WASHINGTON: House Democrats began wrapping up their impeachment case against Donald Triumph Saturday after a tumultuous morning in which they gave up a last-minute plan for witness testimony that could have significantly prolonged the trial and delayed a vote on whether the former president incited the deadly Capitol uprising.
An unexpected morning vote in favor of hearing witnesses caused confusion at the fair trial as it was about to conclude. But both sides eventually reached an agreement to instead record a statement by a Republican House lawmaker about a heated phone call on the day of the riots between Trump and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. which according to Democrats established Trump’s indifference towards violence.
Republicans are eager to end the trial with the discussion about Trump and the invasion of the Capitol behind them. Democrats also have a reason to move forward, as the Senate cannot move forward with a new president. Joe bidenthe agenda, including COVID-19 relief while the impeachment process is in session.
While a majority of Democrats were expected to vote to convict the former president, acquittal seemed likely with a two-thirds majority required for conviction and the House split 50-50 between the parties. Republican leader Mitch McConnell said he would vote to acquit Trump, according to a person familiar with his thinking. Observed closely, the opinion of the Republican leader could influence other members of his party.
The first thing discussed Saturday was whether to summon Washington State Representative Jaime Herrera Beutler, one of 10 Republicans, to vote for Trump’s impeachment in the House. She said in a statement Friday night that Trump rejected a plea from McCarthy to stop the rioters. Democrats see it as key corroborating evidence confirming the president’s “ deliberate negligence and desertion from duty as commander-in-chief. ”
The situation was resolved when Herrera Beutler’s statement about the call was read aloud in the record for the senators to consider as evidence. As part of the deal, Democrats withdrew their planned deposition and Republicans dropped their threat to call their own witnesses. The case then proceeded to closing arguments, where Democrats again alleged that Trump was responsible for the deadly siege on January 6 the day the Senate certified the election results.
“He abused his position by siding with the insurgents on almost every point, rather than with the United States Congress, rather than with the Constitution,” said the House’s top impeachment manager, Rep. Jamie Raskin from Maryland.
Raskin previously said witnesses were needed to determine Trump’s role in inciting the riot. Fifty-five senators voted in favor of his motion to consider witnesses, including Susan Collins from Maine, Lisa Murkowski from Alaska, Ben Sasse from Nebraska and Mitt Romney from Utah. Once they did, Lindsey Graham from South Carolina changed her vote to join them in voting 55-45.
Trump’s lawyers objected to calling witnesses, and attorney Michael van der Veen said that would open the door for him to call about 100 of his own. He said depositions could be done at his law office in Philadelphia, prompting laughter from senators.
“ If you vote for witnesses, ” Van der Veen said, crossing his arms and then raising them in the air to emphasize, “ don’t handcuff me by limiting the number of witnesses I can have. ”
Senators who meet as a prosecution court are restricted from dealing with other business without the consent of the Republican minority, which is unlikely. The rules require senators to be present at the proceedings and last week almost no other important points were considered while the trial was ongoing.
The result of the crude and emotional process is expected to reflect a country divided over the former president and the future of his politics. The verdict could influence not only Trump’s political future, but also that of senators who vowed to provide impartial justice as jurors.
“ What is important about this trial is that it is actually directed to some extent at Donald Trump, but it is more directed at a president that we don’t even know 20 years from now, ” said Senator Angus King, independent of Maine.
The nearly week-long trial has delivered a grim and graphic narrative of the riots and its aftermath in a way that senators, most of whom fled for their own safety that day, acknowledge they are still grappling with.
House prosecutors have argued that Trump’s rallying cry to go to the Capitol and “ fight like hell ” for his presidency just as Congress was meeting on January 6 to certify Biden’s election victory was part of an orchestrated pattern of violent rhetoric and false claims that he unleashed the mob. Five people were killed, including a rioter who was shot and a police officer.
Trump’s lawyers responded within a brief space of three hours on Friday that Trump’s words were not intended to incite violence and that the impeachment is nothing more than a “ witch hunt ” designed to prevent him from returning. to occupy the position.
Just watching graphic videos: rioters threateningly cry out to the Speaker of the House Nancy pelosi and vice president Mike pence, who was presiding over the vote count, did the senators say they began to understand how dangerously close the country was to chaos? Hundreds of rioters stormed the building and took over the Senate. Some participated in bloody hand-to-hand combat with the police.
Many Republicans representing states where the former president remains popular doubt whether Trump was fully responsible or whether impeachment is the appropriate response. Democrats seem almost united by conviction.
Trump is the only president to have been indicted twice and the first to face trial charges after leaving office.
Unlike Trump’s impeachment trial last year in the Ukraine case, a complicated charge of corruption and obstruction over his attempts to get the foreign ally to dig up dirt on then-campaign rival Biden, this one brought an emotional blow over unexpected vulnerability. US tradition of peaceful elections. The charge is unique, incitement to insurrection.
On Friday, Trump’s impeachment attorneys accused Democrats of waging a “ hate ” campaign against the former president as they concluded his defense.
His attorneys strenuously denied that Trump had incited the riots and played out-of-context video clips showing Democrats, some of them senators now serving as juries, and also telling supporters to “ fight, ” with the goal of draw a parallel with Trump’s overheated rhetoric.
“ This is ordinary political rhetoric, ” van der Veen said. “ Countless politicians have spoken of fighting for our principles. ”
Democratic senators shook their heads at what many called a false equivalency to their own fierce words. Prosecution managers say Trump was the “ inciter-in-chief ” whose months-long campaign against the election results was based on a “ big lie ” and laid the groundwork for the mutiny, a violent internal attack on the Capitol unparalleled in history.
“ Be real, ” Raskin said at one point. “ We know this is what happened. ”
Six Republican senators who joined Democrats in voting to take up the case are among the most watched for their votes.
The first signals came on Friday during questions to the lawyers.
Senators Susan Collins, R-Maine and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, asked the first question: Two centrists known for their independent streaks leaned toward a point that prosecutors had made, asking exactly when Trump learned of the violation of the Capitol and what specific actions it took to end the riots.
Democrats had argued that Trump did nothing as the crowd rioted.
Another Republican who voted to initiate the trial, Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, asked about Trump’s tweet criticizing Pence moments after another senator told the then-president that Pence had just been evacuated.
Van der Veen responded that at “ no time ” was the president informed of any danger. Cassidy later told reporters that it was not a very good answer.
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