The second impeachment trial of now-former President Donald Trump begins on Tuesday.
Last month, the House charged Trump with incitement of insurrection, following the deadly riot at the Capitol. Now it's up to the Senate to decide whether to convict or acquit him of this charge.
WFMY News 2 spoke with political science experts from the Triad - Dr. Jason Husser from Elon University, and Dr. David Holian from UNC-Greensboro - about the trial and its potential consequences.
"This is a historic moment in American history, regardless of whether a person thinks this impeachment process is a bad idea or a good idea," Husser said.
"This is going to be very public, and I would imagine the house managers are going to focus on the emotion of the moment," said Holian.
Senators will serve as judge and jury in this political proceeding, deciding whether the former President incited the deadly riot at the Capitol on January 6th.
"This next impeachment will look a little bit different than what we saw in Trump's first impeachment," Husser explained, "In that case, the story was really being debated - what happened behind closed doors? What went on in private phone calls? Now the story is something that all Americans saw, things that happened very publicly. Almost all of the Senators who are going to be voting on impeachment were there at the Capitol building - so they are both witnesses and decision-makers at the same time."
"Many Republicans have said that they're going to keep an open mind as jurors," said Holian, "But it seems unlikely - highly unlikely - that we'd have a vote to convict."
Conviction requires 2/3rds of the Senate - or 67 Senators. That would mean 17 Republican Senators voting in favor of conviction. Both Husser and Holian say they just don't see that happening. However, the trial could have plenty of political consequences.
"The big question is, what will Mitch McConnell, the Senate Majority Leader, do?" Husser said, "If McConnell decides that he is tired of Trump, he thinks that Trump is responsible for the attack on the Capitol, and he votes for conviction, many other Republicans may change their minds as well.
"If there's a Senator who is a Republican who is planning to potentially run for President in 2024, this could be like one of those big votes that gets talked about for the next four years."
"Given the fact that this was live and on television, if the Senate hears all this evidence and votes to acquit - one thing you have to ask yourself is, to what extent is impeachment and removal, that power that Congress holds over the Executive and over the Judiciary for that matter, whether it’s sort of a dead constitutional letter?" Holian said, "If this doesn’t rise to the level of a high crime and misdemeanor, you kind of have to ask yourself - what does? And, is it even possible in our highly polarized time to ever hold a President fully accountable, former or otherwise, for these kinds of actions?"
If he were to be convicted, lawmakers would essentially prevent the 45th President from running for federal office again.
