“Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial is almost certain to end in acquittal, yet it will deliver a public reckoning for his presidency and influence whether his populist supporters continue to dominate the Republican Party. The nine House managers prosecuting Trump, arguing their case as much to the American public as to the senators who’ll serve as jurors, will focus on the most searing moments of the nationally televised Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.”

“Still, even with evidence including video of the day’s violence and the fiery rhetoric Trump used to egg on his loyalists, the Democratic prosecutors faces an almost impossible task of winning enough Republican votes to convict him. Trump’s legal team is basing its defense on the constitutional question of whether a former president can be convicted of an impeachable charge, while also saying that his actions fell short of incitement and were protected by the First Amendment. Those arguments have already found favor with enough Senate Republicans to suggest Trump will escape conviction, as he did in first impeachment trial a year ago. The televised proceedings are set to open at 1 p.m. Tuesday, creating an extraordinary confrontation likely to cement public attitudes on Trump’s behavior in office, pro and con, playing out at a time Americans normally would have turned their attention away from a defeated incumbent. Short of a conviction, Democrats will be looking to blunt Trump as a political force within the GOP, including his prospects for another White House run in 2024 and his ability to shape the lineup for the 2022 midterm elections” – Bloomberg.