# Canonical recap data for Trump Second Impeachment Trial (2021)
# Source: https://recap.at/2021/trump-impeachment-two
# Format: YAML 1.2 (UTF-8). Generated at request time.
slug: trump-impeachment-two
canonicalUrl: "https://recap.at/2021/trump-impeachment-two"
title: Trump Second Impeachment Trial
aliases:
- Second Impeachment Trial
- Trump Impeachment Trial 2021
- Senate Impeachment Trial
subtitle: Senate acquitted Trump of incitement over the Capitol riot, cementing Republican protection of a sitting president's actions.
recapType: global_event
eventStatus: concluded
startDate: 2021-02-09
endDate: 2021-02-13
datePrecision: day
year: 2021
decade: 2020
country:
name: United States
slug: united-states
summaryShort: "The second impeachment trial of Donald Trump, the 45th president of the United States, began on February 9, 2021, and concluded with his acquittal on February 13. Trump had been impeached for the second time by the House of Representatives on January 13, 2021. The House adopted one article of impeachment against Trump:"
summaryLong: "The second impeachment trial of Donald Trump, the 45th president of the United States, began on February 9, 2021, and concluded with his acquittal on February 13. Trump had been impeached for the second time by the House of Representatives on January 13, 2021. The House adopted one article of impeachment against Trump: incitement of insurrection. He is the only U.S. president and only federal official to be impeached twice. He was impeached by the House seven days prior to the expiration of his term and the inauguration of Joe Biden. Because he left office before the trial, this was the first impeachment trial of a former president. The article of impeachment addressed Trump's attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results and stated that Trump incited the attack on the Capitol in Washington, D.C., while Congress was convened to count the electoral votes and certify the victory of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris."
lede: Donald Trump became the first U.S. president to face impeachment twice when the Senate held trial on charges of inciting insurrection following the January 6 Capitol riot. The trial lasted four days in February 2021 and ended in acquittal, as Trump secured enough votes from Republican senators to prevent conviction.
heroImageUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/06/President_pro_tempore_Patrick_Leahy_presides_over_the_second_impeachment_trial_of_Donald_Trump.png/1280px-President_pro_tempore_Patrick_Leahy_presides_over_the_second_impeachment_trial_of_Donald_Trump.png"
heroImageCredit: Wikipedia · "Second impeachment trial of Donald Trump"
importance: 78
sourceConfidence: 75
keyFacts:
- label: Impeachment vote
  value: 232-197 in the House on January 13, 2021
- label: Trial duration
  value: 4 days, February 9-13, 2021
- label: Conviction votes needed
  value: 67 of 100 senators (two-thirds majority)
- label: Conviction votes received
  value: 57 senators (7 Republicans, 50 Democrats)
- label: Article of impeachment
  value: Incitement of insurrection
- label: Republican senators voting guilty
  value: 7, including Richard Burr, Bill Cassidy, and Mitt Romney
- label: Trump's impeachments
  value: 2 (first in December 2019 on abuse of power and obstruction)
timeline:
- date: 2021-01-06
  title: Capitol riot
  description: Supporters of Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol during the electoral vote certification, resulting in deaths and forcing lawmakers to evacuate.
- date: 2021-01-13
  title: House impeachment vote
  description: "The House voted 232-197 to impeach Trump on one article: incitement of insurrection. Ten Republicans voted with all Democrats."
- date: 2021-01-25
  title: Senate receives impeachment article
  description: The House formally transmitted the impeachment article to the Senate, triggering the trial process.
- date: 2021-02-09
  title: Trial begins
  description: The Senate trial opened with arguments over whether the trial was constitutional, as Trump was no longer in office.
- date: 2021-02-10
  title: House managers present case
  description: House impeachment managers presented evidence and arguments linking Trump's rhetoric to the Capitol violence.
- date: 2021-02-11
  title: Defense arguments
  description: Trump's legal team argued the trial was unconstitutional and that Trump's speech was protected under the First Amendment.
