Former President Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial is an unconstitutional “political theater” act by Democrats who ignored important facts about the Capitol riot in their run for trial, their lawyers argued in a lengthy written defense on Monday .
The 75-page memorandum from the trial says that the “incitement to insurrection” charge against Trump is contradicted by the words he actually spoke to his supporters before breaking into the corridors of Congress – as well as evidence showing that the attack was actually planned.
“Someone could have been excused for thinking that the Democrats’ feverish hatred for citizen Trump and his’ Trump Disorder Syndrome ‘would have already dissipated, since he is no longer the president, but for the second time in just over a year. the United States Senate is preparing to sit as an impeachment court, but this time because of a citizen who is a former president, ”wrote his lawyers.
With the trial set to begin on Tuesday, Trump’s lawyers accused Democrats of seeking “to create a mechanism by which they can silence a political opponent and a minority party” and urged the Senate to “summarily reject this blatant political act” .
“The truth is that the people who criminally violated the Capitol did so willingly and for their own reasons,” argue lawyers Bruce Castor, David Schoen and Michael van der Veen in the new lawsuit.
Trump’s defense will argue that the trial is unconstitutional and that a careful analysis of Trump’s words in a pre-riot speech and then clears him of any wrongdoing.
“Sir. Trump concluded his speech at Ellipse by stating ‘[s]o Let’s go down Pennsylvania Avenue. I want to thank you all. God bless you and God bless America. Thank you all for being here, this is incredible. Thank you very much. Thank you ‘”, says the document.
“Despite the accusations of House managers against Mr. Trump, his statements cannot and cannot reasonably be interpreted as an appeal for immediate violence or an appeal for the violent overthrow of the United States government.”
During the pre-riot speech, Trump told supporters he was cheated on re-election for fraud and asked supporters to “fight like hell” to persuade lawmakers to invalidate voters in undecided states. The skirmishes near the Capitol started before the speech ended.
Five people died when Trump supporters broke into the Capitol building and interrupted President Biden’s victory certification.
The lawsuit suggests that there will be an intense focus on the timeline of Trump’s words, including after protesters crashed into the building. Democrats and some Republicans say Trump took too long to demand an end to the siege on Twitter.
Trump’s lawyers write: “The suggestion of House managers that President Trump did not act quickly enough to suppress the violence is not absolutely true. Upon hearing reports of violence, he tweeted, begging the crowd to be ‘at peace’, followed by a tweeted video asking people to ‘go home’ and do it in ‘peace’ ”.
According to the video analysis, the first violation of the building occurred at 2:12 pm on January 6. Trump’s initial tweet after the invasion said at 2:38 pm: “Please support our Police and Capitol Police. They are truly on our country’s side. Stay in peace! “
Trump’s legal team also argues that Trump’s First Amendment right to freedom of expression is beginning to be violated by the trial and that the process violates the constitution because Trump is now a former president.
And lawyers address a Democrats’ claim that the trial is allowed under an 1876 precedent. The House was impeached and the Senate tried a former cabinet member, William Belknap, for taking bribes as Secretary of War.
Trump’s lawyers write, “Although historical reports suggest that few senators believed Belknap was innocent, most of those who voted to absolve him did so because they did not think the Senate had jurisdiction to convict someone who was no longer in office.”
It is considered unlikely that 17 Senate Republicans will vote to condemn as needed. Although Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) Said the rioters were “provoked by the president” and that he is open to condemnation, he joined 45 of the 50 Republicans who voted to disallow the judgment for being allegedly unconstitutional.