For only the third time in US history, the Senate is preparing on Thursday to open an impeachment trial against the president, who stands accused of abusing the powers of his office and obstructing a congressional investigation of his deeds.
Prosecutors from the House of Representatives, known as “managers,” are expected to arrive to the Senate at midday to formally exhibit the articles of impeachment against Donald Trump, approved last month by the House.
At 2pm, US supreme court chief justice John Roberts is scheduled to join the proceedings and be sworn in for his presiding role at the trial. He then will swear in the 100 senators – 53 Republicans, 45 Democrats and two independents – as jurors.
A two-thirds majority of voting senators would be required to convict Trump and remove him from office, but he appears to be extremely well insulated against that possibility by Republican loyalists.
Despite his declaration last month that he could not be an “impartial juror” in the case, Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell vowed on Wednesday night that each senator would weigh the case against Trump with care.
“We’ll pledge to rise above the petty factionalism and do justice for our institutions, for our states and for the nation,” McConnell said.
After the swearing-in, the Senate will issue a writ of summons to Trump, inviting him to the trial, although the president is not expected to attend, but to send legal representatives instead.
The White House released a statement on Wednesday that said “President Trump has done nothing wrong” and “expects to be fully exonerated”.
Opening arguments in the Senate trial, to be made by the seven impeachment managers for the prosecution and by representatives of Trump for the defense when the trial begins in earnest, were scheduled for Tuesday, after the Martin Luther King holiday.
The team of impeachment managers is led by intelligence committee chair Adam Schiff and judiciary committee chair Jerry Nadler. Trump has reportedly tapped the White House counsel, Pat Cipollone, to lead his team.
The managers delivered the articles of impeachment to the Senate in a ceremonial procession Wednesday evening. “We are here today to cross a very important threshold in American history,” House speaker Nancy Pelosi said before a vote to transmit the articles.
The second-ranking member of the Senate, Iowan Chuck Grassley, will swear in Roberts on Thursday. The chief justice will then administer this oath to the senators:
I solemnly swear that in all things appertaining to the trial of the impeachment of Donald Trump, now pending, I will do impartial justice according to the constitution and laws: so help me God.
