WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A prominent U.S. Senate Republican warned on Saturday that former President Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial could lead to the prosecution of former Democratic presidents if Republicans retake the chamber in two years.
Trump this month became the first U.S. president to be impeached twice after the Democratic-controlled House, with the support of 10 Republicans, voted to charge him with incitement of insurrection for a fiery Jan. 6 speech to his followers before they launched a deadly assault on the Capitol.
After a brief moment of bipartisan sentiment in which members from both parties condemned the unprecedented attack on Congress as it met to formalize President Joe Biden’s victory, a number of Senate Republicans are opposing Trump’s trial, which could lead to a vote blocking him from future office.
“If it is a good idea to impeach and try former Presidents, what about former Democratic Presidents when Republicans get the majority in 2022? Think about it and let’s do what is best for the country,” Senator John Cornyn, a 19-year veteran of the Senate, said in a tweet directed at Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
Democrats hold narrow majorities in the House of Representatives and Senate, and it is common for the incumbent president’s party to lose seats in the mid-term elections two years after a presidential contest.
Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has said that the mob was “provoked” by Trump. But other Senate Republicans claim that trying Trump while out of office would be unconstitutional and further divide the country.
There are also concerns on both sides of the aisle that the trial could distract from President Joe Biden’s legislative agenda.
Schumer, who became Senate majority leader this week, tweeted on Friday that the Senate would confirm Biden’s Cabinet, enact a new COVID-19 relief package and conduct Trump’s impeachment trial.
(This story was refiled to add John Cornyn’s first name, paragraph four)
(Reporting by David Morgan and Susan Heavey; Editing by Scott Malone and Franklin Paul)
