6:33 p.m. ET, January 14, 2021
Sen. Blumenthal says he expects impeachment trial "very soon"
From CNN's Josiah Ryan
Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a close ally of President-elect Joe Biden, said he expects the Senate to proceed with an impeachment trial quickly after inauguration.
"I can tell you my hope and expectation is that it will be very soon, within a matter of days after the inauguration," he said.
Blumenthal said the trial should be quick because the evidence against President Trump was overwhelming.
"This trial should proceed very expeditiously," Blumenthal told CNN's Wolf Blitzer. "The record is clear. The evidence consists of Donald Trump's own statements recorded by video and his guilty intent is proved by his tweets before and his statements afterward indicating no contrition, no regret, no apology."
Blumenthal added he was hopeful that many of his Republican colleagues who voted to acquit Trump in the first impeachment trial would reconsider the second time around.
"I am very hopeful that we'll have enough votes, but one way or the other, they will have to answer to history because they have voted to acquit once," he said. "If they do it twice, they will be judged harshly not only by history but I think by American voters."
Watch Sen. Richard Blumenthal comment on the timing of impeachment trial: