The Senate met again at 2:34 pm to hear the final part of Trump’s legal team’s arguments, presented by attorney Bruce Castor.
Castor began by rejecting the characterization that an insurrection had occurred on the United States Capitol, saying “clearly there was no insurrection. Insurrection is a term of art, it is defined in the law. It involves the conquest of a country, a parallel government, taking over the seasons and have some plan for what you’re going to do. “
He also chastised Democrats for failing to connect the attack to Mr. Trump, saying that “the only question that needs to be answered is Donald Trump responsible for inciting the violence that has hit this building?”
The Pennsylvania attorney also repeated the claim that managers selectively edited and manipulated the evidence they presented.
“Political hatred has no place in the American justice system and it certainly has no place in the United States Congress,” he said.
Castor showed video clips of President Joe Biden at rallies and speeches declaring that his administration will stand against violence and law and order, juxtaposing them with a video of Democrats that was shown throughout the day.
“Make no mistake, and I will repeat it now and whenever I am asked, January 6 was a terrible day for our country. The attack on this building shocked all of us,” said Castor. “President Trump did not incite or cause the horrific violence that occurred on January 6, 2021. They know that.”
Castor said the evidence that Trump did not incite violence in the Capitol lies in his “admiration” for law enforcement and aversion to troublemakers and political violence.
“His longstanding hatred for violent protectors and his love of law and order are on display, worn on his sleeve every day he served in the White House,” he said.
Castor called Mr. Trump the most pro-police and anti-mafia president in history. However, it took the White House three days to lower the flag of the Capitol police officer, who died after being injured during the January 6 events.
Castor also tried to clear Trump’s remarks at the rally on the morning of January 6, parts of which were interpreted by House managers in his presentation. Castor said the former president was only warning Republican senators and members of the House that they could face opponents in the primaries if they were not opposed to counting the votes, not fueling the violence.
“The first form that the House managers presented and wanted you to complete was the criminal form,” he said. “But what the president said was the American way.”
Although Castor tried to demonstrate that the violence on Capitol Hill was premeditated and did not occur at Trump’s insistence, he did not notice that the former president repeatedly accessed Twitter to invite his supporters to Washington for a demonstration on January 6.
“The January 6 speech did not cause the disturbances. The president did not cause the disturbances,” he said. “He did not explicitly or implicitly encourage the use of violence or lawless action, but in fact he called for the peaceful exercise of the First Amendment rights of all Americans to meet peacefully and petition his government for redress of complaints.”
Castor also admitted another point of ignorance: he is not sure whether his own testimony is under oath.
“I don’t know if we’re under oath here,” said Castor during his arguments.
Castor tried to defend Trump’s phone conversation with Georgia’s Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger, saying there is “nothing unpleasant” about the former president by speaking to one of the state’s top voters. During the call, Trump asked Raffensperger to “find” 11,780 votes and said “there’s nothing wrong with saying that, you know, um, that you recalculated”. The former president lost to Biden by 11,779 votes.
“Let’s be clear. This judgment is much more than President Trump,” said Castor. “It’s about silencing and banning the speech that most people don’t agree with. It’s about canceling 75 million Trump voters and criminalizing political views. That’s what this trial is about.”
After less than three hours from 4pm in all, Castor then closed the case in defense of Mr. Trump.
“This concludes the 45th President of the United States’ formal defense of the impeachment article submitted by the House of Representatives,” he said.
The Senate is now in a brief recess.
– Melissa Quinn and Kathryn Watson