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US-POLITICS-IMPEACHMENT-TRIAL
House rests Trump impeachment case, defense begins Friday
WASHINGTON, Feb 12, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – House prosecutors wrapped up their
impeachment case against Donald Trump on Thursday with an impassioned appeal
to the Senate to convict the former president of inciting the deadly January
6 attack on the US Capitol and bar him from ever holding office again.
“We humbly, humbly ask you to convict President Trump for the crime (of)
which he is overwhelmingly guilty,” said Democratic Representative Joe
Neguse, one of the nine impeachment managers from the House of
Representatives.
“Because if you don’t, if we pretend this didn’t happen — or worse, if we
let it go unanswered — who’s to say it won’t happen again?”
The House impeachment managers rested their case after two days of
arguments that included Trump’s own words and hours of graphic video from the
assault on the Capitol by Trump supporters who were seeking to halt
certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s November 3 election victory.
Trump’s lawyers will begin their defense on Friday, arguing that the former
president cannot be held personally responsible for the storming of Congress.
They have also argued that the trial itself is unconstitutional because
Trump is now out of office, although the Senate rejected that argument
earlier this week.
Jamie Raskin, the lead House manager, reminded the 100 senators who are
sitting as jurors of their oath to render “impartial justice.”
“Exercise your common sense about what just took place in our country,”
Raskin said, noting that Trump stood by doing nothing for two hours as his
supporters rampaged through Congress.
“Why did president Trump not tell his supporters to stop the attack on the
Capitol as soon as he learned about it?” Raskin asked. “As our constitutional
commander in chief, why did he do nothing to send help?”
Earlier, President Joe Biden said the video evidence against his 74-year-
old predecessor presented at the Senate trial may change “some minds.”
But despite what even some Republicans have said was a strong prosecution
case, Trump retains an unshakeable grip on the party, making conviction
highly unlikely.
It would take a two-thirds majority in the 100-member Senate, meaning 17
Republicans would need to join the chamber’s 50 Democrats.
– ‘Future of democracy’ –
The mayhem on January 6 erupted after Trump held a large rally near the
White House, insisting falsely, as he had done since losing to Biden in
November, that he was cheated.
Instructed by Trump to march on Congress, where lawmakers were at that
moment certifying Biden’s election, the crowd smashed through police lines,
then went on a rampage.
The chaos left five people dead, including one woman shot after she invaded
the Capitol and one policeman killed by the crowd.
Video footage played by impeachment managers showed the mob hunting down
opponents of Trump and senior figures, including then vice president Mike
Pence, having to flee to safety.
The defense will stress that Trump did not expressly tell his supporters to
commit violence, but Raskin pointed out that the Republican president had
been stoking anger and encouraging extremism since Election Day — and even
before.
“This pro-Trump insurrection did not spring out of thin air,” Raskin said.
“This was not the first time Donald Trump had inflamed and incited a mob.”
Raskin said it was imperative the Senate convict Trump and bar him from
running for the White House again in 2024.
“Is there any political leader in this room who believes that if he’s ever
allowed by the Senate to get back into the Oval Office Donald Trump would
stop inciting violence to get his way?” Raskin asked.
“Would you bet the future of your democracy on that?
Raskin also dismissed claims by Trump’s lawyers that the president did not
incite the riot but was just exercising his free speech rights under the
First Amendment of the Constitution.
Calling this a “smokescreen,” Raskin said that “nobody can incite a riot.
“First Amendment doesn’t protect it,” he said. “Nobody in America would be
protected by the First Amendment if they did all the things that Donald Trump
did.”
– Republicans stand by Trump –
Biden said he did not watch any of the trial live but had seen news
coverage of Wednesday’s wrenching video footage.
“My guess is some minds may be changed,” Biden told reporters in the White
House.
Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Biden, who has been trying to stop the trial
from overshadowing his push for a huge economic stimulus package and the
fight against Covid-19, was not intending to predict the outcome.
Republican Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana said video footage shown by
House managers on Wednesday was “powerful,” but “how that influences final
decisions remains to be seen.”
Other Republican senators have clearly already made up their minds and do
not intend to break with Trump, who has threatened to derail their careers.
“The ‘Not Guilty’ vote is growing after today,” tweeted Republican Senator
Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. “I think most Republicans found the
presentation by the House Managers offensive and absurd.”
Republican Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri echoed the argument of Trump’s
defense lawyers that it is unconstitutional to try a former president.
“You’re not going to get anything but condemnation from me for what
happened with those criminals at the Capitol on January 6,” Hawley told Fox
News. “But that doesn’t make the trial any more legitimate than it is, which
is totally illegitimate — no basis in the Constitution.”
BSS/AFP/GMR/0926 hrs