Trump lawyer says Democrats fear 2024 run

The first day of the dramatic proceedings in the 100-seat Senate will end in a vote on the question of whether holding a trial after Donald Trump has left office, as he did on Jan. 20, violates the U.S. Constitution, which allows for impeachment for "high crimes and misdemeanors."

Democrats hope to disqualify Trump from ever again holding public office.

Castor said Trump was impeached because the Democrats who control the House do not want to face Trump as a political rival in the future and "fear that the people in 2024, in fact, will want to change and will want to go back to Donald Trump."

Castor added that the storming of the Capitol "should be denounced in the most vigorous terms" and the rioters should be prosecuted to the fullest extent possible - reflecting the defense contention that "a small group of criminals" - not Trump - were responsible for the violence.