“With his back against the wall, when all else has failed, he turns back to his supporters – whom he had been telling for months that the election was stolen – and reinforces them,” said Representative Joe Neguse, Democrat of Colorado.
The Trump impeachment ›
What you need to know
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- A court case will determine whether former President Donald J. Trump is guilty of instigating a deadly crowd of his supporters when they stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, violently violated security measures, and went into hiding when they met, to certify President Biden’s victory.
- Parliament voted 232 votes to 197 in favor of a single impeachment trial, accusing Mr. Trump of “inciting violence against the United States government” in order to dismiss the election results. Ten Republicans voted against him alongside the Democrats.
- To convict Mr Trump, the Senate would need a two-thirds majority to agree. This means that at least 17 Republican senators would have to vote with Senate Democrats to convict.
- A conviction seems unlikely. Last month, only five Senate Republicans sided with the Democrats in repelling a Republican attempt to dismiss the charges because Mr Trump is no longer in office. Only 27 senators say they are not sure whether to convict Mr. Trump.
- If the Senate convicts Mr. Trump and finds him guilty of “inciting violence against the United States government,” the Senators could vote on whether he should be expelled from office. That vote would only require a simple majority, and when it came to party lines, the Democrats would prevail if Vice President Kamala Harris casts the casting vote.
- If the Senate does not condemn Mr Trump, the former president could run for office again. Public opinion polls show he remains by far the most popular national figure in the Republican Party.
After dozens of frivolous lawsuits failed, managers began pressuring officials in key battlefield states such as Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Georgia to reverse his losses there. When that failed, he tried the Justice Department and then publicly tried to shame Republican Congressmen for helping him. Finally, he insisted that Mr. Pence take non-existent powers to unilaterally reverse her loss on January 6th, when the Vice President oversees the vote count in Congress.
“Let me be clear: the president didn’t just come for one or two people or Democrats like me,” said California representative Ted Lieu, looking at the senators. “He came for you.”
At the same time, the managers argued, the president knowingly encouraged his followers to take matters into their own hands. When an armada of his supporters tried to drive a Biden campaign bus off the freeway in October, Mr. Trump cheered them on Twitter. He began to adopt an increasingly violent language and did nothing to denounce armed mobs who appeared on his behalf in cities across the country. Instead, on January 6, he repeatedly invited them to Washington to rally to “stop the theft” as Congress met to formalize the victory of President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.
“When he saw firsthand the violence his behavior was causing, he didn’t stop,” said Neguse. “He did not condemn the violence. He pushed it further and became more specific. He wasn’t just telling them to fight like hell. He told them how, where and when. “
At times, the presentation, given by a group of well-experienced Democrats in the courtroom, resembled criminal prosecution – only in this case the jury consisted of senators who were also witnesses who struggled as they relived the day’s trauma in detail.
US Virgin Islands delegate Stacey Plaskett led her through much of the video, including scenes of Capitol rioters mockingly shouting for Speaker Nancy Pelosi and pouring into her office shortly after aides barricaded in a conference room and hid under one had table.
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