Defence lawyers will begin their rebuttal to the charge of incitement to insurrection leveled against former US President Donald Trump today.
House Impeachment Managers prosecuting the case in Trump’s second Senate impeachment trial, closed almost two days of arguments yesterday laying blame for the January 6th attack on the US Congress firmly at the feet of the former President.
Earlier indications are that the defence will seek to wrap up its arguments fairly quickly in order to move the trial to a conclusion sooner rather than later.
It’s been two days of trying to convince 100 Senators – 50 who caucus with Democrats and 50 Republicans – to convict a former President who House Managers have meticulously tried to prove responsible for this attack on the US Congress on January 6th – with this closing argument from Impeachment Manager, Joe Neguse.
“Senators, the evidence is clear. We showed you statements, videos, affidavits that prove President Trump incited an insurrection and insurrection, that he alone had the power to stop. And the fact that he didn’t stop it, the fact that he incited a lawless attack and abdicated his duty to defend us from it, the fact that he actually further inflamed the mob, further inflamed that mob, attacking his vice president while assassins were pursuing him (vice president Mike Pence) in this capital, more than requires conviction and disqualification. We humbly, humbly ask you to convict President Trump for the crime for which he is overwhelmingly guilty of] ,” Neguse said.
The former President’s defence now has up to 16 hours to counter these arguments; expected to be framed on four pillars:
- That the entire process is unconstitutional by virtue of Trump no longer being in office.
- That he was not afforded any due process in the House of Representatives that charged him.
- That Trump’s words and rhetoric are protected under the free speech first amendment.
- And that a conviction would merely inflame tensions in an already divided country.
Defence lawyer David Schoen elaborates: “With this trial, you will open up new and bigger wounds across the nation for a great many Americans see this process for exactly what it is: a chance by a group of partisan politicians seeking to eliminate Donald Trump from the American political scene and seeking to disenfranchise 74 million plus American voters and those who dare to share their political beliefs and vision of America.”
Trial Managers set to wrap up their prosecution case:
As the process swiftly moves closer to its crux – when Senators or jurors have to make a decision to acquit or convict.
Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal says: “If my colleagues listen to their conscience and rise to the moment they will convict. I really believe if this vote were taken in secret there would be a conviction and I think that the facts and the law have been proven so powerfully.”
Republican Senators, increasingly under pressure, will be hoping the defence provides them with some leverage after the solid showing from the prosecution.
Bill Cassidy, one of the just six Republican Senators who voted that the Senate trial was constitutional, says: “They’ve done very well. I think that’s generally conceded. I think everybody looks forward to see how the president’s defense team will do.
I think the other thing that I want to hear the defense speak to because the House managers made much of this, is that the president continued to say the election was stolen. He the president repeated it over and over. That clearly had an impact. So, when the point was made, people felt as if they had no recourse because their vote was being stolen. Well, the president built that story. So how do you defend that?”
At least 17 Senators from the former President’s own party would have to break ranks and join all Democrats and two Independents to convict – a high bar that appears highly unlikely given the entrenched nature of political views in the US.