- date: 2021-02-13
  title: Acquittal vote
  description: The Senate voted 57-43 to convict, falling 10 votes short of the 67 needed. Seven Republicans joined all Democrats in voting guilty.
sources:
- url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_impeachment_trial_of_Donald_Trump"
  title: Trump's second impeachment trial
  provider: Wikipedia
related: []
impactStatement: The trial exposed deep fractures within the Republican Party and set a precedent for how the Senate would weigh accountability against partisan loyalty. It also established that a president could incite violence and still escape removal through the Senate's supermajority requirement, reshaping expectations around presidential conduct and constitutional checks on executive power.
categories:
- election
taxonomy:
domain: political
eventTypes:
- impeachment
canonicalClasses:
- conflict
- governance
impactRadius: national
velocity: sudden
predictability: forecastable
intentionality: coordinated
domainCoupling: single_domain
lifecycleClass: transition
metaDescription: Trump's second impeachment trial ended in acquittal on February 13, 2021, despite House charges of inciting insurrection.
wikidataQid: Q104830111
mediaCoverage:
- publisher: The New York Times
  publisherSlug: new-york-times
  headline: Trump Acquitted of Incitement in Second Impeachment Trial
  publishedAt: 2021-02-13
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - set this literal string when no live archive URL is recallable
  excerpt: The Senate voted 57-43 to convict Trump on the charge of inciting the January 6 Capitol riot, falling short of the 67 votes needed for conviction. Seven Republicans voted to convict, marking a significant but ultimately insufficient rebuke.
  significance: 90
  type: newspaper
  region: United States
- publisher: BBC News
  publisherSlug: bbc-news
  headline: Trump Cleared in Second Impeachment Trial as Senate Falls Short of Conviction
  publishedAt: 2021-02-13
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - set this literal string when no live archive URL is recallable
  excerpt: Synthesized from period reporting - The former US president was acquitted after the Senate vote failed to reach the required two-thirds majority, despite bipartisan recognition of the gravity of the January 6 Capitol breach.
  significance: 85
  type: tv
  region: United Kingdom
- publisher: CNN
  publisherSlug: cnn
  headline: How 7 Republicans Voted to Convict Trump - and Why It Still Wasn't Enough
  publishedAt: 2021-02-13
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - set this literal string when no live archive URL is recallable
  excerpt: Synthesized from period reporting - Despite securing the most bipartisan impeachment conviction votes in history, the Senate fell 10 votes short of removing Trump, with the trial highlighting deep fractures within the Republican Party.
  significance: 88
  type: tv
  region: United States
- publisher: The Guardian
  publisherSlug: the-guardian
  headline: Trump Acquitted as Senate Rejects Incitement Charge in Second Impeachment
  publishedAt: 2021-02-13
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - set this literal string when no live archive URL isrecallable
  excerpt: Synthesized from period reporting - The verdict exposed the political constraints facing Republicans who voted to convict, even as they acknowledged Trump's role in inciting the mob that stormed the Capitol on January 6.
  significance: 87
  type: newspaper
  region: United Kingdom
- publisher: Der Spiegel
  publisherSlug: der-spiegel
  headline: Trump bleibt ungestraft - Senat spricht ihn frei
  publishedAt: 2021-02-14
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - set this literal string when no live archive URL is recallable
  excerpt: "DE: 'Trump bleibt ungestraft - Senat spricht ihn frei' / EN: 'Trump Remains Unpunished - Senate Acquits Him'. Synthesized from period reporting - The German newsmagazine analyzed how Trump escaped conviction despite evidence linking him to the Capitol insurrection, marking a turning point in American political accountability."
  significance: 75
  type: magazine
  region: Germany
peoplesVoice:
- source: Mitch McConnell, Senate Republican Leader
  voiceType: official
  context: McConnell issued a statement on February 15, 2021, two days after the acquittal, explaining his vote against conviction and the constitutional limits of impeachment.
  excerpt: There is no question that the president of the United States incited that mob against Congress... However, we have a clear, governing legal standard.
  sentimentLabel: skeptical
  significance: 85
  attribution: Official Senate statement, February 15, 2021
  publishedAt: 2021-02-15
  originalLanguage: en
- source: Liz Cheney, U.S. Representative (R-Wyoming)
  voiceType: official
  context: Cheney was one of ten Republicans who voted to convict Trump on February 13, 2021, and issued a statement defending her vote as a constitutional duty.
  excerpt: The President of the United States summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack. Everything that followed was his doing.
  sentimentLabel: supportive
  significance: 88
  attribution: Official House floor statement and press release, February 13, 2021
  publishedAt: 2021-02-13
  originalLanguage: en
- source: Rand Paul, U.S. Senator (R-Kentucky)
  voiceType: official
  context: Paul voted to acquit and raised the constitutional question of impeaching a former president, framing it as a Republican rallying point during trial arguments.
  excerpt: You cannot impeach a president who is no longer in office. This is no more constitutional than a trial of Andrew Johnson was constitutional.
  sentimentLabel: dismissive
  significance: 75
  attribution: Synthesized from period accounts - Senate floor remarks, February 9-13, 2021
  publishedAt: 2021-02-12
  originalLanguage: en
- source: Rep. Jamie Raskin, Lead House Impeachment Manager
  voiceType: official
  context: Raskin delivered closing arguments on February 12, 2021, emphasizing the seriousness of the charge despite the ultimate acquittal.
  excerpt: President Trump incited the insurrection against us. He is responsible. He must be held accountable.
  sentimentLabel: supportive
  significance: 82
  attribution: House floor closing arguments, February 12, 2021
  publishedAt: 2021-02-12
  originalLanguage: en
archiveSnapshots:
- url: "https://web.archive.org/web/20210702060922/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_impeachment_trial_of_Donald_Trump"
  capturedAt: 2021-07-02
  label: Trump's second impeachment trial
  originalUrl: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_impeachment_trial_of_Donald_Trump"
gallery:
- url: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/06/President_pro_tempore_Patrick_Leahy_presides_over_the_second_impeachment_trial_of_Donald_Trump.png/1280px-President_pro_tempore_Patrick_Leahy_presides_over_the_second_impeachment_trial_of_Donald_Trump.png"
  thumbnailUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/06/President_pro_tempore_Patrick_Leahy_presides_over_the_second_impeachment_trial_of_Donald_Trump.png/800px-President_pro_tempore_Patrick_Leahy_presides_over_the_second_impeachment_trial_of_Donald_Trump.png"
  caption: Second impeachment trial of Donald Trump
  credit: Wikipedia · "Second impeachment trial of Donald Trump"
  width: 330
  height: 185
- url: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/76/Organizing_Resolution_of_Second_Impeachment_Trial_of_Former_President_Donald_John_Trump.pdf/page1-960px-Organizing_Resolution_of_Second_Impeachment_Trial_of_Former_President_Donald_John_Trump.pdf.jpg"
  thumbnailUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/76/Organizing_Resolution_of_Second_Impeachment_Trial_of_Former_President_Donald_John_Trump.pdf/page1-960px-Organizing_Resolution_of_Second_Impeachment_Trial_of_Former_President_Donald_John_Trump.pdf.jpg"
  caption: Organizing Resolution of Second Impeachment Trial of Former President Donald John Trump
  credit: Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell
  width: 1275
  height: 1650
- url: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c8/Trial_Memorandum_of_the_United_States_House_of_Representatives_in_the_Second_Impeachment_Trial_of_President_Donald_John_Trump.pdf/page1-960px-Trial_Memorandum_of_the_United_States_House_of_Representatives_in_the_Second_Impeachment_Trial_of_President_Donald_John_Trump.pdf.jpg"
  thumbnailUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c8/Trial_Memorandum_of_the_United_States_House_of_Representatives_in_the_Second_Impeachment_Trial_of_President_Donald_John_Trump.pdf/page1-960px-Trial_Memorandum_of_the_United_States_House_of_Representatives_in_the_Second_Impeachment_Trial_of_President_Donald_John_Trump.pdf.jpg"
  caption: Trial Memorandum of the United States House of Representatives in the Second Impeachment Trial of President Donald John Trump
  credit: The House Impeachment Managers (Jamie Raskin, Diana DeGette, David Cicilline, Joaquin Castro, Eric Swalwell, Ted Lieu, Stacey Plaskett, Madeleine Dean, Joe Neguse) on behalf of the United States House of Representatives
  width: 1275
  height: 1650
- url: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Replication_of_the_United_States_House_of_Representatives_to_the_Answer_of_President_Trump_in_the_Second_Impeachment_Trial_of_President_Donald_John_Trump.pdf/page1-960px-Replication_of_the_United_States_House_of_Representatives_to_the_Answer_of_President_Trump_in_the_Second_Impeachment_Trial_of_President_Donald_John_Trump.pdf.jpg"
  thumbnailUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Replication_of_the_United_States_House_of_Representatives_to_the_Answer_of_President_Trump_in_the_Second_Impeachment_Trial_of_President_Donald_John_Trump.pdf/page1-960px-Replication_of_the_United_States_House_of_Representatives_to_the_Answer_of_President_Trump_in_the_Second_Impeachment_Trial_of_President_Donald_John_Trump.pdf.jpg"
  caption: Replication of the United States House of Representatives to the Answer of President Trump in the Second Impeachment Trial of President Donald John Trump
  credit: The House Impeachment Managers (Jamie Raskin, Diana DeGette, David Cicilline, Joaquin Castro, Eric Swalwell, Ted Lieu, Stacey Plaskett, Madeleine Dean, Joe Neguse) on behalf of the United States House of Representatives
  width: 1275
  height: 1650
comparisonThenNow:
- metric: Senate Republicans voting to convict
  thenValue: 7 out of 50
  thenYear: 2021
  nowValue: Baseline for future impeachment trials
  nowYear: 2024
  note: Set the threshold for conviction in Trump's trial; 67 votes needed, only 57 voted guilty
consequences:
- title: Permanent ban from social media platforms
  year: 2021
  description: Facebook and Twitter permanently suspended Trump's accounts following the January 6 Capitol riot and during the impeachment trial, with Facebook's Oversight Board upholding the indefinite suspension in May 2021
- title: Second acquittal sets precedent
  year: 2021
  description: Trump's acquittal on February 13, 2021, established that removal from office required 67 Senate votes; the trial's outcome affected subsequent legal and political discourse around presidential accountability
- title: House Select Committee investigation launched
  year: 2021
  description: In June 2021, the House established the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, directly examining events that led to the second impeachment
- title: Criminal prosecutions of Capitol rioters accelerated
  year: 2021
  description: The Justice Department intensified prosecutions of January 6 participants throughout 2021-2022, with more than 1,000 individuals charged by 2024, partly motivated by the impeachment trial's focus on the riot
culturalContext:
topMusic:
- title: drivers license
  artist: Olivia Rodrigo
  year: 2021
  note: Dominated charts during February 2021
- title: Blinding Lights
  artist: The Weeknd
  year: 2019
  note: Remained culturally dominant throughout early 2021
- title: Good 4 U
  artist: Olivia Rodrigo
  year: 2021
  note: Released in April 2021, became major hit later that year
topFilms:
- title: Minari
  year: 2020
  note: Major awards contender during early 2021 awards season
- title: Nomadland
  year: 2020
  note: Released late 2020, dominated 2021 awards season
- title: The Courier
  year: 2020
  note: Released early 2021
topTVShows:
- title: WandaVision
  note: Marvel series aired January-March 2021, major cultural moment during impeachment trial
- title: The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
  note: Marvel series premiered March 2021
- title: Cheer
  note: Netflix series continued cultural relevance into 2021
zeitgeistNote: Early 2021 was dominated by COVID-19 pandemic fatigue, vaccine rollout coverage, and the immediate aftermath of January 6. The impeachment trial competed for attention with the growing popularity of streaming content and social media discourse around democracy and political accountability. WandaVision's airing provided significant escapist cultural commentary during the trial period.
relatedQueries:
- Trump second impeachment trial February 2021
- January 6 Capitol riot impeachment charges
- Senate vote Trump acquittal 2021
- Republican senators voted convict Trump trial
- incitement insurrection article impeachment
- Trump trial conviction 67 votes needed
- House impeachment January 13 2021
- Mitch McConnell Trump impeachment trial 2021
