WASHINGTON, DC – The US House has voted to impeach President Trump for a second time, charging him with inciting the mob that over ran the US Capitol building last week.
The trial would be before the Senate.
South Dakota Senator Mike Rounds says the Senate won’t be back in Washington until next week. “Under the rules we are operating in now we won’t be back until Jan. 19, which will be the day before President Trump will leave office. There’s just simply no way to do a trial in that time period.”
Rounds says President Trump’s term would end before a trial could begin. “The reason for an impeachment – the way the founding fathers laid it out – was to remove an officer or to take away an office from a person who was convicted of an impeachable offense.” He added, “In this particular case, the conviction of impeachment can only occur after the president leaves office which makes it moot.”
Rounds says the Senate could bar the President from seeking future offices without an impeachment trial. “Now there are some people who say the next step after that would be the elimination of his ability to hold office in the future.” He observed, “I think there are probably other ways to address that besides an impeachment at this point in time.
Rounds says he is very disappointed in the President’s words and actions in rejecting the outcome of the November election.
