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Status: 02/13/2021 1:18 am
Advocates for former US President Trump have clearly rejected the allegations in the impeachment process. He did not call for violence, the Senate said. The charge is an “act of political revenge.”
Donald Trump’s defense attorneys have once again described the impeachment process against the former US president as unfair, unconstitutional and politically motivated. The charges against Trump are an “act of political revenge,” said attorney Michael van der Veen in the US Senate.
Trump did not call for violence in his speech immediately before his followers stormed the Capitol on January 6. The Democrats’ claim that the Republican incited the protesters was an “absurd and monstrous lie,” van der Veen said at the beginning of the defense.
Lawyer does not admit Trump’s electoral defeat
Trump had incited his supporters at a January 6 rally that they had stolen his election victory. Among other things, he said: “If you don’t fight like the devil, you will have no more land.”
The statements criticized in Trump’s speech were “ordinary political statements” protected by the right to freedom of expression, the lawyer said. As president, Trump has always advocated “law and order.”
When asked, van der Veen also refused to admit that the former US president was defeated. Earlier, Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders asked if defense attorneys believed Trump had won the election. “My assessment is irrelevant in this process,” van der Veen said. Then he added: “In my opinion, it is irrelevant to the subject that this institution is dealing with.”
Voting possible on weekends
Defense attorney van der Veen said the process was unconstitutional because Trump had already left office. Democrats just want to “try to disqualify their political opponents.” A majority of the Senate decided Tuesday that the procedure initiated by the House of Representatives during Trump’s term was constitutional.
Trump’s lawyers now have two days to respond to arguments presented by House attorneys on Wednesday and Thursday. However, according to US media reports, they do not want to exhaust the 16 hours available. This could lead to a final vote on Trump’s impeachment in the Senate over the weekend.
Former US President Trump during his controversial speech on January 6.
Bild: AP
The signs point to absolution
So far it seems like an acquittal for Trump. To be convicted, 17 Republicans would have to join 50 Democrats in the Senate. In the vote on constitutionality, however, only six Republican senators voted with the Democrats. They accuse Trump of “inciting a riot” and want to block him from future political office at the federal level.
