The formal opening of Donald Trump's impeachment trial is expected to take place on Thursday with the transmission of the indictment to the Senate.

If this act marks the start of the trial, the debates may not take place before mid-February, as Republican Senator Mitch Mc Connell wishes.

Donald Trump's indictment will be sent to the US Senate on Monday, which is responsible for trying him for "incitement to insurgency", Democratic leaders in Congress announced on Friday.

This step will mark the formal opening of Donald Trump's second trial as part of the impeachment procedure.

The substantive debates, relating to the responsibility of Trump in the assault on Capitol Hill on January 6, could wait, however, and no date has yet been communicated.

The schedule is not yet fixed

The head of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, "informed me that the indictment would be forwarded to the Senate on Monday," Democratic Senators Leader Chuck Schumer said in the upper house.

"Our prosecutors are ready to defend their case before the 100 senators who will serve as judges during the trial," Ms. Pelosi then confirmed in a statement.

Concretely, these "prosecutors" - elected Democrats of the House led by Jamie Raskin - will cross the corridors of Congress to bring the indictment in the chamber of the Senate, where they will read it to the senators.

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If no date is set for the debates, Chuck Schumer said he had discussed with Republican majority leader Mitch McConnell "the schedule and duration" of the hearings.

"But make no mistake, there will be a trial in the United States Senate and a vote on the president's guilt," he said.

The Constitution imposes a threshold of two thirds to condemn a president, or 67 senators, which requires the vote of several Republicans. 

No debates before mid-February? 

Succeeding him in the podium, Mitch McConnell, who does not rule out voting Trump's guilt, regretted the pace of the proceedings.

"The impeachment by the House has been faster and more minimalist than ever, the next step cannot be an insufficient trial in the Senate," he said. 

"We need a full and fair trial, during which the former president can defend himself and the Senate can consider all factual, legal and constitutional questions," he continued, suggesting to wait until mid-February. to start the discussions.

The skillful strategist even stressed that it was in the interest of the new administration to wait, so that the Senate could devote the next few days to the confirmation of the members of the government appointed by Joe Biden and his first bills. .