Washington – House Democrats leading the charge of former President Donald Trump will present their case for conviction on the second day of his impeachment trial, showing what aides say is new video evidence showing the extent of the attack on the Capitol on 6 January.
The Senate met for the opening day of the trial on Tuesday, with arguments from House administrators and Trump’s legal team about the constitutionality of trying a former president in the upper house. Senators voted 56-44 to determine that the Senate has jurisdiction in the case, with six Republicans joining all 50 Democrats.
Led by Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Maryland Democrat, impeachment administrators in the House plan to use “extraordinary” images from Capitol security cameras that were not released to illustrate the extent of the January 6 attack and to defend Trump’s conviction, senior advisers on the impeachment team said on Wednesday.
“It will provide new insight into the extreme violence that everyone has endured, the risk and the threat that it could have led to more violence for many, except for the courageous actions of the officers and it really shows the extent of what Donald Trump has unleashed on our Capitol” said an aide.
Mr. Trump was impeached by the House while he was still in office on a charge of inciting insurrection for his conduct around the January 6 attack on the Capitol, in which a pro-Trump crowd stormed the halls of Congress and temporarily suspended the counting of electoral votes. The then president had addressed the crowd of supporters earlier in the day, urging them to “fight like hell”.
During Tuesday’s session, Democrats established a timeline of events that led to the attack on the Capitol, showing senators a dramatic video montage of violent mobs invading the Capitol, intertwined with Trump’s comments and tweets. Raskin asked senators to consider the constitutional trial and vote for the conviction, arguing that if Trump’s conduct “is not an impeachable offense, then there is no such thing”.
Trump’s legal team struggled to make a compelling case against the trial, with a lawyer offering a one-hour winding monologue that avoided the central issues at hand. The lawyers were reprimanded by Republican senators after the discussions were concluded, and the former president himself was irritated by his team’s performance.
Wednesday’s trial session will feature Raskin and the House’s impeachment managers presenting their case for conviction. Starting at noon, they will have eight hours to argue and can continue for another eight hours on Thursday, if necessary. Following his arguments, the Trump team will have the same time to present its side.