Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) will force a vote to determine whether President Donald Trump’s Senate impeachment trial is unconstitutional.
“I will insist on a vote to affirm that this proceeding we’re about to enter is unconstitutional, that impeachment of a private citizen is illegal and essentially a bill of attainder, and that no sense of fairness or due process would allow the judge in the proceeding to be a partisan Democrat already on favor of the impeachment,” Paul said on the Senate floor on Tuesday.
He added, “A sham, this is.”
Watch his comments below:
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) announces he’ll force a vote to dismiss Trump’s impeachment trial on the basis that it is unconstitutional:
— The Recount (@therecount) January 26, 2021
“A sham, this is.” pic.twitter.com/PBfBb8PWTK
In an op-ed published by The Washington Examiner Tuesday, Paul called the trial a “sham” and slammed Democrats for their role in dividing the nation.
“Democrats claim to want to unify the country, but impeaching a former president, a private citizen, is the antithesis of unity. This impeachment is nothing more than a partisan exercise designed to divide the country further,” Paul wrote.
He continued, “Hyperpartisan Democrats are about to drag our great country down into the gutter of rancor and vitriol, the likes of which have never been seen in our nation’s history.”
Paul suggested Democrats have seemingly no ability to exist “except in opposition” to Trump.
“Without him as their boogeyman, they might have to legislate, and actually convince the public that their policy prescriptions are the right ones,” he explained.
Paul defended Trump’s comments he made before the riots at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
“This sham of an impeachment will ostensibly ask whether Trump incited the reprehensible violence of Jan. 6., when he said, ‘I know everyone here will soon march to the Capitol to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard.’ Peacefully and patriotically. Those are hardly words of violence,” Paul argued.
He closed his op-ed by calling the trial “a sham, a travesty, and a dark blot on the history of our country.”
The House sent the article of impeachment against Trump to the Senate on Monday, as IJR reported.
The trial is expected to begin on Feb. 9.