By Emma Emeozor
Embattled former Unites States President, Donald Trump’s impeachment trial will start on February 8, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, has said.
The opening arguments would be heard by the Senate that week, Schumer said after reaching an agreement with Republicans. Articles of impeachment will be sent by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tomorrow, meaning the upper house can launch formal proceedings against Trump on a charge of insurrection over the US Capitol riots of January 6, 2021.
Schumer, who assumed his position from Senator Mitch McConnell, announced the move earlier on Friday, saying: “There will be a trial.”
Trump was the first president to be impeached by the House of Representatives twice and will be the first to face a trial after his term in office. If found guilty by the Senate, which is now controlled by the Democrats, Trump will be unable to run for political office again and could lose access to other benefits such as his pension and his travel allowance. McConnell, now the Senate Republican leader, had previously said the trial should be pushed back by a couple of weeks, to allow the former president to prepare his case.