Who are the impeachment managers prosecuting Trump’s second Senate trial?

Gone are the impeachment managers of 2020, when Trump was charged with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress over his call with Ukraine. Reps. Adam B. Schiff, Jerrold Nadler and five others took the lead for Democrats in Trump’s first trial. None of them will repeat their role.

The new group of nine is led by Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), and all nine are lawyers, many former litigators.

“It is their constitutional and patriotic duty to present the case for the President’s impeachment and removal,” Pelosi said in a press release announcing the impeachment managers. “They will do so guided by their great love of country, determination to protect our democracy and loyalty to our oath to the Constitution.”

Why Pelosi picked him: Raskin began drafting articles of impeachment against Trump the morning after the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol. The Maryland congressman’s son Thomas had died by suicide just a week earlier, and Raskin told The Post memories of his son are his source of strength.

“I felt him in my heart and in my chest,” Raskin said. “All the way through the counting of the electoral college votes and through the nightmare of the armed attack on the Capitol.”

Raskin, who spent more than a quarter century teaching constitutional law at American University, drafted both a resolution asking Vice President Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove then-President Trump from office, and an article of impeachment charging Trump with inciting the attempted insurrection.

Impeachment is familiar territory for Raskin; when House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler was unable to attend a Rules Committee meeting during Trump’s first impeachment, Raskin took his place, testifying for hours on Democrats’ case. He was on the Judiciary Committee as members discussed the merits of Trump’s 2019 impeachment charges and questioned witnesses.

This time, he’s been out front in articulating why Democrats believe Trump’s second impeachment was justified, and why they think he should be convicted by the Senate. A constitutional law professor and frequent Trump critic, Pelosi is counting on him to start and finish Democrats’ argument.

What he has said about convicting Trump: “People are asking me why I decided to do this. First of all, I don’t know if you’ve ever tried to say no to Speaker Pelosi about anything – she’s actually been very sensitive and thoughtful – but she wanted me to do it because she knows that I’ve devoted my life to the Constitution and to the republic. I am a professor of constitutional law. But I did it really with my son in my heart, and helping lead the way. I feel him in my chest … I’m not going to lose my son at the end of 2020, and lose my country and my republic in 2021. It’s not going to happen.”

Why Pelosi picked her: Put simply, Pelosi trusts her during important moments. DeGette was tapped to preside over the House debate during Trump’s first impeachment, a moment Pelosi wanted to get right procedurally, and for the cameras. She’s served as Democrats’ chief deputy whip three times, so she knows the caucus well,

DeGette has been in Congress for a while; she just started her thirteenth term in office. She was previously a civil rights lawyer – another litigator on Pelosi’s list.

What she has said about convicting Trump: “Already (Republicans) are saying we shouldn’t have a trial, even though the precedent is clear that you can have an impeachment trial after somebody leaves office. So I’m sure that we’ll hear all kinds of arguments, but I know that the trial will be fair … the evidence is so clear in this case. We have everything, pretty much, on tv.”

Why Pelosi probably picked him: Swalwell has been a visible Trump critic for a long time – since way before the inquiry that led to Trump’s first impeachment in 2019. A member of both the intelligence and judiciary committees, Swalwell was front and center the last time the impeachment process played out.

He’s a former prosecutor, and is in his fifth term in Congress. He sought the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, is prolific on social media and a frequent cable news guest, so his national profile is higher than most others on this list.

What he has said about convicting Trump: “I’ve read many of my G.O.P. colleagues know that the president is wrong, but are afraid for their lives if they cross the president. I’m sorry that you’re living in fear, but now is a time to summon your courage to guide you. We have all seen the images of the courageous officers who have risked their lives so that you could flee this floor and see your families. That was almost a week ago right now. Officers engaged in hand-to-hand combat for hours with these terrorists. Capitol police were spit on, beaten, stampeded, and one of them lost their lives. I’m not asking you to summon the courage they did. I’m just asking you to do your job and hold this president accountable.”

