The first ever impeachment of a former president began today in the U.S. Senate.

Former President Donald Trump faces charges of inciting an insurrection in the Jan. 6th storming of the U.S. Capitol building that resulted in five deaths.

Trump also made history for being the only person to be impeached by the House of Representatives twice for "high crimes and misdemeanors".

In 2019, Trump was acquitted by the Senate in his first impeachment after the House voted to impeach him for pressuring Ukraine to find dirt on Biden.

The proceedings for the second impeachment began at 1 p.m. and is expected to last a week.

CONSTITUTIONALITY

The first issue the Senate hear was whether the trial is legal under the U.S. Constitution.

Democratic impeachment managers argued that the speech Trump gave just before the mob took over the Capitol spurred the rioters to interrupt the certification of electoral college votes.

They will also argued that former politicians can face an impeachment trial, citing the 1876 trial of former secretary of war William Belknap who resigned hours before he was impeached.

Trump's lawyers argued that there is no basis for a trial since Trump is no longer in office and asked senators to dismiss the case.

His lawyers also argued Trump's words were protected by the First Amendment right to free speech.

After four hours of presentations, the senate voted 56-44 that there are Constitutional grounds to continue the trial.

The full impeachment trial will begin Wednesday.

TRIAL

Democrats and Republicans will each get 16 hours to present their case, with a maximum of eight hours per day.

The Democratic House Managers will begin first and Trump's lawyers will likely begin on Friday and go into the weekend.

Senators will be able to ask questions but so far no witnesses have been named, though Democrats can ask the senate to vote on whether to call witnesses. They requested that Trump testify, but he declined.

The trial's presiding officer is Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont who is the longest-serving member of the majority party. Typically the chief justice of the United States presides in impeachments, but Justice John Roberts will not take up the gavel since Trump is no longer in office.

After all arguments and questioning, the senators, acting as jurors, will each stand and cast a vote of guilty or not guilty.

Two-thirds of the senators present must vote guilty in order to convict Trump. That means Democrats need at least 67 votes and must convince at least 17 Republican senators to vote their way - an unlikely outcome.

On the off chance that Trump is convicted, the Senate can then vote to bar him from ever holding office again.

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