House impeachment executives on Thursday closed their case against former President Donald J. Trump, warning Senators that it would set a dangerous standard for the country in the future if they didn’t vote for a conviction. The trial will resume Friday when Mr Trump’s defense team comes up with a case that the president did not instigate the attack on the Capitol.
Here are some takeaways from the third day of the trial.
The angry, violent mob came to Washington at Trump’s invitation, closes the indictment.
The impeachment managers used their final day of the argument to convince the Senators that Mr Trump invited the rioters to Washington on Jan. 6. They argued that the “insurgents” who attacked the Capitol were not acting alone as its defenders said and will most likely claim if they present their case.
Managers again used video footage of Mr. Trump and his supporters to present their arguments, interspersed with clips of chaos to remind Senators of how they felt when the Capitol was attacked. They claimed that such violence would not have happened without Mr Trump.
An impeachment officer, Representative Diana DeGette from Colorado, shared her experience during the attack and how she and others ran to safety and saw a SWAT team with weapons aimed at rioters on the ground. Ms. DeGette said she wondered, “Who sent you there?”
She shared comments from rioters, including a Texas real estate agent named Jennifer L. Ryan. “I thought I was going to follow my president,” Ms. Ryan said. “I thought I was following what we were called to do. He asked us to fly there, he asked us to be there, so I did what he asked of us. “
The Trump impeachment ›
What you need to know
-
- 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.
In another clip, Ms. Ryan said, “President Trump asked us to be in DC on the 6th, so that was our way of stopping the theft.”
After Joseph R. Biden Jr. denounced the attack on television and asked Mr. Trump to speak on national television and “demand an end to this siege,” one rioter asked, “He doesn’t know that President Trump called us to siege Has?” the place?”
Even after the attack, managers said Mr. Trump showed a “lack of remorse”.
The impeachment managers stressed that despite the five deaths and dozens of injuries among law enforcement officers alone, including broken ribs and broken spinal discs, Mr Trump never apologized for what happened Jan. 6.
“President Trump’s lack of remorse and refusal to answer during the attack shows his state of mind,” said California representative Ted Lieu, a manager. “It shows that he intended the January 6th events to take place. And when it happened, he was happy about it. “
The managers stressed that Mr Trump’s behavior – selling false conspiracy theories and fraudulent claims, praising violence, distorting facts to suit his agenda – was not limited to the presidential fight and elections, and featured video clips of some of the most shocking ones most controversial moments of his presidency. Among them was the deadly protest by white nationalists in Charlottesville, Virginia, after Mr. Trump encouraged the white supremacy movement in a way that no president had done in generations.
Jamie Raskin, senior impeachment manager, asked the Senators, “Is there a political leader in this room who believes Donald Trump will stop inciting violence in order to find his way if he is ever allowed to return to the Oval Office from the Senate ? “
The presence of Vice President Mike Pence as a traitor, victim and hero plays a big role.
Throughout the impeachment process, House managers have commended former Vice President Mike Pence for standing up against Mr Trump and refusing to cast his vote in order to have the electoral college vote down and allow him to be re-elected.
“Vice President Pence showed us what it means to be American,” said Lieu on Wednesday. “What it means to show courage. He has put his country, his oath, his values and his morals above the will of a man. “
It was unusual praise to hear from Democrats after Mr Pence worked with his burning boss for four years, which, according to critics, only allowed Mr Trump to do.
Managers stressed that the rioters wanted to assassinate Mr. Pence, the country’s second in command, in what appeared to appeal to the Republican senators’ appeal to the sacred chain of command.
“During the attack, the vice president never left the Capitol and remained locked in the building with his family – with his family -” said representative Stacey E. Plaskett, a manager and non-voting house delegate for the Virgin Islands. “Keep this in mind as you think about these images and sounds of the attack. The vice president, our deputy, was always the focus. Vice President Pence has been threatened with death by the president’s supporters for rejecting President Trump’s request to overthrow the election. “
Mr. Pence, a former congressman and governor of Indiana, has been largely out of sight since leaving office. At the end of January, he was seen on vacation with his wife in the Virgin Islands.
Earlier this month, Mr. Pence announced that he had joined the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.
Trump still seems to have enough votes to be acquitted.
The house’s impeachment managers shut down emotional footage of the attack for three days. They showed Senators how close they were to the violent crowd of Trump supporters as they ducked and ran to safety that day. At times the videos and recordings seemed to resonate with the Republicans in the room. Some of them even praised the work of the property managers. But it wasn’t enough to change her mind.
On Thursday, before the managers closed their case, Republican Senator John Boozman of Arkansas told reporters that he would vote to acquit Mr. Trump. He predicted that the 43 other Republicans who voted with him to find that a former president’s attempt was unconstitutional would also vote for the acquittal.
To get a conviction, Senate Democrats would have to support 17 of their Republican counterparts, and that was never an expected outcome.
“Impeachment is dead on arrival,” Kentucky Republican Senator Rand Paul predicted last month.
Sabrina Tavernise, Luke Broadwater and Glenn Thrush contributed to the coverage.
Comments are closed.