Today’s Headlines and Commentary
The second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump opened on Tuesday, writes the New York Times. Today the senators have four hours to argue the constitutionality of holding the trial. House impeachment manager Rep. Jamie Raskin argued that there is no “January exception” for the former president. Trump’s lawyers Bruce L. Castor Jr., David Schoen and Michael T. van der Veen will maintain it is unconstitutional to permit the impeachment trial since the purpose of impeachment is to remove a president from office.
The Biden administration will ask U.S. attorneys appointed by former President Trump to resign in a routine changeover between administrations, reports CNN. An expected 56 Senate-confirmed attorneys will be asked to submit resignations. The turnover spares two U.S. attorneys: Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss, who is overseeing a tax probe of Hunter Biden, and John Durham, who was appointed by former Attorney General Bill Barr to investigate the origins of the Trump-Russia investigation. Durham is expected to resign as the Connecticut U.S. attorney.