Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) will force a vote to determine whether President Donald Trumpās Senate impeachment trial is unconstitutional.
āI will insist on a vote to affirm that this proceeding weāre 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,ā Paul said on the Senate floor on Tuesday.
He added, āA sham, this is.ā
Watch his comments below:
In an op-ed published by The Washington Examiner Tuesday, Paul called the trial a āshamā and slammed Democrats for their role in dividing the nation.
āDemocrats 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,ā Paul wrote.
He continued, āHyperpartisan 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 nationās history.ā
Paul suggested Democrats have seemingly no ability to exist āexcept in oppositionā to Trump.
āWithout him as their boogeyman, they might have to legislate, and actually convince the public that their policy prescriptions are the right ones,ā he explained.
Paul defended Trumpās comments he made before the riots at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
āThis sham of an impeachment will ostensibly ask whether Trump incited the reprehensible violence of Jan. 6., when he said, āI know everyone here will soon march to the Capitol to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard.ā Peacefully and patriotically. Those are hardly words of violence,ā Paul argued.
He closed his op-ed by calling the trial āa sham, a travesty, and a dark blot on the history of our country.ā
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.