Mitt Romney claims 'truth and justice' require Senate to hold impeachment trial against Trump

Republican Sen. Mitt Romney (Utah) claimed Sunday that the Senate will conduct a second impeachment trial against now-former President Donald Trump in order to uphold "truth and justice."

What did Romney say?

Speaking on "Fox News Sunday," Romney told show host Chris Wallace that an impeachment trial is necessary to hold Trump accountable for the deadly violence at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, as well as his controversial call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.

In fact, Romney said "truth and justice" demand another trial.

"Well, we're certainly going to have a trial. I wish that weren't necessary, but the president's conduct with regards to the call to Secretary of State Raffensperger in Georgia as well as the incitation towards the insurrection that led to the attack on the Capitol call for a trial," Romney said.

"And, you know, if we're going to have unity in our country, I think it's important to recognize the need for accountability, for truth and justice," the Utah senator added.

Romney, of course, did not reveal how he would vote during the trial. But Romney did say that the article of impeachment passed by the House two weeks ago "suggests impeachable conduct."

"I will do my best as a Senate juror to apply justice as well as I can understand it," Romney promised.

Romney went on to say:

I think it's pretty clear that over the last year or so there has been an effort to corrupt the election in the United States. It was not by President Biden, it was by President Trump.That corruption we saw with regards to the conduct in Ukraine, as well as the call to Secretary of State Raffensperger, as well as the incitation to insurrection. This is obviously very serious and an attack on the very foundation of our democracy and is something which has to be considered and resolved.

What's the background?

Despite the fact that Trump is no longer president, the Senate will begin the impeachment trial on Feb. 8, according to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

However, the effort will unlikely end in Trump's conviction because the Constitution requires a two-thirds vote for conviction, meaning 67 senators would have to vote in favor of convicting Trump. The Senate is currently split 50-50, which means 17 Republicans would have to support conviction.

In Trump's first Senate trial, Romney was the only Republican senator who voted for conviction.

Meanwhile, other Democratic lawmakers have suggested leveraging the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment to bar Trump from ever holding office again.