Tag: Trump insurrection

Why it matters that some GOP senators huddled with Trump’s lawyers

Graham, Lee, and Cruz aren’t just ignoring their impeachment oath, they’re flaunting their indifference to their responsibilities.

Donald Trump’s Senate impeachment proceedings is only a “trial” in a colloquial sense. Many Americans have some sense of how a case is tried in court, and this isn’t it.

Sen. Pat Leahy (D-Vt.), for example, is overseeing the proceedings, while also serving as a “juror.” He’s also, incidentally, a witness to the crime. In fact, in this case, each of the jurors are witnesses, which in a normal trial would never be permissible.

And because the usual rules and procedures of an American trial do not apply to the Senate’s impeachment proceedings, it stands to reason that there will be dramatic differences in how senators approach their responsibilities. But by any sensible measure, it’s tough to defend tactics like these. Continue reading.

Chuck Todd accuses Trump’s defense team of ignoring ‘the real elephants in the room’ in the trial

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During Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial, his defense team has insisted that the former president never called for violence during his speech at the “Save America Rally” in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 6 — that he never encouraged anything other than peaceful protest. But when NBC News’ Chuck Todd discussed the trial with his colleague, Lester Holt, on Friday, he stressed that such claims ignore the totality of what Trump said the day a mob violently attacked the U.S. Capitol Building.

Todd told Holt, “They are trying to isolate the Jan. 6 speech. They are trying to ignore everything else about it. They’re trying to ignore all the tweets around it.”

Another talking point from Trump’s defenders has been that Democrats have also used heated rhetoric at times. And Todd dismissed that argument as disingenuous “whataboutism.” Continue reading.

Trump attorneys ridiculed for mind-numbing supercut video of Democrats saying ‘fight’

Former president Donald Trump’s attorney David Schoen showed a brain-pummeling supercut video of various Democrats saying the word “fight,” and viewers begged for mercy.

The nearly 10-minute video strung together brief snippets of President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and other Democrats using the word “fight” as a defense of Trump urging his Republican lawmakers and his supporters to challenge his election loss ahead of the deadly insurrection.

Viewers struggled to see the point — or to make it through the entire video without screaming. Continue reading.

Fox News analyst lays into Trump for how badly he betrayed the Constitution

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Fox News contributor Andrew McCarthy did not mince words when he lambasted former President Donald Trump’s “indelibly stained” presidency due to the poor behavior he exhibited during the final days of his time in office. 

When McCarthy appeared for a podcast interview with Mediaite’s Aidan McLaughlin, he discussed a number of Trump’s controversies including his election fraud claims and the Capitol insurrection that opened the door for his second impeachment trial. McCarty, also a columnist at the National Review, admitted that he could not of any American president that behaved as poorly as Trump has.

“I can’t think of any other president, if you (don’t) just take January 6 by itself, but this whole continuum from November 3rd up until he left office, that’s as bad as anything I’m aware of in American history from an American president,” said McCarthy. Continue reading.

Even with acquittal, GOP sees trial ending Trump’s shot at future office

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Senate Republicans, including those who do not plan to vote to convict former President Trump, say this week’s impeachment trial has effectively ended any chance of him becoming the GOP presidential nominee in 2024.

From the viewpoint of some Republican senators, the compelling case presented by House prosecutors carries a silver lining: It means they likely won’t have to worry about Trump running for president again in three years, while at the same time eroding his influence in party politics more generally.

Several Republican senators became irate watching videos of the violence and chaos inside the Capitol on Jan. 6, including footage of police officers being called “pigs” and “traitors” and one officer screaming as he was crushed by rioters battering a police line. Continue reading.

‘Your Republican Party everybody’: GOP senators slammed after violating oaths by meeting with Trump lawyers

Provoking criticism that ranged from “jury tampering” and “another violation of their oath” to “such bullsh*t,” multiple Republican senators met with Donald Trump’s attorneys late Thursday—the third day of the former president impeachment trial over his incitement of the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

“We were discussing their legal strategy and sharing our thoughts,” said Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), according to CNN correspondent Manu Raju, who reported that Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) also participated in the meeting. 

