Ohio senators prepare for start of Trump impeachment trial

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX/WTTE) — The impeachment trial in the U.S. Senate for President Donald Trump will begin Tuesday afternoon. It's still unclear whether any witnesses will be allowed. Negotiations continued Monday about whether any non-government cameras would be allowed inside the chamber.

The real suspense won't be how it will end, but how it'll be handled. With two-thirds of senators required to vote to convict and Republicans holding a small majority, it's unlikely there will be enough votes to remove the president from office.

"It was very clear to me that there was enough to at least send it to the Senate to at least have the trial," said Rep. Joyce Beatty (D - Ohio), one of the House Democrats who voted to impeach Trump.

Not a single Republican voted to impeach but Beatty said many Republicans talk about it differently in private.

"Many folks offline will say one thing but when they came to the floor it was a very partisan vote," she said.

The president's supporters want the vote in the Senate to be party-line like the House impeachment.

"All the facts are on the president's side, all the truth is on the president's side so I think we all know what the outcome is going to be," said Rep. Jim Jordan (R - Ohio), one of President Trump's most vocal supporters.

Senators will be required to sit through the proceedings as jurors. The trial will be in session six days a week. Senators won't be allowed to have their phones with them and they won't be allowed to talk.

"It'll be a continuation of the kind of partisan warfare that we've seen," said Paul Beck, a political science professor at The Ohio State University. "Partisan forces are very powerful. I think even added to them is the president's own willingness to be very vindictive."

Ohio is one of the few states with both a Republican and Democratic senator. Both Sen. Sherrod Brown (D - Ohio) and Sen. Rob Portman (R - Ohio) have said they plan to enter the impeachment trial with an open mind.

"Sherrod Brown has been careful not to actually say how he would vote when the dust has settled," he said. "He's given every indication that he thinks the charges against Trump are credible. Rob Portman has been pretty quiet of late."

Portman spokesperson Emmalee Kalmbach gave the following statement about the start of the impeachment trial, "As Rob has said consistently, he is going to do his duty and listen to all the facts during the trial in the Senate. Rob supports a fair and thorough trial process that follows the only precedent in the past 150 years, the 1999 Clinton impeachment trial. That process was supported by all 100 senators in the last Senate trial. Based on what has been presented thus far, Rob believes there is nothing that rises to the level of removal from office of a duly elected president. This would overturn an election and is the most extreme remedy possible. The trial begins tomorrow where Rob will carefully listen to arguments from both sides and then the Senate will decide on how best to proceed."

Beck said he expected both senators to vote along with the rest of their respective parties.

"My prediction is (Portman) like other Republicans will vote to acquit the president whereas Brown like virtually every Democrat will vote to convict him," Beck said.

This article was originally published by ABC6 on January 20, 2020.