WASHINGTON (AP) – Donald Trump put the lives of all members of Congress at risk by targeting a crowd of supporters “like a loaded cannon” on the United States Capitol, House Democrats said on Tuesday when presenting their case more detailed why the former president should be convicted and permanently barred from office.
The legal summary it vigorously links Trump’s baseless efforts to overturn the presidential election results to the deadly January 6 riot on Capitol Hill, saying he bears “unmistakable” blame for actions that directly threatened the foundations of American democracy. He argues that he should be found guilty when his impeachment trial opens in the Senate next week, on charges of inciting the siege.
“His conduct jeopardized the lives of every member of Congress, undermined the peaceful transition of power and line of succession and undermined our national security,” wrote the Democratic managers of the impeachment case. “This is precisely the type of constitutional crime that justifies the disqualification from federal offices.”
The legal document presents for the first time the arguments that House legislators hope to present in the impeachment trial. This not only explicitly accuses him of his role in the riot, but it also aims to preventively refute the defense’s claims that Trump’s words were somehow protected by the First Amendment or that an impeachment trial is unconstitutional, or even unnecessary, now that Trump stepped down. He says that Trump’s behavior was so blatant that he demanded permanent disqualification from the post.
The constitution specifies that disqualification from office may be a punishment for an impeachment conviction.
“This is not a case where elections alone are a sufficient safeguard against future abuse; it is the very electoral process that President Trump attacked and that must be protected from him and anyone else who seeks to imitate his behavior, ”states the legal document.
Trump’s lawyers are due to present their report on Tuesday. In an appearance on Fox News late on Monday, one of the lawyers, David Schoen, said he would argue that the trial was unconstitutional, that efforts to bar Trump from office were undemocratic and that his words were protected by the First Amendment.
Democrats have made it clear that they disagree on all points.
“The only honorable way at that point was for President Trump to accept the results and admit his electoral defeat. Instead, he summoned a crowd to Washington, urged them to the frenzy and aimed them like a cannon loaded down Pennsylvania Avenue, ”they wrote in their 77-page report.
Democrats rely heavily on the words of prominent Republicans who criticized the former president. Among them are Wyoming MP Liz Cheney, who voted for Trump’s impeachment and said there was never “greater betrayal” by a president, and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, who said Trump “teased” the rioters.
Still, Republicans signaled that acquittal is likely, with many saying they think Congress should move on and questioning the constitutionality of an impeachment trial – Trump’s second – now that he has stepped down. In a test vote in the Senate last week, 45 Republicans, including McConnell, voted in favor of an effort to reject the trial because of these constitutional issues.
Although no president has been tried after leaving the White House, Democrats say there are precedents, pointing to an 1876 impeachment by a war secretary who resigned in a final attempt to avoid an impeachment trial. The Senate kept it anyway.
Democrats write that Constitution makers would not have wanted to leave the country defenseless against “a president’s betrayal in his final days, allowing him to abuse power, violate his oath and incite insurrection against Congress and our electoral institutions” simply because he’s stepping down. Setting that precedent now “would horrify the Creators,” says the document.
“There is no ‘January exception’ for impeachment or any other provision of the constitution,” wrote the Democrats. “A president must answer comprehensively for his conduct in office, from the first day to the last.”
Trump was impeached by the House while he was still in office, they note, forcing a Senate trial. And there are precedents for the trial of former employees.
“Trump is personally responsible for a violent attack on the Capitol,” they wrote. “He was impeached while still in office. The case of trying him after he left office is stronger than any of the precedents. “
The report also traces Trump’s efforts to subvert democracy until the summer of 2020, when he refused to say he would accept the election results, through the election and his many failed attempts to challenge the results in court. When those efforts failed, the Democrats wrote, “he turned to inappropriate and abusive ways to stay in power,” specifically by launching a pressure campaign aimed at state election officials, the Justice Department and Congress.
Democrats cite their unsuccessful efforts to influence Georgia’s Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger, and former Attorney General William Barr. Trump was then “fixed” on January 6, the managers wrote. They note that many of their supporters, including the Proud Boys – whom Trump said to “back off and wait” in a September debate – were already prepared for the violence.
“In the face of all this, the crowd that gathered on January 6 included, unsurprisingly, many who were armed, furious and dangerous – and tried to President Trump to confirm that they really had to“ fight ”to save America from a conspiracy imaginary, ”wrote the Democrats.