LYNCHBURG, Va. – Tuesday marked day one of the second Senate impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump.
Dr. David Richards, University of Lynchburg’s political science chair, said the process may be the same as the first trial, but he expects a speedier hearing this time.
“The charges have been simplified and, at least from the Democrats’ side, they feel like they have a lot more compelling evidence; so they, perhaps, won’t feel the need to build quite as careful a case as last time,” said Richards.
Senate Democrats need a two-thirds majority to find the former president guilty.
“At that point, they can then decide sort of what the punishment would be. Normal punishment would be removal from office, but of course, that’s not on the table. So, a second thing that they could do to him is to strip his right to run for office again,” explained Richards.
It’d be an outcome some may have expected to go differently.
“I don’t think that, in the end, people are expecting there to be this grand finale in which Trump is hauled away in chains or something.”
Richards said regardless of the outcome, he believes both sides will try to score political points before the Senate moves on to a COVID-19 relief package and more cabinet member confirmations.