Donald Trump’s lawyers on Monday criticized the impeachment case against him as an act of “political theater” as they accused House Democrats of exploiting the chaos and trauma of last month’s US Capitol rebellion for the profit from your party.
In a brief presented on the eve of the impeachment trial, the ex-president’s lawyers launched a broad attack on the case, foreshadowing the claims they intend to make when discussions begin on Tuesday on the same floor as the Senate that was invaded by protesters in January . 6.
They suggest that Trump was simply exercising his First Amendment rights when he contested the election results and argued that he explicitly encouraged his supporters to make a peaceful protest and therefore cannot be responsible for the rioters’ actions. They say the Senate has no right to try Trump now that he has stepped down, an argument contested even by some conservative lawyers, and they deny that the purpose of the case is justice.
“Instead, this was just a selfish attempt by the Democratic leadership in the House to take advantage of the feelings of horror and confusion that fell on all Americans across the political spectrum when they saw the destruction on Capitol Hill on January 6 by a few hundred people. ”, The lawyers wrote in a statement obtained by The Associated Press.
“Instead of taking action to heal the nation, or at least focus on prosecuting the offenders who invaded the Capitol, the mayor and his allies cruelly tried to control the chaos of the moment for their own political gain,” they added.
The trial will begin on Tuesday with a debate and vote on whether it is even constitutional to prosecute the former president, an argument that may resonate with Republicans interested in voting to absolve Trump without being seen as tolerating his behavior. (MPR News will have live coverage on the air and online when the test starts. mprnews.org to the most recent.)
Under a draft agreement between Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer and Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell, proceedings will be interrupted Friday night for Jewish Saturday at the request of the Trump defense team and will resume on Sunday . There will probably be no witnesses, and the former president declined the request to testify.
Trump’s second impeachment trial is starting with a sense of urgency – by Democrats who want to hold him responsible for the violent encirclement of the Capitol and Republicans who want to end it as quickly as possible.
The proceedings are likely to diverge from the long and complicated trial that resulted in Trump’s acquittal a year ago on the charge that he pressured Ukraine to dig up dirt on a Democratic rival, Joe Biden, now president. This time, Trump’s cry for demonstration to “fight like hell” and the Capitol invasion was shown for the world to see. Trump could very well be acquitted again, and the trial could end in half the time.
Under the terms of the trial being negotiated, it would be launched first with a debate over its constitutionality, a key argument in the defense of the former president. Senator Rand Paul, R-Ky., Forced a vote on the issue last month, and senators will again be faced with a debate and vote.
The opening discussions would start on Wednesday at noon, with up to 16 hours on hand for presentations.
Trump is the first president to face two impeachment cases and the only one to stand trial after leaving the White House. The Democratic-led House passed a single charge, “inciting insurrection,” acting quickly a week after the rebellion, the most violent attack on Congress in more than 200 years. Five people died, including a woman shot by the police inside the building and a policeman who died injured the next day.
So far, it appears that there will be few witnesses summoned, as prosecutors and defense lawyers speak directly to senators who have sworn to do “impartial justice” as jurors. Most are also witnesses to the siege, having fled to safety that day when protesters invaded the Capitol and temporarily interrupted the electoral count, certifying Biden’s victory.
Instead, the House managers who process the case are expected to trust the video collection of the siege, along with Trump’s incendiary rhetoric refusing to grant the election, to defend his position. His new defense team said it plans to counterattack with its own videos of Democratic politicians making fiery speeches.
“We have the unusual circumstance that on the first day of the trial, when managers step on the Senate, there will already be more than 100 witnesses present,” said Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., Who led Trump’s first impeachment. “If you need additional witnesses, it will be a strategic decision.”
Democrats argue that it is not just about winning the sentence, but holding the former president accountable for his actions, even though he is out of office. For Republicans, the trial will test their political loyalty to Trump and their lasting control over the Republican Party.
Initially repelled by the graphic images of the siege, Republican senators, including Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell, denounced the violence and pointed the blame to Trump. But in recent weeks, Republican Party senators have gathered around Trump, arguing that his comments do not make him responsible for the violence. They question the legitimacy of even conducting a trial for someone who is no longer in office.
On Sunday, Republican Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi described Trump’s impeachment trial as a “party exercise in meaningless messages”. Paul called the scam process “zero chance of conviction” and described Trump’s language and words of demonstration as “figurative” speech.
Senators were sworn in as jurors at the end of last month, shortly after Biden took office, but trial procedures were postponed because Democrats focused on confirming the new president’s initial choices for the cabinet and Republicans sought to put the maximum distance from the bloody turmoil.
At the time, Paul forced a vote to overturn the trial as unconstitutional because Trump is no longer in office, attracting 44 other Republicans to his argument.
A prominent conservative lawyer, Charles Cooper, rejects this view, writing in an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal on Sunday that the Constitution allows the Senate to try a former official, a significant counterpoint to that of Republican senators seeking absolution through of a constitutional claims process.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, one of Trump’s ardent supporters, said he believed Trump’s actions were wrong and “he will have a place in history for all of this,” but insisted that it is not up to the Senate to judge.
But 45 votes in favor of Paul’s move suggested the near impossibility of reaching a conviction in a Senate where Democrats have 50 seats, but a two-thirds vote – or 67 senators – would be needed to convict Trump. Only five Republican senators joined the Democrats to reject Paul’s motion: Mitt Romney of Utah, Ben Sasse of Nebraska, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania.
Schiff was on NBC’s “Meet the Press, Wicker was on ABC’s” This Week “, Paul was on” Fox News Sunday “and Graham was on CBS’s” Face the Nation “.
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