Epoch Times: 29 GOP Senators Oppose Trump Trial

House Democrats plan to walk the impeachment charge against former President Donald Trump to the Senate on Monday evening, but multiple members of the GOP in the Upper Chamber have already come out against holding a trial.

The Epoch Times reported Monday, 29 GOP senators have spoken out against holding a trial, arguing it is unconstitutional to try to convict a former office holder, or a waste of time.

"I think right now Donald Trump is no longer the president; he is a former president," Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., told NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday. He insisted the Constitution does not say "that you can impeach someone who is not in office."

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., also said Sunday the Senate lacks the constitutional authority to convict Trump now that he has left office. He also said, according to PBS NewsHour, "the more I talk to other Republican senators, the more they're beginning to line up" behind that argument.

"I think a lot of Americans are going to think it's strange that the Senate is spending its time trying to convict and remove from office a man who left office a week ago," he added.

"Well, first of all, I think the trial is stupid; it's counterproductive," Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., told Fox News on Sunday. "We already have a flaming fire in this country, and it's like taking a bunch of gasoline and pouring it on top of the fire."

He added, "the first chance I get to vote to end this trial, I'll do it."

However, Democrats say Trump's leaving office does not prevent the Senate from holding an impeachment trial, a view seconded by several legal scholars and Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, the only member of the GOP to vote to convict Trump in his first impeachment trial.

"I believe that what is being alleged and what we saw, which is incitement to insurrection, is an impeachable offense," Romney said, according to PBS. "If not, what is?"

He noted, there is a "preponderance of opinion," an impeachment trial for a government official can be held after they leave office.

This is The Epoch Times' list of GOP Senators who oppose a trial:

1. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas.
2. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont.
3. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky.
4. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.
5. Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D.
6. Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C.
7. Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo.
8. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.
9. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss.
10. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss.
11. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala.
12. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark.
13. Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D.
14. Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo.
15. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis.
16. Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark.
17. Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind.
18. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La.
19. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas
20. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo.
21. Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan.
22. Sen. John Thune, R-S.D.
23. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn.
24. Sen. Jodi Ernst, R-Iowa.
25. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa.
26. Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn.
27. Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D.
28. Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo.
29. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla.

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