If Senate Doesn’t Condemn Trump, ‘He Can Do This Again’, Democrats Warn

Members of the National Guard walk the grounds of the United States Capitol on the third day of President Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial in Washington, United States, on February 11, 2021. REUTERS / Kevin Lamarque

WASHINGTON – Democratic prosecutors who argue that Donald Trump incited a deadly insurrection by encouraging his supporters to march on the US Capitol warned the Senate Thursday that if he fails to convict the former president, “he can do it again.”

The first three days of Trump’s impeachment trial focused on his fierce words to supporters in the weeks leading up to the Jan.6 attack, when he falsely claimed that his election loss to Democrat Joe Biden was the result of fraud and that the crowd needed to “fight” and “stop the robbery.”

It seems highly unlikely that Democrats will win a conviction and bar Trump from holding public office again, given that only six Republicans voted with Democrats in the 100-seat chamber to proceed with the trial.

“If he comes back in office and it happens again, we will have no one to blame but ourselves,” Chief Impeachment Manager Rep. Jamie Raskin told the Senate Thursday at the conclusion of the prosecution’s arguments.

Also Democratic Representative Ted Lieu told senators that he is concerned about what would happen if Trump ran in 2024 and lost.

“I am not afraid that Donald Trump will run again in four years. I’m afraid he will run again and lose, because he can do this again, ”said Lieu.

Democratic prosecutors provided example after example of Trump’s actions before the uproar to illustrate what he meant when he told his supporters to go to Capitol Hill and “fight like hell” when Congress met to certify Biden’s election victory.

“Jan. 6 was not an unexpected radical break from his peaceful and law-abiding disposition.… This was his essential modus operandi,” Raskin said, using shorthand for modus operandi.

“He knew that, encouraged by his tweets, his lies and his promise of a ‘wild’ time in Washington to ensure his grip on power, his most extreme followers would show up early, ready to strike, ready to engage in violence, ready to ‘ fight like hell ‘for your hero, ”he said.

The Democratic-led House accused Trump on January 13 of inciting an insurrection. His term ended on January 20.

It would take a two-thirds majority in the Senate to convict, meaning that at least 17 Republican senators would have to challenge Trump, who remains popular with most Republican voters and has shown interest in running again for president in 2024. .

Dozens of former Republican officials who said they were frustrated by their party’s unwillingness to stand up to Trump are in talks to form a center-right separatist party, four people involved in the discussions told Reuters.

Must be accountable

All nine House impeachment managers have argued that Trump planted the seeds of unrest by encouraging violence and making false claims about widespread voter fraud long before Jan.6, and must be held accountable for what happened.

FILE PHOTO: US President Donald Trump gestures while speaking during a rally to challenge the certification of the 2020 US Presidential election results by the US Congress, in Washington, United States, on January 6, 2021. REUTERS / Jim Bourg / File Photo

Five people, including a police officer, were killed in the riots. Two more police officers involved in the response died by suicide in the days after.

Although the prosecutors’ arguments were generally praised by both parties, some Republican senators said they were still unconvinced.

During a lull in proceedings Thursday, Senator James Lankford told reporters that managers were unable to connect the dots between Trump and the rioters.

Senator James Inhofe said: “It’s just redundant, the same over and over again. … For me, the more you listen to him, the less credibility there is in him. “

Trump’s adviser Jason Miller said on Twitter that the defense would wrap up his case on Friday, and some Republican senators said they expected the process to end on Saturday.

In the face of Trump’s defense, House managers disagreed that his inflammatory language is protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which protects free speech.

“The First Amendment does not create any superpower immunity from impeachment for a president who attacks the Constitution by word of mouth and in deed while rejecting the outcome of an election,” Raskin said.

House managers spent much of Wednesday recounting the events that led to the riot and highlighting the threat to lawmakers and Trump’s vice president Mike Pence, including scorching security footage.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Biden viewed some of the videos Thursday morning, adding: “Anyone who has seen that video… found it heartbreaking and deeply disturbing. This is certainly how the president felt. “

In a separate court case, federal prosecutors said Thursday that members of the “Oath Keepers” anti-government militia devised elaborate plans to storm the Capitol on January 6 and planned to have an armed “rapid reaction force” outside of the city. city, ready to “fight hand to hand” if Trump orders it.

Trump is the first US president to be charged twice and the first to face trial after leaving office. His first impeachment trial, stemming from his efforts to pressure Ukraine to investigate Biden, ended in an acquittal a year ago in what was then a Republican-controlled Senate.

On Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer left open the possibility that Congress would seek a different way to punish Trump if the Senate acquits him. That includes the ability to invoke the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which gives Congress the power to prohibit public officials from holding office if they participate in an insurrection or rebellion.

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