Washington House Democrats close their arguments for condemning former President Donald Trump during his impeachment trial in the Senate on Thursday, a day after presenting a dramatic video timeline that sheds new light on the scale of the January 6 attack on the Capitol.
Senior assistants to the impeachment team said Thursday’s arguments would be about the aftermath of the attack, including the role of Mr Trump. They also plan to investigate the damage caused by the riots, both physical and otherwise, the president’s lack of remorse and the legal issues pertaining to this case.
“We as the team and the managers, we remain convinced that that evidence has the power to change your mind and indeed we think we saw even a little bit more movement yesterday,” said one assistant. “At the end of the day, I think many of the questions asked by the senators who spoke to the press last night will have been thoroughly answered and their duty to condemn will be clear.”
On Wednesday, impeachment managers spent hours building up the case that Trump was responsible for inciting the mob that attacked the Capitol, arguing that the attack was the violent culmination of months-long attempts by the former president to preserve the integrity of the election. to undermine.
The managers revealed previously unseen security footage from the halls of Congress driving home how close the rioters got to lawmakers, staff and Vice President Mike Pence, who had opposed Mr. Trump’s pleas for electoral counting. to hinder voices. Senators sat in silence as the managers presented the carefully crafted timeline, with many saying they were shocked after reliving the violent episode.
“I know what I felt in the Senate Chamber when I could hear those voices. I knew what it meant to run down this hallway with my colleagues,” said Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski. “I wasn’t quite aware of everything else that was going on in the building. So when you see all the pieces coming together, just the total realization of it, the sheer magnitude of this, this threat, not just to us as humans, as lawmakers, but the threat to the institution and to what Congress represents is troubling. ”
The lawsuit will reconvene on Thursday at noon, giving Democratic impeachment managers eight hours to finalize their case before Mr. Trump’s legal team begins its defense on Friday.