House impeachment managers plan to use the social media video of the January 6 attack on the United States Capitol in their presentation during the ex-President Trump Senate trial to help demonstrate why they believe the ex-president should be convicted, according to a source familiar with the planning of the trial.
Trump’s response to the impeachment article is expected on Tuesday. The House’s pre-trial instructions are also due on Tuesday, in which it will expose many of its arguments against Trump.
Trump’s pre-trial instructions will be presented on February 8. The trial is scheduled to begin on February 9.
The House voted to impeach Trump on January 13 on charges of “inciting insurrection”. A week earlier, Trump had encouraged his supporters to “fight like hell” to prevent Congress from counting votes from the Electoral College, the final step in asserting President Biden’s victory. A crowd of his supporters invaded the United States Capitol, causing lawmakers to flee and delaying the count by almost six hours. Five people died in the confusion.
More than 170 people were indicted in connection with the riot, some of which were identified and charged as a result of posts they made on various social media platforms. A Texas real estate agent, for example, posted on Twitter in the midst of the attack, “we just invaded the capital (sic). It was one of the best days of my life”.
Federal officials have been analyzing tips from people on these social media posts.
With Trump’s Senate trial set to begin in just over a week, the former president announced Sunday night two new lawyers joined their legal team: David Schoen, who represented Mr. Trump’s associate, Roger Stone, will be the lead attorney and David Castor, a former public prosecutor, also joined.
The announcement came less than 24 hours after Trump adviser Jason Miller confirmed that South Carolina attorney Butch Bowers, who was supposed to be Trump’s chief attorney, and Deborah Barbier, were no longer on his team. A Trump adviser said the match was mutual.