Why Pelosi probably picked him: Cicilline is a former D.C. public defender who has been in Congress for over a decade and is on the Judiciary Committee. The Rhode Island congressman, who when sworn in became only the fourth openly gay person elected to Congress, was also on the Judiciary Committee for Trump’s last impeachment, and helped write the article of impeachment with Reps. Raskin and Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) this time around.

What he has said about convicting Trump: “We will present a very strong case – overwhelming evidence that the president of the United States committed the high crime and misdemeanor of inciting an insurrection against the government of the United States by inciting a violent attack, in which domestic terrorists stormed the building with plans to hang the vice president, assassinate the speaker, hunt down members of Congress and disrupt the peaceful transition of power.”

Why Pelosi probably picked her: Dean, a Pennsylvania congresswoman, has said repeatedly that she believes there need to be consequences for Trump’s actions. A member of the Judiciary Committee and former lawyer, Dean was on the House floor when protesters stormed the building on Jan. 6. She’s one of the newer members of Congress on Pelosi’s list, currently serving her second term, and was part of the wave of swing-district members who won in 2018, giving Pelosi the majority back.

Why Pelosi probably picked him: Castro follows a familiar theme in Pelosi’s picks: Members who sat on the committees that took the lead investigating Trump’s first impeachment. Castro is on the House Intelligence Committee, and like others on this list is a former litigator.

Castro’s twin brother Julian ran for president in the 2020 cycle, and the two are some of the more visible Democrats in Texas politics. Rep. Castro called for the resignation of Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz over his continued objections to the election results.

What he has said about convicting Trump: “Donald Trump is the most dangerous man to ever occupy the Oval Office. I want to take you back one week ago today, when people were barging through these doors, breaking the windows with weapons, armed, pipe bombs, coming here to harm all of you, to harm the speaker, to harm the Senate. Let me ask you a question. What do you think they would have done if they had gotten in? What do you think they would have done to you? And who do you think sent them here? The most dangerous man to ever occupy the Oval Office. If inciting a deadly insurrection is not enough to get a president impeached, then what is?”

Why Pelosi picked him: Lieu is the third member of this list to have helped author the impeachment article against Trump, working with Reps. Raskin and Cicilline. A former active duty Air Force officer who served as a prosecutor in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps, Lieu is an experienced lawyer and litigator.

Lieu reportedly started texting Judiciary Committee colleagues about drafting impeachment articles against Trump while the Capitol siege was still ongoing.

What he has said about convicting Trump: Per the Los Angeles Times: The committee “should start drafting articles of impeachment now, regardless of what leadership says,” he wrote in the 3:09 p.m. (text) message. “We have seen the consequences of being weak against Trump and not holding him accountable these last couple months. If we don’t do anything besides send strongly worded press releases, then we are complicit in battering lady justice and our Constitution.”

Why Pelosi picked her: Plaskett is a nonvoting member of Congress who represents the U.S. Virgin Islands, . Though she didn’t have a vote in actually impeaching Trump, Plaskett is an experienced lawyer who has worked both as an assistant district attorney in the Bronx DA’s office and as a senior counsel at the Department of Justice.

Why Pelosi picked him: Neguse is a rising star among House Democrats, serving in his second term. He’s already in the lower levels of the Democratic leadership, working on a committee that hones Democratic messaging. Crafting an argument around why Trump should be convicted, both to the public and to Republican senators, is why the impeachment managers are there to begin with. At 36, he’ll be the youngest lawmaker ever to serve as an impeachment manager in a Senate trial.

What he has said about convicting Trump: “He must be impeached. If Congress does not act, if we shrink from our constitutional responsibilities to defend our republic, it will define the vision of America as the last best hope on earth that Abraham Lincoln so eloquently said so many years ago. To the millions of Americans watching today, I hope you understand we are proceeding on this path out of love for our country.”