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Trump impeachment: What is ‘January exception’ House managers argued against?
The lead House impeachment manager said that such an exception would be an invitation to the president to do anything on his way out of the office with constitutional impunity.
Majority of Republican leaders on Tuesday deemed the Senate impeachment trial of former US president Donald Trump unconstitutional as they voted in the favour of the argument that a commander-in-chief cannot be tried once he or she has left the office.
As the prosecutors made their case on the constitutionality of the impeachment and removal of a former president, Representative Jamie Raskin, the lead House impeachment manager, said that the argument of Republicans would create a brand new “January exception” to the American Constitution.
Raskin said that Trump’s defence team wants to call the trial over even before the introduction of any evidence on the basis of an argument that “if you commit an impeachable offence in your last few weeks in office, you do it with constitutional impunity.”
According to the impeachment manager, the argument suggests conduct that would be a high crime and misdemeanour in the first three years and the “vast majority” of the fourth year of a presidency will be ignored during the last few weeks in office.
“This would create a brand new January exception to the Constitution of the United States of America. A January exception,” Raskin emphasised, referring to the month in which the outgoing president leaves the office.
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The House representative for Maryland's 8th congressional district said that such an exception would be an invitation to the president to do anything on his way out of the office, including use of violent means to seize the power. He warned that the lawmakers would risk allowing January 6, the day Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol, to become the future of the United States if they buy the “radical argument” advanced by the defence team.
“In other words, the January exception is an invitation to our founder’s worst nightmare...What will the January exception mean to future generations if you grant it?” asked Raskin.
“And if the president’s arguments for a January exception are upheld...he would have you believe there is absolutely nothing the Senate can do about it. No trial, no facts. He wants you to decide that the Senate is powerless at that point. That can’t be right,” he added.
