This history lesson sheds some light on what Trump’s fate might be.
Think political rhetoric is too highly charged today? Imagine the House framing an impeachment article as “prostituting his high office to his lust for private gain.”
Aside from the somewhat risqué wording, the 1876 impeachment of War Secretary William Belknap is unique for being the only Cabinet secretary (or former Cabinet secretary as it was) to face impeachment. More relevant to the current context, he was the first official to be impeached by the House and tried in the Senate after he’s out of office. This has invited obvious comparisons to Donald Trump’s post-presidency Senate trial, set to begin February 8.
Credit J. Tyler Franklin / WFPL
Kentucky’s junior Sen. Rand Paul forced the Senate to vote on whether the impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump is constitutional, in an attempt to derail it.
The Senate rejected Paul’s effort with a vote of 55 to 45. But the move was in some ways a test balloon for how many Republican senators would be open to convicting Trump on charges that he incited the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Five Republicans joined all 50 Democratic senators in striking down Paul’s motion. But Kentucky’s senior Sen. Mitch McConnell, who has so far avoided weighing in on what he thinks about impeaching Trump, joined the ranks of Republicans criticizing the trial as unconstitutional.
“It is constitutional. We have precedent from way back when a secretary of War was tried after he had left office. And, obviously, there was a remedy that would help in the future, which would ban former President Trump from running again,” replied Klobuchar.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar argues that an impeachment trial of Donald Trump after he has left office is constitutional.
“There is a remedy that would help in the future which would ban former President Trump from running again, she adds. https://t.co/P6iz1jjwYEpic.twitter.com/dF7zbeoPBi This Week (@ThisWeekABC) January 24, 2021
The senator was likely referring to War Secretary William Belknap, who was accused of accepting kickbacks from political appointees in 1876. Belknap resigned before his trial began, but the Senate at the time had agreed that they held jurisdiction to impeach government officials who had left office.