Written by Eileen Sullivan
House impeachment managers concluded their case against former President Donald Trump on Thursday, warning senators that failing to vote to convict would set a dangerous standard for the country in the future. The trial will resume on Friday when Trump’s defense team begins making its case that the president did not incite the attack on Capitol Hill.
Here are some conclusions from the third day of testing.
The angry and violent mob arrived in Washington at the invitation of Trump, the prosecution concludes.
Impeachment managers used their final day of arguments to try to convince senators that Trump invited the rioters to Washington on January 6. They argued that the “insurgents” who attacked the Capitol were not acting on their own, as their defense attorneys have said. and they will probably affirm when they present their case.
Managers again used video footage of Trump and his supporters to make their points, interspersed with clips of the chaos to remind senators of how they felt when the Capitol was under attack. They claimed that such violence would not have happened without Trump.
An impeachment manager, Rep. Diana DeGette from Colorado, spoke about her experience during the attack and how she and others were running to safety, she saw a SWAT team with guns pointing at the rioters on the floor. DeGette said she wondered, “Who sent them there?”
She shared comments from rioters, including from a Texas real estate agent named Jennifer L. Ryan. “I thought I was following my president,” Ryan said. “I thought I was following what we were called to do. He asked us to travel there, he asked us to be there, so I was doing what he asked us to do. “
In another clip, Ryan said: “President Trump requested that we be in DC on the 6th, so this was our way to proceed and stop the robbery.”
After Joe Biden denounced the attack on television and called on Trump to speak on national television and “demand an end to this siege,” a troublemaker asked: “Don’t you realize that President Trump called us? to besiege the place? “
Even after the attack, managers say Trump showed a “lack of remorse.”
Impeachment managers stressed that despite five deaths and dozens of injuries among law enforcement officers alone, including broken ribs and ruptured spinal discs, Trump never apologized for what happened on January 6.
“President Trump’s lack of remorse and his refusal to take responsibility during the attack shows his state of mind,” said Rep. Ted Lieu of California, one of the managers. “It shows that he intended for the events of January 6 to happen. And when he did, he reveled in it. “
Emphasizing that Trump’s behavior, peddling false conspiracy theories and fraudulent claims, praising violence, distorting the facts to fit his agenda, was not limited to the presidential campaign and election, managers showed video clips of some of the most shocking and divisive moments of his presidency. . Among them was the deadly white nationalist protest in Charlottesville, Virginia, after which Trump encouraged the white supremacy movement as no president had in generations.
Jamie Raskin, the top impeachment manager, asked senators: “Is there any political leader in this room who believes that if the Senate ever lets him go back to the Oval Office, Donald Trump would stop inciting violence to get out? with yours? “
Vice President Mike Pence’s presence looms as a traitor, victim, and hero.
Throughout the impeachment, House managers praised former Vice President Mike Pence for standing up to Trump and refusing to carry out his will to reject Electoral College votes to grant him reelection.
“Vice President Pence showed us what it means to be an American,” Lieu said Wednesday. What does it mean to show courage. He put his country, his oath, his values and his morals above the will of a man. “
It was unusual praise to hear from Democrats after four years of Pence accompanying his burning boss, which critics have said he only allowed Trump.
Administrators emphasized that the rioters wanted to assassinate Pence, the country’s second in command, in what appeared to be a call for Republican senators to respect the sacred chain of command.
“During the course of the attack, the Vice President never left the Capitol, remained locked up with his family, with his family, inside the building,” said Representative Stacey E. Plaskett, manager and delegate of the Virgin Islands House of Representatives without right to vote. . “Remember that, as you think about these images and sounds of the attack. The vice president, our second in command, was always at the center of everything. Vice President Pence was threatened with death by the president’s supporters because he rejected President Trump’s demand that he revoke the elections. “
Pence, a former congressman and governor of Indiana, has been largely out of sight since leaving office. He was seen on vacation with his wife in the Virgin Islands in late January.
Earlier this month, Pence announced that he had joined the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.
Trump still appears to have enough votes to be acquitted.
House impeachment managers closed three days of emotional images of the attack. They showed senators how close they were to the violent mob of Trump supporters as they ducked and ran to safety that day. At times, the videos and recordings seemed to strike a chord with the Republicans in the room. Some even praised the work of the House administrators. But it was not enough to change my mind.
On Thursday, before managers concluded their case, Senator John Boozman, R-Arkansas, told reporters that he planned to vote to acquit Trump. He predicted that the other 43 Republicans who had voted with him to find that trying a former president was unconstitutional would also vote in favor of acquittal.
To secure a conviction, Senate Democrats would need 17 of their Republican peers to join them, and that has never been an expected result.
“Impeachment is dead upon arrival,” Senator Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, predicted last month.
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She is a freelance blogger, writer, and speaker, and writes for various entertainment magazines.