One thing that came up loud and fucking clear that was never addressed by either party was the fact that a private citizen can't be impeached. At no point did the Dems explain their reasoning beyond "orange man bad". And the Trump team remained very coy on this issue as well. Trump referred to it as another hoax, but he never specifically pointed out that he was no longer President (as far as I recall. If I missed a statement that debunks this theory, please let me know). I know his lawyers made those statements, but looking back they seemed to be making them in an attempt to goad Dems into making an admission that would snowball everything.
Of course they didn't, still tried the Shampeachment and lost. But why did they still try it? Because they know he's secret President and were trying to use the system to legally remove Trump despite him activating emergency powers. Obviously that failed. Anyway, I just realized that the fake impeachment and further bastardization of our system actually tells us a lot more about what is happening than we realized and it pretty much vindicates the devolution theory. You can't impeach a private citizen and they did anyway... or did they? Most normies assume it didn't matter or that the Dems are just out of control... which they are but I do believe they were operating within the confines of the Constitution. Ethically speaking they are morally bankrupt. And our Impeachment system should prevent partyline peach minting. A 2/3rds majority should be required in both House and Senate, but that's another discussion.
No one impeached a private citizen.
Try to keep up here, the resolution passed on 1/13. It went to the Senate right away, but the senate held it and didn't vote on it. They took it up after Trump was out of office, but the case was for something he did before while he was in office.
This would be like if you lived in Maryland and broke into a house, but then you immediately moved. The state of Maryland still hears that case and you will be tried in Maryland no matter where you moved to. If you moved to Texas, Maryland wouldn't suspend the case just because you moved. It works the same in this case law.
If they introduced the impeachment on Jan 21, 2021 then yes, it would be too late and they'd be impeaching a private citizen, but since the case was introduced before that it stands and they have to take it up.
There's no huge conspiracy here, it's just time and how time works.
Do you understand that, or is it too complex?
There is case law supporting impeaching someone even after they leave office if it is filed while they are in office. In 1876, as the U.S. House of Representatives was about to vote on articles of impeachment against Secretary of War William Belknap over corruption charges, Belknap walked over to the White House, submitted his resignation letter to President Ulysses S. Grant and quit.
The House still went ahead and impeached Belknap, and the Senate tried him, with the impeachment managers arguing that departing office doesn’t excuse the alleged offense — otherwise, officeholders would simply resign to escape conviction or impeachment.
Source: went to law school and graduated but don't practice law.