What was said in the Trial?

Did you watch the first day of the Impeachment trial of Donald Trump? It was compelling viewing - and was interesting on so many levels. The contrast in style and substance of argument between the two legal teams was stark. 

I was busily taking notes - but I don't (can't, to be honest) do shorthand. As both a semi-retired academic and about to return to radio on my new programme "PPS" on Elite Live Radio - the conduct of the Trial is of direct interest to me and my work. Thankfully, I don't need to rely on my notes or memory - a transcript is available - and it is available to everyone - for free.

The Congressional Record is the equivalent of the British "Hansard" (there are some significant differences, but I'll tackle those in a future post). If you want to review, or just read, what was said - you can download that one or more sections of that day's Congressional Record.

The pdf of the Congressional Record for Day 1 of the Trial of Donald Trump can be found here.

The (Second) Trial of Donald Trump

 We are hours away - as this is published - from the start of the Trump trial in the Senate. There are links to a number of useful resources in my post of Wednesday 3rd February

It was reported in the Washington Post that the proceedings are likely to begin with debate over whether the Constitution permits the trial of a former President. The Congressional Research Servic discuss the various arguments here. This document has also inbuilt links to a number of documents relevant to the trial.

There are a number of ways to follow the trial - directly and indirectly

DIRECT

Senate Floor Proceedings

C-SPAN 2

Live Coverage is also expected on many TV websites (and on your TV) but these will cover proceedings at their editor's discretion.

INDIRECTLY

Reports on the trial will also be posted on News websites -  these may require subscriptions! My main sources will be

Washington Post

Politico

The Hill

Roll Call

The Guardian

CNN

BBC News

Watch it Live!

 

I still remember as a youngster (in the 1970s) reading the report of debates in the House of Commons in the Times newspaper. "Today in Parliament" had reports about debates - but in those days you couldn't listen to the speakers themselves. Much has changed. The Times reports ended in 1990s, Radio and then TV became available from the Chamber  - and whereas reading Hansard once required a subscription or a visit to a HMSO office - today we can get our information direct from legislatures from a tablet or desktop - FOR FREE! 

My most used sites include (and please free to Bookmark these sites for your own use - and do explore them! - it isn't just live feeds from the main chamber - but also from committees - and the more you get used to the sites, the easier it is to navigate.

UK Parliament : both chambers (Commons & Lords) plus committees - https://parliamentlive.tv/

US House of Representatives - https://live.house.gov (Chamber) - most committees have their own channels (often on Youtube - visit your preferred committee website on the House Website for more details. I like to watch the Rules Committee (I'll explain why in a future post).

US Senate - Floor - similarly individual committees have their own channels.

European Parliament

Assemblée Nationale (France) - Plenary - Live Recordings of Plenary, Committees, Events 

Bundesrat (Germany)

National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China - see Special Reports

Canada's House of Commons 

Welsh Senedd

Trump's Trial

The Trial Memorandum of the House of Representatives is available here. It sets out the case against the former President.

Trump's defence Memorandum can be accessed here.

There are a number of Congressional Research Papers about the Impeachment of a President - these include -

Impeachment and the Constitution

The Impeachment & Trial of a Former President

The Impeachment Process in the Senate

Obtaining Witnesses in an Impeachment Trial

Click on the relevant name of the paper - and this will give you access to the CRS Papers.

When the trial is in progress, I'm sure that the major news channels such as CNN and BBC News, and of course C-SPAN will give lots of live coverage. Again, just click on the relevant link to take you there. Or if you want the live feed from the Senate itself press here.

As a former lecturer in Constitutional Law, with a deep and specific interest in what happens in the US Congress (scroll through previous posts on Washminster - I can't guarantee that the law and practice remain the same (the blog covered 2007 to 2017 - and much has happened since)) - I'm sure that the next couple of weeks will be filled with reading and watching.

There's a new impetus for me to keep abreast of the news - I start broadcasting on a new internet radio station which launches a fortnight on Friday. It's called Elite Live Radio. My programme is to be called PPS (I'll explain why on air - and later write a post for Washminster) - and is due to air for the first time on Monday February 22nd at Noon, GMT. I hope you'll listen in - the web address is https://www.eliteliveradio.com. We are currently broadcasting a trial service for the next couple of weeks. Do listen in - and let me know what you think.

 WATCH THIS SPACE

I'm hoping SOON to be posting some exciting news about the return of the Washminster Blog - and how the mission of the original blog will be coming to other media!