Credit: AP
What is impeachment?
Impeachment is the process by which Congress puts certain officials, namely the president, on trial.
The US constitution lays out a broad scope of offences that can lead to impeachment: "Treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors."
If a president is convicted of impeachment, he is immediately removed from office. As Mr Trump has already departed the Oval Office he could instead be blocked from ever holding public office again.
Why was Donald Trump impeached?
Democrats demanded the president be removed from office after the attack on the US Capitol on Jan 6. The resolution sent to the Senate noted that Mr Trump addressed a rally shortly before his supporters mounted the assault, arguing he made statements that "encouraged, and foreseeably resulted in," their lawless actions.
The former president told his supporters to march on Congress and “fight like hell” in his attempt to overturn his election defeat to President Joe Biden.
Dozens of protesters broke into the building as tens of thousands gathered outside.
Read more: Everything we know about what happened when Trump’s supporters stormed Washington
What happens next?
As the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives has delivered their article of impeachment, Mr Trump now faces trial in the Senate. A two-third majority in the Senate would result in the former president’s conviction.
When is the Senate trial?
The formal trial begins today, and senators have already been sworn in for the proceedings.
Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic House Speaker, sent the article of impeachment charging Mr Trump with "incitement of insurrection" on Jan 25.
This means the trial would have started on Jan 27, but Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer agreed to an extension to allow Mr Trump to form his defence.
How does it work and how many votes are needed?
Impeachment does not mean a president will necessarily be removed from office. It proceeds like a bill passing through legislature.
First, a majority in the House of Representatives – 218 out of 435 members – must approve articles of impeachment previously approved in committee. The article of impeachment easily passed in the House.
The bill now goes to the Senate, where a two-thirds majority vote is needed to convict the president — so the bill would need to be backed by a lot of Republicans in order to pass.
Donald Trump’s defence
Mr Trump’s lawyers filed a 78-page response accusing Democrats of "political theatre," calling his trial unconstitutional, and saying he was not responsible for the actions of a "small group of criminals".
They said he had been exercising his First Amendment right to free speech by raising "electoral integrity issues essential to his career".
Mr Trump’s defence fell into disarray when five of his lawyers dropped out. The former president scrambled to assemble a new team before the deadline, in order to submit a formal response to the summons to trial.
His new team, led by lawyers David Schoen and Bruce Castor, did not have long to get ready before the trial.
Will Donald Trump testify?
No. The former president’s team have rejected a call from Democrats that Mr Trump appears at the trial to give evidence under oath, calling the request a "publicity stunt".
What are Donald Trump’s chances?
Democrats seeking his conviction on one count of "incitement of insurrection" face an uphill climb. Currently, the Senate is split 50-50 between Democrats and Republicans.
The backing of 67 senators is needed for conviction, meaning 17 Republicans would have to turn on Mr Trump.
Republicans have backed the proceedings in the past. During the House vote, on Jan 13, 10 Republicans voted for impeachment and the article carried by 232 votes to 197.
But although many struggled over how to respond to Mr Trump’s role, and his failure to try and quell the violence, most Republicans senators are lining up against conviction.
While few defend his actions, many argue that Congress does not have the power to impeach a former president. They also maintain that another trial will hurt efforts to unify the country in the post-Trump era.
Republican senators have rallied around Mr Trump calling the trial unnecessary, and making clear it would end in acquittal.
Read more: Conviction in Senate unlikely as ex-president proves too popular to purge
Do the American people support the impeachment?
A Gallup poll on Feb 8 showed a narrow majority of the American public — 52 per cent — believed Mr Trump should be convicted at the trial, which was set to begin on Tuesday.
What would it mean for Donald Trump?
The Senate may also vote to ban Mr Trump from ever running for, or holding, public office again. A vote only needs to be passed by a simple majority and would end a Trump comeback in 2024.
There is precedent for the Senate preventing public officials from seeking office again after impeachment. Judges Robert Archbald (in 1913) and West H Humphreys (in 1862) were both banned, although this fate has never befallen a president before.
Mr Trump may also lose access to a raft of public benefits. According to the 1958 Former Presidents Act, he would be denied his $200,000 annual pension, a $1 million annual travel stipend and extra funding for his future staff.
However, thanks to an order signed by his predecessor Barack Obama, Mr Trump will still be guaranteed his lifelong secret service detail.
Vice President Mike Pence
Credit: Tomohiro Ohsumi/Bloomberg
Is there an election after a presidential impeachment?
No. Had Mr Trump been impeached by the Senate earlier and removed from office, vice president Mike Pence would have immediately taken the oath and become president until Mr Biden assumed office.
Do impeached officials go to prison?
Impeachment is a political process, not criminal. Congress has no power to impose criminal penalties on impeached presidents or officials. However, criminal courts could try to punish officials if they are believed to have committed crimes.
Some Democrats have called for criminal charges against Mr Trump for inciting riot, treason and sedition, though this seems unlikely to happen.
"There isn’t any judicial review of impeachment decisions, so Congress just needs to be satisfied that Trump committed high crimes or misdemeanours," Jens David Ohlin, a law professor and associate dean at Cornell Law School, said.
Impeachment therefore is at the crossroads of politics and the law.
What happened in 2020?
The president was impeached in 2020 over claims he abused his power by holding back aid to Ukraine in the hope that its leader would investigate Mr Biden.
The first plan to impeach Mr Trump arose following the 2019 accusations, but it was not until the Democrats took control of the House of Representatives, in the November midterm elections, that impeachment became realistic.
Mr Trump was impeached by the House of Representatives but acquitted by the Senate.
A total of 52 Republican senators voted against the charge of abuse of power, and 53 against the charge of obstruction of Congress.
On the first charge, Mitt Romney defied his fellow Republicans, becoming the first senator in US history to vote to convict a president from their own party.
Richard Nixon would almost certainly have faced impeachments proceedings in 1974 over the Watergate scandal, but he resigned instead
History of impeachment
No US president has ever been ousted from office under impeachment proceedings.
Andrew Johnson was the first leader to go through the process in 1868. He was charged with breaking the law after he tried to replace the US secretary of war, Edwin Stanton, without congressional permission.
At the time — in the aftermath of the civil war — the president was required to consult the Senate about such decisions. His impeachment passed to the Senate, where he escaped being removed from office by a one-vote margin.
The other president was Bill Clinton over the Monica Lewinsky scandal. He was impeached for perjury and obstruction of justice in 1998, but he was acquitted in the Senate trial.
Richard Nixon would almost certainly have faced impeachment proceedings in 1974 over the Watergate scandal and undoubtedly would have been removed from office.
However, the disgraced president resigned before it got that far and handed the presidency over to Gerald Ford.
Donald Trump’s impeachment timeline – what could happen next?
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