Tag: Trump second impeachment trial

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.

Democrats argue Trump will incite violence again

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House Democrats pressing the Senate to convict former President Trump in his impeachment trial argued Thursday that an acquittal would raise the potential for him to incite violence again in the future.

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the lead impeachment manager, argued that Trump’s pattern of incitement, which Democrats say led a mob to attack the Capitol on Jan. 6, would resume if he were to become president again.

“My dear colleagues, 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?” Raskin asked. “Would you bet the lives of more police officers on that? Would you bet the safety of your family on that? Would you bet the future of your democracy on that?” Continue reading.

Trump attorneys falsely claim he was denied ‘due process’

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“Our Constitution and any basic sense of fairness require that every legal process with significant consequences for a person’s life, including impeachment, requires due process under the law, which includes fact-finding and the establishment of a legitimate evidentiary record with an appropriate foundation.”

— David I. Schoen, attorney for former president Donald Trump, in an argument to the Senate about Trump’s second impeachment, Feb. 12, 2021

“The due process clause applies to this impeachment hearing, and it’s been severely and extremely violated.”

— Trump attorney Michael van der Veen, responding to senators’ questions at Trump’s impeachment trial, Feb. 12, 2021

This falsehood is rich with hypocrisy.

The day before these remarks, Trump’s legal team was meeting with Republican senators to strategize on Trump’s defense. Forget about due process. Any lawyer who tried this with jurors in court would be sanctioned or disbarred.

Luckily for Trump, it was not a judicial proceeding. It was political. The House and Senate each set their own rules on impeachment. Each chamber votes. There’s no appeal. The end. Continue reading.

McConnell unloads on Trump: ‘Morally responsible’ for provoking mob

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Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Saturday unleashed blistering criticism of former President Trump, blaming him for sparking the attack on the Capitol while also explaining why he didn’t vote for a conviction.

McConnell also suggested that Trump could face criminal prosecution for his actions.

“There’s no question, none, that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day. No question about it. The people that stormed this building believed they were acting on the wishes and instructions of their president,” McConnell said. Continue reading.

Romney on impeachment vote to convict: ‘Trump incited the insurrection’

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Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) on Saturday explained why he voted to convict former President Trump on the charge that he incited the mob that attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. 

Romney issued a statement in the early evening on Saturday in which he explicitly declared that Trump “incited the insurrection” that led to several deaths, including that of a Capitol Police Officer. 

“President Trump incited the insurrection against Congress by using the power of his office to summon his supporters to Washington on January 6th and urging them to march on the Capitol during the counting of electoral votes. He did this despite the obvious and well known threats of violence that day,” Romney said. Continue reading.

‘Shameful’: Fox News cuts away from Senate trial as shocking footage emerges

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As other networks airing Donald Trump’s Senate impeachment trial on Wednesday showed chilling new video footage of the deadly January 6 mob attack on the U.S. Capitol incited by the former president, Fox Newsopted to cut away to cover different stories. 

Even the fiercely pro-Trump One America Network aired Trump’s trial. Fox, however, decided to run segments on stories including Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban’s decision to forego the national anthem at his NBA team’s home games, and the viral video of a Texas attorney’s “I’m not a cat” Zoom courtroom filter fail.

Fox‘s decision to cut away from the trial was lambasted as “f*cking shameful.” Continue reading.

The Memo: New riot footage stuns Trump trial

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Shocking new footage of the Jan. 6 insurrection was presented in the Senate chamber Wednesday, dismantling the idea that the second impeachment trial of former President Trump would produce no fresh information.

The presentation packed an enormous emotional punch. Its impact was visceral, even as most Americans need no reminder of a day that was a low point in the nation’s history.

Clips shown by Democratic impeachment managers revealed Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) narrowly escaping the mob and Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) breaking into a run in the Capitol’s halls after apparently being urged to change direction by a police officer.

The officer in question was Eugene Goodman of the Capitol Police, who has already won praise for diverting the mob of Trump supporters away from the Senate chamber at considerable risk to himself. Continue reading.

New security video shows harrowing details of Capitol attack

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The House Democrats prosecuting former President Trump‘s impeachment case unveiled harrowing new video footage on Wednesday, lending a new glimpse of just how close the rioters came to former Vice President Mike Pence and U.S. senators as they breached the Capitol on Jan. 6.

The new footage, released on the second day of Trump’s Senate trial, takes advantage of Capitol security cameras positioned around the complex, depicting both the violent intentions of the mob and the heroics of several Capitol Police officers, including Eugene Goodman, who diverted the mob away from senators on the chamber floor. 

“This is now effectively a riot.”

The videos are meant to drive home the Democrats’ argument that the former president purposefully stirred up his supporters with claims of a stolen election and then encouraged them to march on the Capitol to block the vote certifying the victory of his opponent, President Biden.  Continue reading.

A running tally of Trump’s misleading impeachment defense

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“Contrast the President’s repeated condemnations of violence with the rhetoric from his opponents.”

— Former president Donald Trump’s defense lawyer Michael T. van der Veen, introducing an edited video montage featuring several Democratic lawmakers out of context, Feb. 12

For the past few days, House managers have taken great pains to connect the dots between Trump’s rhetoric leading up and after the deadly Jan. 6 attack at the Capitol. Lawmakers came armed with hours of source video, a barrage of presidential tweets and never-before-seen surveillance video of the attack. Their case to prove Trump indeed incited the violence of Jan. 6 has hinged on the concept that words, and more importantly context, matter.

Trump’s defense team has responded by arguing the House managers took Trump’s remarks out of context — and offered its own series of clips. But these often were taken out of context. Continue reading.