The first impeachment trial of Donald Trump, the 45th president of the United States, began in the U.S. Senate on January 16, 2020, and concluded with his acquittal on February 5. After an inquiry between September and November 2019, President Trump was impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives on December 18, 2019; the articles of impeachment charged him with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. It was the third impeachment trial of a U.S. president, preceded by those of Andrew Johnson and of Bill Clinton.
The Republican majority voted on January 21 to reject 11 amendments proposed by Democrats which requested subpoena authority to introduce testimony from current and former White House officials, as well as Trump administration documents which were not provided to House investigators.
The prosecution made its opening arguments on January 22–24, and the defense made its arguments on January 25–28. This was followed by a period of questions, answers, and debate on January 29–31. On January 31, a majority of 51 senators (all Republicans) voted against allowing subpoenas to call witnesses or documents.
On February 5, the Senate acquitted Trump on both impeachment articles, as neither article obtained the support of a two-thirds supermajority of senators. Fifty-two Republican senators voted against the charge of abuse of power, and all fifty-three voted against the charge of obstruction of Congress. Mitt Romney became the first U.S. senator in history to cast a vote to convict and remove a president of his own political party from office.
On January 13, 2021, the House of Representatives voted to start a second impeachment trial of Donald Trump, following the January 6 United States Capitol attack. The Senate acquitted Trump a second time on February 13, 2021.
Background
Under the U.S. Constitution, the House has the sole power of impeachment (Article I, Section 2, Clause 5), and after that action has been taken, the Senate has the sole power to hold the trial for all impeachments (Article I, Section 3, Clause 6). Trump is the third U.S. president to face a Senate impeachment trial, after Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton.
Early planning
After the emergence of Trump's phone call with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, House leadership came to the conclusion that impeachment might be advisable, and began an inquiry.
As this was happening, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was quietly planning a possible trial. On October 8, 2019, he led a meeting on the subject, advising the Republican Senators to craft their responses according to their own political needs. McConnell proposed two potential avenues: state opposition to the House process, or refuse to comment due to being potential jurors.
Republican plans
As the articles of impeachment moved to a vote before the full House and referral to the Senate for trial, Mitch McConnell met with White House Counsel Pat Cipollone and congressional liaison Eric Ueland, later stating, "Everything I do during this I'm coordinating with the White House counsel. There will be no difference between the president's position and our position as to how to handle this... I'm going to take my cues from the president's lawyers." As part of the "total coordination", McConnell said the president's lawyers could decide if witnesses would be called for the trial. McConnell also said there was "no chance" the Senate would convict Trump and remove him from office, while declaring his wish that all Senate Republicans would acquit Trump of both charges. On December 14, Judiciary Committee chairman Lindsey Graham said, "I am trying to give a pretty clear signal I have made up my mind. I'm not trying to pretend to be a fair juror here... I will do everything I can to make [the impeachment trial] die quickly." Three days later, McConnell said, "I'm not an impartial juror. This is a political process. There is not anything judicial about it. Impeachment is a political decision." The Constitution mandates senators to take an impeachment oath, in which by Senate rules is stated, "I will do impartial justice according to the Constitution and laws, so help me God."