Democratic House Impeachment Managers are set to wrap up their prosecution of former President Donald Trump on a charge of inciting insurrection against a co-equal branch of the United States Government.
The prosecutors used their first two days of opening arguments to meticulously lay the foundations of their case, using never-before-seen security videos to show how the rioters breached the US Congress, sending lawmakers and staff into a panicked frenzy as they feared for their lives.
They also endeavoured to draw a direct link between the rhetoric of Donald Trump leading up to the events that saw the Capitol precinct stormed by his supporters on January 6, riled up for months over false claims of a stolen election.
“The evidence will show you that ex-President Trump was no ‘innocent bystander’. The evidence will show that he clearly incited the January 6th insurrection. It will show that Donald Trump surrendered his role as Commander in Chief and became the ‘Inciter in Chief’ of a dangerous insurrection. And this was, as one of our colleagues put it so cogently on January 6th itself, the greatest betrayal of the presidential oath in the history of the United States,” says Impeachment Manager, Jamie Raskin.
They showed confused lawmakers and their staff running for cover as the building was being stormed.
In CCTV footage, Democratic Senate Leader, Chuck Schumer, is led up a ramp with his security detail purportedly to a safe location, only for them to make a sudden about-turn running to get away from rioters.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s staff rushed into an office that had an inner door that they barricade with furniture, hiding under desks. Moments later, rioters are outside, trying to break down the door they’re hiding behind, before moving on.
Former Vice President Mike Pence, seen being rushed to safety with his family down a stairwell as Trump supporters searched for him, denouncing him as a traitor for not blocking the certification of Joe Biden’s Presidential election win.
“The mob was looking for Vice President Pence because of his patriotism, because the vice president had refused to do what the President demand and overturn the election results. During the assault on the capital, extremists reportedly coordinated online and discussed how they could hunt down the vice president. Journalists in the Capitol reported they heard rioters say they were looking for Pence in order to execute him,” says Impeachment Manager Stacey Plaskett.
As this trial plays itself out, impeachment manager, Madeleine Dean, speaks from her personal experience.
“Someone shouted up to us ‘duck’, then ‘lie down’, then ‘ready your gas masks’. Shortly after, there was a terrifying banging on the chamber doors. I will never forget that sound. Shouts and panicked calls to my husband and to my sons,” she says.
While most Republican Senators appear unmoved by the evidence appearing increasingly likely to exonerate Trump, some of their party colleagues less so.
“The evidence that has been presented thus far is pretty damning, but I also know I have an obligation, a responsibility, and one that I accept to listen to what the defense will present. And so we’ll have an opportunity to do that in a day or so. But today, again, I think the series of videos that we’ve seen, again a reminder of what we all lived through, and unfortunately what some did not live through is greatly disturbing,” says a Republican Senator from Alaska.
Impeachment Managers are expected to conclude leading their evidence later Thursday, making way for the former President’s defence to offer a rebuttal to the charges for up to 16 hours starting Friday.
Trump Impeachment discussion with Derrick Plummer:
