What history will say about Trump's acquittal

[DonViejo]

2 hours ago

David Nather, Margaret Talev

It's not lost on historians that Donald Trump's impeachment trial acquittal will fall on Presidents' Day weekend, a holiday celebrating the examples set by America's first president, George Washington, and Abraham Lincoln, who held the republic together through civil war and ended slavery.

Why it matters: Through his repeated efforts to overturn the election, Trump put the country through one of the toughest tests of democracy it has ever faced. Historians say his expected acquittal on a charge of inciting the Jan. 6 insurrection will have consequences we are only beginning to understand — and they'll be felt for years.

The big picture: Historians are examining this moment — the election fraud lie, the efforts to overturn the results through violence, the impeachment of a president days before his exit, and the actions of his own party to block his conviction — through many lenses.

The power of impeachment: That's pretty much gone. Historian Douglas Brinkley says Trump's acquittal will make the limits of its power obvious: it's a political process, not a legal one.

more
https://www.axios.com/trump-acquittal-history-presidents-day-257791a9-f48a-41d0-92b3-f42303bf79b3.html

[TwilightZone]

1. "it's a political process, not a legal one"

It was always a political process, our protestations to the contrary notwithstanding. Plus, there's no provision for the punishment to fit the crime.

The only way to really hold a president accountable for illegal actions is post-presidency prosecution, at least until the argument that a sitting president can't be prosecuted is resolved.