The architect of Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial blamed the “explosive and disturbed” tactics of the former president’s lawyers for obscuring the strength of the case presented by House Democrats.
But chief impeachment manager Jamie Raskin said the Democrats’ case seemed to convince even Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Trump’s guilt for inciting the Capitol rebellion.
Two days after Trump escaped sentencing, and while his supporters reveled in the prospect of his return to frontline politics, Raskin also told the Washington Post that it was “good and terrible to watch” McConnell’s post-verdict speech in which he criticized Trump – but said he voted for absolution because the trial was unconstitutional.
It was telling, said Raskin, that many of the 43 Republicans who voted for absolution “felt the need to hang their hat” on that argument, which was rejected by constitutional scholars and twice by the Senate itself.
Not even Trump’s lawyers tried to defend what Democrats characterized as Trump’s “big lie”: that he won an election that he actually lost by more than 7 million popular votes and 74 electoral votes.
Even Trump’s legal team, led by a personal injury lawyer and a former county prosecutor who refused to pursue the charges against Bill Cosby, was able to free Trump from the guilt of the Capitol attack, judging by speeches by Republican senators. .
Instead, Trump’s lawyers denied a copious and unambiguous record of what the former president said and did, while drawing false parallels between routine political speech and Trump’s coup attempt.
In the final vote on the impeachment trial, seven Republicans voted with Democrats to condemn Trump – a count of 53 votes – 10 below the required total.
In an indication of how the Republican Party diverged from the popular will, almost six out of 10 Americans – 58% – believe Trump should have been convicted, according to a new ABC News-Ipsos poll.
Raskin and his fellow House managers were widely praised for their work. Their case featured the extensive use of video footage of events at the Capitol on January 6, when supporters told Trump to “fight like hell” to reverse his election defeat, some lawmakers hunting lawmakers to kidnap or kill. Five people died as a direct result of the riot.
Raskin took the lead role, although his son committed suicide in December. He told the Post that “I told the managers that we were going to file a lawsuit, but we would not censor the emotion.”
There was criticism among Democrats after administrators persuaded the Senate to vote to call witnesses, but agreed to avoid that measure, which could have prolonged the trial. On Sunday, Raskin said the witnesses would not have changed their minds.
“These Republicans voted for absolution in the face of this mountain of unrefuted evidence,” he told NBC. “There is no reason for people who basically act as members of a religious cult.”
Virgin Islands delegate Stacey Plaskett, also widely praised for her role in the trial, told CNN: “We didn’t need more witnesses, we needed more senators with thorns.”
More evidence of Trump’s alleged irregularities can still be discovered. Members of Congress from both parties convened a 9/11 bipartisan commission to investigate why government officials and law enforcement officials failed to prevent the attack on the Capitol.
Trump’s lawyers Michael van der Veen, Bruce Castor and David Schoen celebrated their client’s acquittal, but faced widespread ridicule for a case based on fragile arguments about freedom of speech and dispersion over Democratic attitudes in protests against racism and racism. police brutality.
“They didn’t get a summer internship with My Cousin Vinny,” Raskin told the Post, perhaps a deliberate reference to a bizarre and notoriously sweaty press conference given in November by another Trump lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, amid the ex’s failed attempts -president to prove mass fraud in his defeat in the elections for Joe Biden.
My Cousin Vinny is a 1992 Oscar-winning comedy about an unfortunate lawyer played by Joe Pesci. Giuliani said it was “one of my favorite films about law, because it comes from Brooklyn”.
Trump, who comes from Queens, declined to testify in his own defense. Raskin called him “a profile of absolute cowardice” and said: “He has betrayed the constitution, the country and its people.
“Trump’s followers need to understand that he has no loyalty to them … Donald Trump is the past. We need to deal with the future. “