- maker will stand up and cast her or his vote: guilty or not guilty. How long will the trial last? Likely more than a week. The agreement between Senate leaders provides for up to 16 hours for both prosecutors and the defense to make their arguments, starting Wednesday, with no more than eight hours of arguments per day. Later, there will be time for sen- ators to ask questions, and there could be additional procedural votes. Under the agreement, the trial will open Tuesday with four hours of debate on whether the trial is constitu- tional. The Senate will then vote on whether to dismiss the charge against Trump. If that vote fails, as expected, the House managers will begin their arguments Wednesday and continue into Thursday. Trump’s lawyers are likely to begin their argu- ments Friday and finish Saturday. That almost cer- tainly means a final vote on Trump’s conviction won’t happen until next week. Will there be witnesses? It appears unlikely, for now, though that could change as the trial pro- ceeds. Trump himself has declined a request from the impeachment managers to testify. While Democrats ar- gued vociferously for wit- nesses in the last impeach- ment trial, they were not allowed to call them after the GOP-controlled Sen- ate voted against doing so. This time, Democrats feel they don’t need witnesses because they can rely on the graphic images of the in- surrection that played out on live television. They also argue that the senators were witnesses themselves. If the managers do decide they want to call witnesses, the bipartisan agreement for the trial allows them to ask for a vote. The Senate would have to approve sub- poenaing any witnesses for the trial. Why try Trump when he is out of office? Republicans and Trump’s lawyers argue that the trial is unnecessary, and even unconstitutional, because Trump is no longer pres- ident and cannot be re- moved from office. Dem- ocrats disagree, pointing to opinions of many legal scholars and the impeach- ment of a former secretary of war, William Belknap, who resigned in 1876 just hours before he was im- peached over a kickback scheme. While Belknap was even- tually acquitted, the Senate held a full trial. And this time, the House impeached Trump while he was still president, seven days before Biden’s inauguration. If Trump were convicted, the Senate would take a sec- ond vote to bar him from holding office again, Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, D-NY, said Mon- day. Democrats feel that would be an appropriate punishment. In response to GOP ef- forts to dismiss the trial, Democrats argue that there should not be a “Jan- uary exception” for pres- idents who commit im- peachable offenses just before they leave office. They say the trial is nec- essary not only to hold Trump properly account- able but also so they can deal with what happened and move forward. “You cannot go forward until you have justice,” said House Speaker Nancy Pe- losi last week. “If we were not to follow up with this, we might as well remove any penalty from the Con- stitution of impeachment.” How is this trial different from Trump’s first trial? Trump’s first trial was based on evidence uncov- ered over several months by the House about a pri- vate phone call between Trump and the presi- dent of Ukraine, as well as closed-door meetings that happened before and af- terward. Democrats held a lengthy investigation and then compiled a report of their findings. In contrast, the sec- ond trial will be based al- most entirely on the vis- ceral experience of a riot that targeted the senators themselves, in the Capitol building. The insurrection- ists even breached the Sen- ate chamber, where the trial will be held. The fresh memories of Jan. 6 could make it easier for the House impeachment managers to make their case, but it doesn’t mean the outcome will be any differ- ent. Trump was acquitted in his first trial a year ago Friday with only one Re- publican, Utah Sen. Mitt Romney, voting to convict, and there may not be many more guilty votes this time around. In a test vote Jan. 26, only five Senate Republicans voted against an effort to dismiss the trial — an early indication that Trump is likely to be acquitted again. What will Trump’s lawyers argue? In a brief filed Monday, they argued that the trial is unconstitutional, that