Most of the senators now serving as jurors for former President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial witnessed what occurred on Jan. 6: Trump supporters stormed the Capitol, attempting to cease them from certifying the election, main to 5 deaths and quite a few threats.
But for these Republican lawmakers attempting to brush all the matter underneath the rug, House Democratic impeachment managers spent hours on Wednesday painstakingly and emotionally laying out precisely what occurred, and the way Trump was responsible.
“That mob was summoned, assembled, and incited by the former president of the United States, Donald Trump,” stated Rep. Joe Neguse (D-Colo.), one of many managers. “And he did that because he wanted to stop the transfer of power so that he could retain power, even though he had lost the election.”
The most alarming portion of the presentation was when impeachment managers offered never-before-seen footage from the day of the assault that confirmed the mob breaching the Capitol, brandishing issues like a baseball bat and a Confederate flag, and coming alarmingly near Vice President Mike Pence, lawmakers and employees.
Pence, who was underneath assault from Trump for refusing to object to the election outcomes, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) have been particularly focused, impeachment supervisor Del. Stacey Plaskett (D-Virgin Islands) stated.
“They did it because Donald Trump sent them on this mission,” Plaskett stated after describing rioters’ efforts to search out Pelosi.
Pence was evacuated as rioters — a few of whom have been caught on video chanting “hang Mike Pence” — unfold within the constructing, and as Trump once more tweeted criticism of Pence for not serving to him throw out votes.
“The mob was looking for Vice President Pence because of his patriotism,” Plaskett stated. “Because the vice president had refused to do what the president demanded and overturn election results.”
For 4 years, Republican senators have pleaded ignorance when reporters requested for his or her reactions to Trump’s each day unfaithful or outrageous statements. They excusing Trump for racist feedback, boasting about sexual assault and bulldozing over the regulation. They acquitted him final 12 months for pressuring the Ukrainian authorities to analyze a political opponent.
Trump’s second election trial is more likely to finish with an acquittal as nicely, on condition that two-thirds of the Senate is required to vote to convict him. Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) delayed Trump’s second impeachment trial till after he left workplace, after which voted — together with 43 different GOP senators — to dismiss all the matter on Tuesday, as a result of Trump is not president.
Republicans stated on Wednesday that their minds have been unlikely to be modified.
“I don’t think there’s anything that’s been said by either side that has changed any votes,” Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) instructed HuffPost.
House Democratic impeachment managers ensured, although, that Republicans received’t be capable of plead ignorance to Trump’s statements or the violence of the day in the event that they finally vote to acquit him.
They spent Wednesday, the second day of the impeachment trial, meticulously documenting Trump’s months-long effort to sow doubt within the election.
“We’re not going to let this election be taken away from us ― that’s the only way they’re gonna win,” Trump stated at a rally in October, a clip of which was performed on the Senate ground.
“The Democrats are trying to steal the White House,” Trump stated in one other clip from January. “You cannot let them.”
On Jan. 6, Trump urged his supporters to “fight like hell” and instructed them ― falsely ― that he would be part of them on the Capitol to cease the electoral vote rely.
Previously unseen footage from Capitol safety cameras, mixed with different video and information studies, helped Democrats lay out what occurred subsequent. Plaskett performed audio of a police officer talking to a dispatcher: “They’re throwing metal poles at us,” he stated. “Multiple law enforcement injuries.”
Security footage confirmed a mob breaking in via a window. Only one police officer is seen and is shortly overwhelmed by the rioters, a lot of them carrying purple hats.
In one other video, Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman runs down a hallway to confront the mob, pausing shortly to induce Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) to show round and discover security, prompting the senator to jog away. Romney, a frequent Trump goal, would possible have been in excessive hazard had he encountered the mob.
“I look forward to thanking him,” Romney instructed reporters after seeing the footage.
According to the video, Goodman held off the gang and managed to information it away from the Senate chamber doorways. As Democrats confirmed, the rioters made it inside 100 toes of the place Pence was sheltering and even nearer to the Senate. Impeachment supervisor Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) confirmed footage of senators evacuating and famous they have been solely 58 paces forward of the insurrectionists ― a distanced he measured out himself earlier than the trial.
The rioters additionally attacked cops, as Swalwell confirmed: Video recorded on an officer’s physique digital camera captured a big crowd of rioters hitting a small group of officers with flagpoles.
In an audio clip, an officer who was shocked with a stun gun and dragged down the steps by the mob referred to as it “some of the most brutal combat I’ve ever encountered … People were yelling out: ‘We got one, we got one!’”
During Plaskett’s presentation, the chamber was useless silent. Senators sat rapt with consideration, their eyes glued to a pair of tv units enjoying footage of the assault. Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) appeared shaken as video confirmed a police officer yelling in ache whereas being crushed in a doorway by rioters. Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), his seatmate, put his hand on Lankford’s arm as if to consolation him.
“I don’t see how Donald Trump could be reelected to the presidency again,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who on Tuesday voted to proceed with the trial, instructed reporters throughout a dinner break.
But the ugly particulars are unlikely to be sufficient to persuade most Republicans to alter course. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who led the trouble to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Congress, instructed reporters that the footage proven by House managers was “horrific” and that everybody in it ought to go to jail, however that it didn’t imply Trump was responsible.
“Today’s presentation was powerful and emotional, reliving a terrorist attack on our nation’s capitol, but there was very little said about how specific conduct of the President satisfies the legal standard,” Cruz added.
Other GOP senators stated they have been hamstrung by the Constitution — regardless that a bipartisan majority of the Senate affirmed Tuesday that holding a trial of a former president is constitutional.
“We want justice. But that doesn’t mean that we can go against what we believe to be constitutionally limited authority,” Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) stated.
Meanwhile, Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) tried to equate the Jan. 6 assault — which left one Capitol Police officer useless and 140 others injured — to the protests that turned violent throughout Black Lives Matter protests final 12 months. It’s a false equivalence Republicans have been drawing because the quick aftermath of the Capitol assault, when a majority of GOP lawmakers sided with the mob and voted towards certifying the election.
“I don’t know what the other side will show from Seattle and Portland and other places, but you’re going to see similar kinds of tragedies there as well,” Blunt, who faces reelection in 2022, instructed reporters on Wednesday.
Calling all HuffPost superfans!
Sign up for membership to turn out to be a founding member and assist form HuffPost’s subsequent chapter
