11m ago
Managers asked about past objections to state Electoral College votes
Senator Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts, asked House managers about prior objections to the counting of electoral votes by Democrats, which were highlighted in the presentation by Mr. Trump’s lawyers. Warren asked whether any of those objections were raised after insurrectionists stormed the Capitol to prevent the counting of electoral votes and after the president’s personal lawyer asked senators to raise objections to delay the certification.
“The answer is no,” Raskin said.
The Maryland Democrat also noted that in no other instance has the Capitol been stormed or the president “gone out and summoned a mob, assembled a mob, incited a mob and lit a match.”
13m ago
Hawley and Cramer ask if a president could theoretically be disqualified but not removed
Republican Senators Kevin Cramer and Josh Hawley asked the following question: If the Senate’s power to disqualify is not derivative of the power to remove a convicted president from office, could the Senate disqualify a sitting president but not remove him or her?
But instead of taking his two-and-a-half minutes to focus solely on answering that question, Trump attorney Michael van der Veen went on a rant about a squabble with Castro over a point in the record.
Raskin called van der Veen’s response “profoundly inaccurate and irrelevant to what the question is.”
Raskin said the vote is a separate thing. Someone could vote to convict but not to disqualify, he said.
35m ago
Democrats question long-term consequences of acquitting Trump
Democratic Senators Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Bob Casey of Pennsylvania and Sherrod Brown of Ohio asked the House managers what message the Senate would be sending to future presidents and Congresses if it did not vote to convict Mr. Trump.
Plaskett, on behalf of the managers, said the consequences of Mr. Trump’s conduct were “devastating,” citing overwhelmed law enforcement, the evacuation of Congress and fear from staff members in the Capitol.
“This was devastating and the world watched us and the world is still watching us to see what we will do this day and will know what we did this day 100 years from now,” she said. “Those are the immediate consequences and our actions will reverberate as to what are the future consequences.”
Plaskett also cited the videos from Mr. Trump’s legal team that showed protests against police brutality and racial injustice following the deaths of Black Americans at the hands of law enforcement, noting many of them featured Black women fighting for a cause.
“What was not lost on me is so many of them were people of color and women, Black women like myself who are sick and tired of being sick and tired for our children. Your children. Our children,” she said.
Republican Senators Mike Lee of Utah and Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee then asked Mr. Trump’s legal team about the constitutionality of the trial, a question that was settled earlier in the week when the Senate voted to move forward with the proceedings.
Citing state constitutions enacted before 1787, which provided for the impeachment of a former officer, they questioned whether the framers’ decision to omit language authorizing the impeachment of former officials indicated they didn’t intend for the U.S. Constitution to allow former officials to be impeached.
“The answer is yes, of course they left it out. The framers were very smart men,” Mr. Trump’s attorney Michael van der Veen said, “and they went over draft after draft after draft on that document and they reviewed all the other drafts of all the state constitutions. All of them. And they picked and choosed what they wanted and they discarded what they did not. And what they discarded was the option for all of you to impeach a former elected official.”
46m ago
Senators ask about Trump’s knowledge about the danger to Mike Pence
GOP Senators Mitt Romney of Utah and Susan Collins of Maine asked both sides when Mr. Trump knew of the danger to his own vice president, Mike Pence.
“When President Trump sent the disparaging tweet at 2:24 p.m. regarding Vice President Pence, was he aware that the Vice President had been removed from the Senate by the Secret Service for his safety?” the two asked. Pence was removed from the chamber at around 2:12 p.m.
Impeachment manager Joaquin Castro quoted the tweet by Mr. Trump, where the former president castigated Pence for not trying to overturn the election results.
“He said Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what needed to be done,” Castro said. He argued that by that time, it was apparent to anyone watching TV that the Capitol had been overrun.
“Donald Trump had not taken any measures to send help to overwhelmed Capitol Police,” Castro said. He also referenced a call between Mr. Trump and Senator Tommy Tuberville shortly after 2 p.m., during which Tuberville told reporters that he told Mr. Trump that Pence had just been evacuated from the Senate chamber.
Mr. Trump’s attorney again avoided the question, blaming House managers for not investigating further.
