Impeachment trial facing deep resistance

Republicans stirred on political, legal bases ahead of charge reaching Senate

Republican lawmakers have signaled that Democrats may struggle to secure former US president Donald Trump's conviction over the storming of the Capitol on Jan 6, which left five people dead.

Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the US House of Representatives, was expected late on Monday to send the Senate a single article of impeachment accusing Trump of inciting the Capitol riot, formally triggering the first impeachment trial of a former president.

Pelosi vowed last week that the trial－already scheduled to open in the second week of February－should proceed, saying: "I don't think it will be long, but we must do it".

But senior figures in Trump's party have pushed back with both political and constitutional arguments, raising doubts that Democrats－who control 50 seats in the 100-seat chamber－can secure the 17 Republican votes to reach the two-thirds majority needed to convict.

"I think the trial is stupid. I think it's counterproductive. We already have a flaming fire in this country and it's like taking a bunch of gasoline and pouring it on top," Marco Rubio, the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, told Fox News on Sunday.

He acknowledged that Trump－who had urged thousands of his supporters to flock to Washington and protest the congressional certification of Joe Biden's victory－"bears some responsibility for what happened".

But to "stir it up again" could only hurt the country, said Rubio, a presidential candidate beaten by Trump in the 2016 primary.

Other Republicans said the Senate has no authority to put a private citizen－as Trump now is－on trial.

Senator Mike Rounds told NBC's Meet the Press that the US Constitution does not allow for the impeachment of a former president.

But Senator Mitt Romney, the Republicans' 2012 presidential candidate and a frequent Trump critic, told CNN that "the preponderance of legal opinion is that an impeachment trial after a president has left office is constitutional. I believe that's the case".

The Utah Republican－the only member of his party to vote to convict Trump in his first impeachment trial－hinted that he may be leaning the same way now.

The Capitol riots were documented on videos seen around the world, as were Trump's earlier exhortations to the crowd to "fight" for his presidency－complicating his defense.

Grueling test

Arguments in the Senate trial will begin on Feb 9. Leaders in both parties agreed to the delay to give Trump's team and House prosecutors time to prepare and the Senate the chance to confirm some of the cabinet nominees of President Joe Biden, who took office last week.

But the trial will be a grueling test for senators. Democrats hope to devote part of each day to regular business, but the furies surrounding Trump seem sure to undercut any bid for bipartisan cooperation.

Biden has publicly taken a hands-off approach to the impeachment, eager to put Trump in the rearview mirror and seek progress on fighting the coronavirus pandemic and reviving a devastated economy.

Biden spokeswoman Jen Psaki said that the president "believes that it's up to the Senate and Congress to determine how they will hold the former president accountable".

Agencies and Heng Weili in New York contributed to this story.