Republicans seek to delay Trump impeachment trial until February

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is reviewing a request from Republicans to put off the start of former President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial until mid-February, a Schumer spokesman said Thursday.   

Republicans argued that Trump needed time to prepare a defense against charges of inciting insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.  

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell requested the timeline after Democrats earlier in the day said that the House of Representatives could send the impeachment charge - passed last week in response to the deadly storming of the Capitol by Trump supporters - to the Senate as early as Friday.  

Trump, a Republican, left office on Wednesday and flew to his Florida resort, hours before Democrat Joe Biden was sworn in.  

McConnell said in a statement that he asked Democrats to hold off on sending the impeachment charge to the Senate until Jan. 28, and then give Trump two weeks from that day to prepare a defence.  

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi declined to answer reporters’ questions earlier Thursday about when she would submit the charge. Durbin told reporters that it was still not determined whether the Senate will hold a “full-blown trial with evidence and witnesses” or an “expedited” procedure.The House vote last week charged Trump with inciting the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, a failed attempt to prevent Congress from formally certifying Biden’s victory. 
WASHINGTON (Reuters) 22 January 2021