“At no point was the president informed that the vice president was in any danger,” Trump attorney Michael van der Veen said. “There is nothing at all in the record on this point because the House failed to do even a minimum amount of due diligence.”
53m ago
Collins and Murkowski press Trump team on what he knew of Capitol breach
Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, two Republicans who are considered possible swing votes, asked Mr. Trump’s team, “Exactly when did President Trump learn of the breach of the Capitol, what actions did he take to bring the rioting to an end and when did he take them? Please be as detailed as possible.”
Van der Veen did not provide an answer, instead claiming his lack of knowledge as to Mr. Trump’s actions underscored how the impeachment was rushed.
“With the rush to bring this impeachment, there’s been absolutely no investigation into that,” he said. “The House managers did zero investigation and the American people deserve a lot better than coming in here with no evidence, hearsay on top of hearsay on top of reports that are of hearsay.”
Democratic Senator Jacky Rosen of Nevada asked the House managers if there is evidence that Mr. Trump knew or should have known that his tolerance of anti-Semitic speech, hate speech, combined with his own rhetoric could incite the kind of violence seen January 6.
“Yes, he has encouraged actual violence, not just the word fight,” Delegate Stacey Plaskett of the U.S. Virgin Islands said.
Plaskett noted Mr. Trump’s comments to the Proud Boys, a far-right group, as well as his cheering in October of a caravan of his supporters in Texas who nearly ran a Biden-Harris campaign bus off a highway, among other examples.
“President Trump had a pattern and practice of praising and encouraging violence, never condemning it,” she said, adding Mr. Trump spent months cultivating a group of people who were known to be violent.
Plaskett said Mr. Trump had spent months calling his supporters to a march on a specific day at a specific time for a specific purpose.
“What else were they going to do to stop the certification of the election on that day but to stop you? But to stop you physically?” she said.
4:13 PM
Senators begin questioning period for impeachment managers and Trump lawyers
Senators have up to four hours to submit written questions to the impeachment managers and Mr. Trump’s attorneys. The questions are alternating between the two parties, and managers and the former president’s lawyers have five minutes to respond.
The first question, by Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, asked the impeachment managers whether it was true that the siege on the Capitol would not have occurred if not for Mr. Trump’s conduct
“Donald Trump summoned the mob, assembled the mob and lit the flame. Everything that followed was his doing,” said Congressman Joaquin Castro, one of the impeachment managers.
The second question, from Republican Senators Ted Cruz, Roger Marshall, Kevin Cramer, and Lindsey Graham, asked the president’s counsel if a fund for raising a bail for rioters encouraged the rioters. Van der Veen replied simply “yes.” The question was an apparent reference to Democrats supporting funds to raise bail for protesters over the summer who demonstrated against police brutality and racial violence.
Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock asked whether it was true that dozens of courts had rejected the Trump campaign’s efforts to overturn the election. Impeachment manager Jamie Raskin said that they had “absolutely no problem” with Mr. Trump using legal routes to attempt to overturn the election, but they objected to his telling the “big lie” to his supporters that the election was stolen.
“The big lie was refuted, devastated and demolished,” Raskin said.
3:56 PM
“Plainly a distraction”: Democrats react to videos from Trump’s attorneys
After accusing the House impeachment managers of using videos of Mr. Trump out of context as evidence, Trump’s legal defense played the video of Democrats, including some of the 2020 presidential candidates such as Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey and Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, attempting to equate their words to Trump’s rhetoric during the January 6th rally.
“You didn’t do anything wrong,” said David Schoen, one of Trump’s lawyers. “It is a word people use, but please stop the hypocrisy.”
Democrats did not take this line of argument seriously. Warren tweeted a video montage of her rally appearances shortly after Mr. Trump’s lawyers played the video, showing her embracing women and encouraging young girls to run for office.
“In case anyone is wondering what my rallies look like,” Warren said.
Read more here.
— Grace Segers and Jack Turman
3:35 PM
Castor rests case for defense
The Senate reconvened at 2:34 p.m. to hear the final portion of arguments from Mr. Trump’s legal team, presented by lawyer Bruce Castor.
Castor began by rebuffing the characterization that an insurrection had even taken place in the U.S. Capitol, saying “clearly there was no insurrection. Insurrection is a term of art, it’s defined in the law. It involves taking over a country, a shadow government, taking the TV stations over and having some plan on what you’re going to do.”
