USC political science dept. chair weighs in on upcoming impeachment trial

Kirk Randazzo says there's one tactic Democrats could use to sway some votes to their side

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WOLO) —Constitutional law experts are grappling with what could come next in what some call an “unprecedented” impeachment process.

Kirk Randazzo, the Chair of the Political Science Department at the University of South Carolina, says the next few months could feature a lot of intriguing twists and turns, beginning with a potential delay of a trial.

A Senate trial can’t begin without Senate leaders receiving the Articles of Impeachment from Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Senators Mitch McConnell and Lindsey Graham have already said they plan to move through a potential trial quickly, but Randazzo says Pelosi is forcing Republican leaders to play their hand.

“She is preventing the Senate from potentially rushing through the trial and just acquitting him, possibly even dismissing the charges, so in the meantime, President Trump has this cloud of impeachment hanging over his head without the benefit of a speedy Senate trial to potentially clear his name,” Randazzo said.

The Senate would need a two-thirds vote in order to remove the President from office.

However, Randazzo says there’s another avenue Senators could take to quietly remove Trump from office that only requires a simple majority. 

“If all of the sudden, you have just two or three Republicans join all the Democrats and demand a secret ballot, you may see a lot more defections then because people can now vote their conscience and vote secretly without having the public know how they cast that vote,” Randazzo said.

Randazzo says he hopes the Senate trial takes place without partisan influence, but says public sentiment on impeachment could shape the outcome.

“If public opinion puts pressure on the Senators to continue their non-partisan type of approach, we actually could see a trial that is much more bi-partisan and cooperative in nature than anything we saw in the House of Representatives,” Randazzo said.

Randazzo says a trial could potentially begin as early as mid-January, but it all depends on when Pelosi hands the Articles of Impeachment over to Senate leaders.