WASHINGTON (AP) — A key element of former President Donald Trump’s defense is the argument that he can’t be convicted by the Senate because the Jan. 6 speech that House prosecutors say incited the attack on the Capitol is protected by the Constitution’s First Amendment. Trump’s contention is that the Senate can’t ignore the First Amendment’s command that “Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech.” But many legal scholars dispute that the First Amendment’s guarantee of free speech applies to impeachment proceedings at all or that it protects Trump even if it does have some bearing on his impeachment.
