House impeaches Trump once more
(China Daily | Jan. 14, 2020) With the US Capitol secured by armed National Guard troops inside and out, the House of Representatives voted Wednesday to impeach President Donald Trump for a historic second time, indicting him for “incitement of insurrection” in the storming of Congress a week ago.
As impeachment heads to the Senate, President-elect Joe Biden said he hoped the Senate can balance a second impeachment trial of Trump with “other urgent business” of the nation, which remains gripped by the raging COVID-19 pandemic.
In a statement released hours after the bipartisan House vote, Biden did not take a position on whether the Senate should convict Trump, but again condemned the violent attack on Capitol Hill …
… William Banks, distinguished professor emeritus at the Syracuse University College of Law in New York, said the House vote on impeachment was not surprising.
“It underscores that he is the ONLY President in US history to be impeached two times. It is clearly a stain on his record and should underscore the view that his presidency was an aberration in the US,” Banks told China Daily.
Some Republicans joined because Trump lost the election, he can’t impact them directly in the future, and in addition, Trump’s actions were far more grave and harmful this time around, Banks said.
“I predict no conviction in an eventual Senate trial, and with luck the Senate will relegate the trial to off hours so they can begin working on the Biden agenda,” Banks said. “It should have little impact on the Biden administration” …