But at various points in the 75-page memorandum of the trial, Trump’s own lawyers have distorted or omitted critical facts.
The lawyers – Bruce L. Castor, Jr., David Schoen and Michael T. van der Veen – made a number of constitutional arguments in the memo. Most notably, they argued that the Constitution does not allow the Senate to hold an impeachment trial on a former president. They also argued that Trump’s impeachment for “political speech” they say is protected by the First Amendment is unconstitutional.
Many legal experts say that both arguments are wrong. In this article, however, we will set aside the constitutional debate. Our focus is the part of the memorandum where lawyers tried to defend Trump’s real conduct.
Trump’s lawyers wrote that out of more than 10,000 words in Trump’s speech at The Ellipse park near the White House on the day of the insurrection, “Mr. Trump used the word ‘fight’ a little more than a handful of times and each time in the figurative sense that it has long been accepted in public discourse by urging people to stand up and use their voices to be heard on matters important to them; it was not and could not be interpreted to encourage acts of violence. “
Facts first: Trump used the word “fight” or its variants 20 times in his speech.
There is no firm definition of “handful”, so we cannot definitively declare the statement false, but 20 times is a lot. And while we leave it to others to determine how literal or figurative Trump was, some of the 20 references were quite punctual.
Toward the end of the speech, Trump said, “And we fight. We fight like hell. And if you don’t fight like hell, you won’t have a country anymore.”
At the beginning of the speech, he said: “Republicans are constantly fighting like a boxer with their hands tied behind their backs. It’s like a boxer. And we want to be so nice. We want to be very respectful of everyone, including the bad people. And we’re going to have to fight a lot more. And Mike Pence will have to pass us, and if he doesn’t, it will be a – a sad day for our country, because you have sworn to defend our Constitution. “
Trump was talking about his desire that Pence prevent the certification of Joe Biden’s electoral votes – which Pence never had the power to do.
The insurrection timeline
Trump’s lawyers said that “a simple schedule of events conclusively demonstrates that the disturbances were not inspired by the president’s speech at Ellipse.” Lawyers quoted an article that noted that the park is 2.5 km from the Capitol and that the barriers around the Capitol were breached before Trump even finished speaking.
Facts first: Since the rioters were still on the Capitol more than three hours after Trump concluded his speech, people more than enough time to watch Trump’s speech at the park and then invade the Capitol; the FBI claims that some participants did this walk, including one that allegedly went from Trump’s speech to his hotel and then to the Capitol. It is true that the timeline shows that someone who watched the entire speech in the park could not have been one of the first people to violate the Capitol grounds, but this is a more restricted statement than what Trump’s lawyers are making. .
And all of this ignores the fact that rebels near the Capitol could have heard Trump’s speech on their phones or could have been inspired by Trump’s earlier rhetoric.
Who violated the Capitol and why
Trump’s lawyers argued, “The real truth is that the people who criminally violated the Capitol did so of their own free will and for their own reasons, and are being prosecuted.”
The lawyers created a link in a footnote to an article on The Gateway Pundit, a right-wing website known for promoting false conspiracy theories that had its Twitter account banned this weekend. The article began by claiming that “anti-Trump groups mainly perpetrated [the] US Capitol insurrection on January 6. “The lawyers’ footnote said of the rebels:” Some anti-Trump, some anti-government. ”
Facts first: This is inaccurate by default. Countless participants in the insurrection are accused in court documents of having told the FBI his actions were motivated by his support for Trump – and some even said they felt they had been instructed directly by Trump to act. The list of people accused of the insurrection includes both pro-Trump alleged members of right-wing extremist groups and Trump supporters not affiliated with formal groups.
While the ideology of some alleged participants may be difficult to identify, there is no basis for the suggestion that the insurrection was perpetrated mainly by Trump’s opponents.
Trump video during the insurrection
Trump’s lawyers noted that during the insurrection, Trump “told the troublemakers to go home”. In a footnote on the same page, lawyers elaborated that “on hearing about reports of violence”, Trump tweeted a video “urging people to ‘go home’ and in ‘peace'”.
Facts first: These statements omit the key context. The same video in which Trump urged rowdies to “go home in peace”, he continued to lie that the election was “stolen from us” and that it was a “fraudulent election”. (And he told the protesters that “we love you” and that “you are very special”.) Furthermore, Trump didn’t tweet the video until 4:17 PM East, on two hours after the demonstrators forced their way to the Capitol and more than three hours after the barricades outside the building were breached for the first time. Besides that, CNN and other media reported that Trump had to be pressured by allies to launch the video.
And in a tweet almost two hours after the video, which was quickly deleted by Twitter, Trump seemed to offer a justification for the violence while repeating his lie about the election result: “These are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide the electoral victory is so unceremoniously and cruelly withdrawn from great patriots who have been treated badly and unfairly for so long. Go home with love and in peace. Remember this day forever! ”
Trump’s reaction to violence
Trump’s lawyers rejected media reports of the former president’s reaction to the turmoil. “There is no legitimate proof, nor can there be, that President Trump was ‘delighted’ with the events on Capitol Hill. He, like the rest of the country, was horrified by the violence, ”they wrote.
Facts first: This is disputed. Several media outlets reported in January that Trump was not appalled by the uproar while watching it unfold on television.
CNN reported: “White House officials were visibly shaken by Trump’s response to the Capitol crowd. The president was on the verge of enthusiasm for the protests and did not want to condemn them, several people said.” The New York Times reported: “While supporters stormed the Capitol on Wednesday, Trump was initially satisfied, officials said, and disregarded aides who pleaded with him to intercede.” And The Washington Post reported: “While not necessarily enjoying himself, he was ‘perplexed’ by the show because he thought his supporters were literally fighting for it, according to a close adviser. But, that person said, he was discouraged he considered the ‘low-class’ spectacle of people in ragged suits searching the Capitol. ”
Trump backstage actions
Trump’s lawyers said of the former president, “He and the White House took immediate steps to coordinate with the authorities to supply everything necessary to neutralize the rioters.”
Facts first: This is also contested. Trump’s lawyers did not say what these “immediate steps” were, so this statement is too vague for us to definitively verify the facts, but it is important to note that Trump initially resisted implanting the National Guard. Was Pennies who took the lead in deploying the Guard and spoke with the President of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, and then-acting Defense Secretary, Christopher Miller.