Trump did nothing wrong and that he did not incite the insurrection during his Jan. 6 speech to supporters. While the House im- peachment managers say Trump is “singularly” re- sponsible for the attack on the Capitol, Trump’s law- yers say the rioters acted on their own accord. They sug- gest that Trump was simply exercising his First Amend- ment rights when he falsely disputed the election results and told his supporters to fight — a term they note is often used in political speeches. The brief goes after the impeachment manag- ers personally, charging that the Democrats have “Trump derangement syn- drome,” are “selfish” and are only trying to impeach Trump for political gain. There was no widespread fraud in the election, as Trump claimed falsely over several months and again to his supporters just before the insurrection. Election officials across the country, and even former Attorney General William Barr, con- tradicted his claims, and dozens of legal challenges to the election put forth by Trump and his allies were dismissed. C LASSIFIEDS The Bulletin Create or find Classifieds at www.bendbulletin.com General Merchandise Rentals 204 Want to Buy or Rent 607 Rooms for Rent Wanted $ Cash paid for vintage, fake, & fine jew- elry. Top $ paid for Gold & Silver. I buy in bulk. Honest Artist. Elizabeth 541-633-7006 LaPine- Female seeking female roommates, rent $550-$800/mo. No pets, drinking/smoking. Chris- tian home. 541-977-6560 CASH for Wood dress- ers. Dead washers & dryers. 541-420-2218 Recreation & Sports 200 600 210 Pets & Supplies 800 801 Recreation Vehicles 907 Automotive Parts & Accessories Alternator for a ‘90 Volvo 740 GLE Wagon bought as re-manufactured unit. Drove car 4 times then engine blew. Includes fan belt, shield, and pul- ley usually not included with replacement. Paid $250, asking $200 obo. Call Dave 541-408-3847. Legal Notices 1000 Harley-Davidson 2008 FLHTCU Ultra Classic 1001 Electra Glide, 33k miles, AKC Welsh Pembroke Legal Notices & info at lejhor@rcnemail. Corgi Puppies, looking Public Notices for their fur-ever homes. com, asking $2,000 Girls and boys. Available now. $2,000 - $2,500 LEGAL NOTICE TO IN- each, includes first The Bulletin is your TERESTED PERSONS puppy shot. Call Bill at NOTICE IS HEREBY 541-591-8585. Red and Employment GIVEN that the un- white, black and white, dersigned has been and tri-color. Marketplace appointed Person- al Representative 213 of the Estate of M. Call Elizabeth Messer Furniture & Appliances Stearns, Deceased, 541-385-5809 by the Deschutes County Circuit Court to advertise. of the State of Ore- gon probate number www.bendbulletin.com 21PB00589. All per- sons having claims against the Estate are required to pres- Black metal bunk beds. ent them, with prop- Like new. Zippered er vouchers, within mattress covers! Mat- four (4) months after tress pads, sheets, and the date of first pub- Autos & near-new mattresses. lication of this notice $300. 541-350-4858, Transportation to the undersigned call or text. or the claims may be barred. All persons whose rights may be affect- GOT AN OLDER ed by the proceed- TRUCK, BOAT OR RV? ings may obtain ad- Donate it to ditional information HERITAGE 901 from the records of FOR THE BLIND. Automobiles-Trucks, the Court, the un- 1-844-493-7877 dersigned or the Auto, RV, Vans attorneys for the un- dersigned. 219 DATED and first pub- lished February 2, Antiques & Collectibles 2021. Gerald R. Stearns c/o Buying Lionel/American Thomas J. Sayeg Flyer Trains and acces. Karnopp Petersen LLP 541-408-2191 360 SW Bond Street, 1990 Volvo 740 GLE Suite 400 Bend, Or- 222 Parts car. Clean title. egon 97702 Normally aspirated Coins & Stamps TEL: (541) 382-3011 740 GLE. Installed new FAX: (541) 388-5410 Private collector buying windshield in Septem- Of Attorneys for Per- postage stamp albums ber. New fuel pump re- sonal Representa- & collections, world- lay. Needs a new head. tive wide and U.S. 573-286- $600 obo. Call Dave 4343 (local, cell phone) 541-408-3847 900 The Bulletin will feature your Happy Valentine’s Day messages in our classifi ed section on Sunday, Feb. 14. SUBSCRIBERS GET 50% OFF WITH PROMO CODE: VALENTINE 1x3 message: $30 2x3 message: $45 3x4 message: $75 Subscribers: $15 Subscribers: $22.50 Subscribers: $37.50 Purchase online at: www.BendBulletin.com/special