At his impeachment trial for inciting insurrection, Donald Trump’s lawyers claimed that Trump’s exhortations to his followers before the attack on the Capitol were protected free speech under the First Amendment. But as 143 other constitutional law scholars from across the political spectrum and I collectively noted, that claim was “legally frivolous.” Moreover, the First Amendment will not protect Trump if he is charged with committing criminal offenses.
The First Amendment does not apply in an impeachment trial because a president (or former president) can be impeached even for lawful conduct if he abused his official power while in office. Impeachment is a political, not a legal, proceeding. As Alexander Hamilton wrote in
Follow RT on Hours after a surprise vote to allow for calling witnesses in Donald Trump’s impeachment trial, the US Senate agreed to enter into the record a statement that prosecutors considered critical, averting weeks or months of testimony.
House impeachment managers and lawyers for Trump agreed on Saturday to enter as evidence a statement by Representative Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-Washington) describing what she had been relayed about a telephone call during the January 6 Capitol riot. The congresswoman said late Friday that when House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-California) called Trump and asked him to demand a stop to the violence, the former president replied,
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A bipartisan group of U.S. senators and representatives have signed onto a letter calling for more aid for seafood processors and processing vessels.
The letter, signed by over a dozen members of Congress, calls for U.S. Department of Agriculture Acting Secretary Kevin Shea to implement a program offering grants and forgivable loans to support seafood processing facilities and processing vessels. The loans would help processors and vessel operators implement COVID-19 response measures.
“Seafood processors around the nation are conducting regular testing to ensure their workforce in coastal communities remains COVID-free, providing quarantine housing for employees to complete the recommended 14-day isolation period, chartering secure transportation for employees traveling to remote processing facilities, and marshalling a range of other resources to ensure and enforce safe working conditions,” the letter states. “These protocols are expected to cost hundreds of millio