Another impeachment trial of Trump is unconstitutional and illegitimate

Legal Insurrection:

The Democrats plan to put Donald Trump on trial even though he no longer is in office. It’s plainly unconstitutional, for reasons explained in prior posts:

The arguments in favor of a post-departure Senate trial are convoluted, whereas the argument against simply looks at the text of the Constitution. There are arguments that in a small number of non-presidential cases the Senate attempted a post-departure impeachment trial, but those instances are not really on point, and in any event, because the Senate on a small number of prior occasions may have unconstitutionally grabbed power does not justify doing again here.

The NY Times reports that Senate Republicans are negotiating the terms of this unconstitutional trial....

...

There’s nothing to negotiate. The trial would be unconstitutional and illegitimate, regardless of when it starts or how long it takes. It doesn’t matter what you think of Trump, the Capitol Hill riot, or the election.

I think this is sound legal thinking.  I also think the impeachment effort is deeply flawed even if Trump were still President.  The rush to judgment by Pelosi and the House is what you would get if the victim of a crime acted as a grand jury indicted someone before police investigated the crime and the actual perps.  The allegations of incitement do not fit the facts. 

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