Castor Oily: The Senate majority may vote to convict, yet Trump will be acquitted by supermajority

Disloyal opposition gets its 44 votes today.11 votes from the 67 votes needed to convict Trump. In this impeachment trial, Trump still needs to shoot someone on Fifth Avenue. ”They’re behaving like mob lawyers who know that they have the jury in their pocket.”

Trump will almost certainly be acquitted (tho a majority will vote to convict).

But part of the reason you have a public trial is to show voters what shit the GOP is trying to shine. If Trump's team doesn't improve, it'll make an acquittal vote more costly for some GOPers.

— emptywheel (@emptywheel) February 9, 2021

People died because of Trump’s sour grapes.

“The people… are smart enough to pick a new administration if they don’t like the old one. And they just did.”

Donald Trump spent the dying weeks of his presidency vehemently denying the obvious fact that he had lost the 2020 election. In fact, his insistence that his “stolen victory” be his major defense in the impeachment trial against him was one reason why several lawyers decided not to represent him.

But today, in a rambling and disjointed speech, Bruce Castor, who is one of two attorneys representing the former president, admitted that Trump was indeed voted out by “fed up” voters last November. Castor repeated this fact three times, directly contradicting one of the former president’s most-repeated lies. Something tells me a certain someone is not gonna be happy with this performance. Maybe Rudy Giuliani should be standing by.

www.motherjones.com/…

https://twitter.com/jameshohmann/status/1359272547267788801?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

https://twitter.com/marceelias/status/1359298027358466053?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

“This was the Four Seasons Landscaping of the legal profession.”-Senator Chris Coons

What polls say about a Trump 2024 run as his attorney argues Democrats "fear" him https://t.co/w622mDnRCK

— Newsweek (@Newsweek) February 10, 2021

Ir's true. I'll bet those numbers might even double if Trump actually shot someone on 5th Avenue. https://t.co/FDnB5RifCa

— digby (@digby56) February 10, 2021

“I mean, nobody’s mind was changed one way or the other,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) told reporters. Sen. Mike Lee’s Assertion About Trump: ‘Everyone Deserves a Mulligan’

Donald Trump Might Be Peeing His Pants Over Impeachmenthttps://t.co/THY10x5cHl

— Majority Report (@majorityfm) February 10, 2021

People like Trump who behave like thugs need second impeachments, and his behavior was scary enough to compel members of his own party to vote against him. The articles of impeachment mentioned his call to a Georgia official asking for him to “find” more votes, as well as the 14th Amendment which says that no person can hold office if they “have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.” But now that he is out of office and has already been impeached a second time, is there any merit to bringing the charges before Senate for a vote?

The answer is: Maybe. This is uncharted territory, so we don’t fully know what comes next. However, now that Mitch McConnell is no longer at the helm, the vote could happen. Justice Roberts would preside over the impeachment proceedings if they made it to Senate, and two-thirds of — or 67 — Senators have to vote in favor. Seder believes that, for the sake of running in the future, some Republican Senators may vote with the Democrats. If the vote falls short, once again Trump will not have been “removed” from office.

[…]

Another possibility is that Trump being impeached could open the doors to a criminal investigation. This is not up to the Senate, but the “Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors” categorization does indicate criminal wrongdoing. According to the Constitution, “The party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to indictment, trial, judgment and punishment, according to law.”

Trump would not automatically be barred from running for office again, since another vote would have to be taken up. That one does not require a two-thirds vote, but simply a majority. We all know Trump’s style of “campaigning” by now — and that it doesn’t stop even when he’s in office. For that reason, the possibility of him returning to office could be disastrous.

www.independent.co.uk/…

What’s the point of a Senate impeachment trial now Trump has lost office? https://t.co/esICHgtopJ

— The Independent (@Independent) February 10, 2021

Castor’s rambling, incoherent, and inaccurate opening speech is a perfect microcosm for this proceeding: The facts, law, and Constitution are all on the House’s side—and none of that’s going to matter because enough Republicans are nevertheless going to let Trump off the hook.

— Steve Vladeck (@steve_vladeck) February 9, 2021

“You knew I was a snake when you let me in.” https://t.co/LE6c5Qf5SB

— Refugee History (@LesliePotashner) February 9, 2021

January 6 has Bannon’s dirty fingerprints all over it. #SubpoenaBannon #impeachment #cartoon #Bannon 1/ pic.twitter.com/L0walpL6ol

— jennycohn@toad.social ✍🏻 📢 (@jennycohn1) February 9, 2021

"Michigan state Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey suggested the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol was a 'hoax' perpetuated by opponents of former President Donald Trump."https://t.co/cY56hbDGvP

— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) February 10, 2021

Imagine telling someone in 2017 that Trump would be impeached twice but that none of the articles would pertain to the Mueller investigation at all.

— Osita Nwanevu (@OsitaNwanevu) February 9, 2021

Astoundingly, to this day, some Americans are still condemned to travel on parts of the so-called “Jefferson Davis Highway,” originally intended by United Daughters of the Confederacy (just as the Ku Klux Klan was rising) to go from coast to coast.

— Michael Beschloss (@BeschlossDC) February 9, 2021

Breaking News

“The people… are smart enough to pick a new administration if they don’t like the old one. And they just did.”

“This was the Four Seasons Landscaping of the legal profession.”-Senator Chris Coons

“I mean, nobody’s mind was changed one way or the other,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) told reporters. Sen. Mike Lee’s Assertion About Trump: ‘Everyone Deserves a Mulligan’