The U.S. Senate will hold a historic second impeachment trial of former U.S. President Donald Trump this month, ending with a vote to determine if he is guilty of inciting the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
The former president is facing a charge of “incitement of insurrection” in connection with the mob that invaded the Capitol as U.S. lawmakers met to certify the election results that put President Joe Biden in office.
Here are the House Democrats who will make the case for impeachment:
The impeachment managers are members of the U.S. House of Representatives who will present the case of impeachment against former President Trump in the Senate chamber.
The nine managers take turns speaking, acting like prosecutors in a courtroom, with the goal to persuade two-thirds of the Senate, or 67 lawmakers, to vote in favor of conviction. Trump faces a single count of incitement of insurrection for the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol where lawmakers were in the process of certifying the Electoral College results from the 2020 presidential election.
All nine of the Democratic managers are lawyers and all are new to the role, having not served as managers in the first impeachment trial of Trump in 2019, when the Senate acquitted the former president for obstruction of justice and abuse of power arising from Trump’s request that Ukraine investigate then-candidate Joe Biden and his son.
Raskin, 58, is leading the prosecution. He spent more than 25 years teaching constitutional law at American University and has also served as a Maryland state senator. A member of the House Judiciary Committee, Raskin was also involved in the deliberations over Trump’s first impeachment in 2019. The lawmaker’s 25-year-old son died by suicide just a week before the January 6 riot at the Capitol. Raskin said he decided to take on the role as lead House impeachment manager because “I’m not going to lose my son at the end of 2020 and my country and my republic in 2021.”
DeGette, 63, has been in Congress since 1997 and was previously a civil rights lawyer and also served two terms in the Colorado House. She has served in Democratic leadership roles before, having been the chief deputy whip in the House for over a decade as well as presiding over the House debate during Trump’s first impeachment.
Cicilline, 59, has been in Congress for over a decade and is a former Washington city public defender, a former mayor of Providence, Rhode Island, and a former lawmaker in that state. He is only the fourth openly gay person to be elected to Congress. A member of the Judiciary Committee, he was involved in deliberations over Trump’s previous impeachment and this year helped to write the articles of impeachment.
Castro, 46, has served in Congress for eight years and is a former leader of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. As member of the House Intelligence Committee, he was involved in Trump’s first impeachment. Before his time in Congress, he served in the Texas legislature and as a lawyer in private practice. His twin brother, Julian, ran for president in 2020.
Swalwell, a former prosecutor, is in his fifth term in Congress. He sought the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination and is a frequent guest on cable news. A member of both the House Intelligence and Judiciary committees, the 40-year-old was highly visible during the 2019 impeachment of Trump.
Lieu, 51, was elected to Congress in 2014 and serves on House Judiciary Committee and Foreign Affairs Committee. He helped to write the impeachment articles along with Raskin and Cicilline. Before his time in Congress, Lieu served as a lawmaker in California as well as in the Air Force Reserve and was a prosecutor in the force’s legal arm, the Judge Advocate General’s Corps. He is still a member of the Air Force Reserve.
Stacey Plaskett, 54, is a non-voting member of Congress, representing a U.S. territory, the Virgin Islands. An African American and former prosecutor, she previously worked as an assistant district attorney in the Bronx borough of New York City, and as a senior counsel at the Department of Justice. Plaskett serves on the House Ways and Means Committee.
Dean, 61, is one of the newest members to serve as an impeachment manager, currently serving her second term in Congress. She is a former member of the Pennsylvania state legislature and has also worked as a lawyer in private practice as well as teaching writing and ethics at LaSalle University.