US senators vote to proceed with Donald Trump's impeachment trial

Donald Trump’s historic second impeachment trial has begun, making him the first US president to be tried in the Senate after leaving office.

In this image from video, the vote total on the question of the constitutionality of the impeachment trial is displayed in the Senate on 9 February. Source: Senate Television via AAP

A divided US Senate has voted largely along party lines to move ahead with Donald Trump's impeachment trial on a charge of inciting the deadly assault on the Capitol, but conviction appears unlikely barring a major shift among Republicans.

The Senate voted 56-44 to proceed to the first-ever trial of a former president on Tuesday, rejecting his defence lawyers' argument that Mr Trump was beyond the reach of the Senate after having left the White House on 20 January.

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