When asked by Raju whether it was appropriate to meet with the senators, who are jurors, Trump lawyer David Schoen said: “I think that’s the practice of impeachment. There’s nothing about this thing that has any semblance of due process whatsoever.” Continue reading.

Psychoanalyst Justin Frank: Capitol riot was a source of incredible pleasure’ for Trump

On Thursday, House impeachment managers finished their presentation of the case against Donald Trump, arguing that he should be convicted for the crime of inciting an insurrectionist attack against the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

The video, photographic and other documentary evidence of Trump’s responsibility for the attack on the Capitol is overwhelming. He has no reasonable defense for his crimes, and his attorneys have not offered one. Instead they will lie, obfuscate, change the topic and present Trump and his followers as being the “real victims” of a dark plot centered on “political correctness” and denying “free speech” to “conservatives” (read: white, Christian and male). 

House impeachment manager Joe Neguse explained the importance of convicting Donald Trump: “We humbly, humbly, ask you to convict President Trump for the crime for which he is overwhelmingly guilty. Because if you don’t, if we pretend this didn’t happen, or worse, if we let it go unanswered, who’s to say it won’t happen again?” Continue reading.

If Convicting Trump Is Out of Reach, Managers Seek a Verdict From the Public and History

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The House Democrats prosecuting former President Donald J. Trump may not win the Senate trial, but they are using it to make the searing images of havoc the inexpungible legacy of his presidency.

As a day of violence and mayhem at the Capitol slid into evening last month, with blood shed, glass shattered and democracy besieged, President Donald J. Trump posted a message on Twitter that seemed to celebrate the moment. “Remember this day forever!” he urged.

The House Democrats prosecuting him at his Senate impeachment trial barely a month later hope to make sure everyone does.

With conviction in a polarized Senate seemingly out of reach, the House managers, as the prosecutors are known, are aiming their arguments at two other audiences beyond the chamber: the American people whose decision to deny Mr. Trump a second term was put at risk and the historians who will one day render their own judgments about the former president and his time in power. Continue reading.

Opinion: If Republican senators acquit Trump, they will own the violence that follows

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House impeachment managers closed their prosecution Thursday with a warning to Republican senators: If they vote to acquit former president Donald Trump, the blood will be on their hands when he unleashes political carnage again.

“When” is the proper word, for, given Trump’s long pattern of inciting violent threats and actions, the next brutal outburst is not a question of “if.”

“If we don’t draw the line here, what’s next?” Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the lead impeachment manager, asked the senators. “Is there any political leader in this room who believes that, if he is ever allowed by the Senate to get back into the Oval Office, Donald Trump would stop inciting violence to get his way? … If he gets back into office and it happens again, we will have no one to blame but ourselves.” Continue reading.

New report reveals 2 aides for Texas AG Paxton met with Trump officials just before the Capitol riots

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It’s no secret that GOP Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s traveled to Washington, D.C., the week of the U.S. Capitol riots as he appeared next to former President Donald Trump while he was onstage at the “Save America” rally. But now, his top aides’ travel to Washington is also coming to light and questions are looming about the purpose of their trip that same week. 

According to KXAN, Paxton’s aides—First Assistant Attorney General Brent Webster and Communications Deputy Director Kimberly Hubbard—were the two who traveled to the nation’s capital to meet with Trump’s senior White House officials.

Records from Paxton’s office, obtained by KXAN, show details about Hubbard’s reimbursed travel expenses on taxpayers’ dime. Documentation shows that Hubbard “traveled to Washington on Jan. 5 and left Jan. 7, too. She stayed at the Renaissance Hotel in downtown Washington the first night and the Alexandrian Hotel in Alexandria, Virginia, the second night. Hubbard only sought reimbursement for personal car travel in Virginia, meals and her hotel stays, for a total of just over $700.” Continue reading.