He also chastised Democrats for failing to connect the assault to Mr. Trump, saying the “only question that needs to be answered is was Donald Trump responsible for inciting the violence that came to this building?”
The Pennsylvania attorney also repeated the claim that the managers selectively edited and manipulated the evidence they presented.
“Political hatred has no place in the American justice system and certainly no place in the Congress of the United States,” he said.
Castor played video clips of President Joe Biden at rallies and in speeches declaring his administration will stand against violence and for law-and-order, juxtaposing them with video of Democrats that had been played throughout the day.
“Make no mistake, and I will repeat it now and any time I’m ever asked, January 6 was a terrible day for our country. The attack on this building shocked us all,” Castor said. “President Trump did not incite or cause the horrific violence that occured on January 6, 2021. They know that.”
Castor said evidence that Mr. Trump did not incite the violence at the Capitol lies with his “admiration” for law enforcement and distaste for rioters and political violence.
“His long-standing hatred for violent protectors and his love for law and order is on display, worn on his sleeve every single day he served at the White House,” he said.
Castor called Mr. Trump the most pro-police and anti-mob president in history. However, it took three days for the White House to lower the flag for the Capitol Police officer who died after suffering injuries during the events of January 6.
Castor also attempted to clean aup Mr. Trump’s remarks at the rally on the morning of January 6, portions of which were played by the House managers in their presentation. Castor said the former president was merely warning Republican senators and House members could face primary challengers if they didn’t object to the tallying of votes, not stoking violence.
“The first way that the House managers presented and wanted you to conclude, that’s the criminal way,” he said. “But what the president said was the American way.”
While Castor sought to demonstrate the violence at the Capitol was premeditated and did not occur at the urging of Mr. Trump, he failed to note the former president repeatedly took to Twitter to invite his supporters to Washington to rally January 6.
“The January 6 speech did not cause the riots. The president did not cause the riots,” he said. “He neither explicitly or implicitly encouraged the use of violence or lawless action but in fact called for peaceful exercise of every American’s First Amendment rights to peacefully assemble and petition their government for redress of grievances.”
Castor admitted to another point of ignorance, too: He isn’t sure whether his own testimony is under oath.
“I don’t know if we’re under oath here,” Castor said during his arguments.
Castor attempted to defend Mr. Trump’s phone conversation with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, saying there is “nothing untoward” about the former president speaking with a state’s top elections official. During the call, Mr. Trump urged Raffensperger to “find” 11,780 votes and said “there’s nothing wrong with saying that, you know, um, that you’ve recalculated.” The former president lost to Mr. Biden by 11,779 votes.
“Let us be clear. This trial is about far more than President Trump,” Castor said. “It is about silencing and banning the speech the majority does not agree with. It is about canceling 75 million Trump voters and criminalizing political viewpoints. That is what this trial is really about.”
After less than three hours of the 16 in all allotted to them, Castor then rested the case in defense of Mr. Trump.
“This concludes the formal defense of the 45th president of the United States to the impeachment article filed by the House of Representatives, ” he said.
The Senate is now in a brief recess.
— Melissa Quinn and Kathryn Watson
1:57 PM
Senate in a short recess
The Senate is taking a 15-minute break.
1:54 PM
Trump attorney says “this case is about political hatred”
Trump attorney Michael van der Veen claimed the Democrats’ case is “about political hatred,” even though 10 Republicans joined Democrats to impeach Mr. Trump, making it the most bipartisan impeachment of a president ever. Van der Veen did not address that.
“This case is about political hatred. It has become very clear that the House Democrats hate Donald Trump,” van der Veen claimed.
“Hatred is a dangerous thing. We all have to work to overcome it,” he added.
The Trump attorney warned that the Senate could “create a precedent where the Senate will be tasked with sitting in judgment as to the meaning and implied intent of a president’s words, or words of any elected official.”
Van der Veen then again played a video montage of Democrats using some version of the word “fight,” or suggesting roughing up an opponent. The Trump attorney warned that the First Amendment protected speech, and all political speech should be protected.
Trump defense focuses on First Amendment
09:47
Van der Veen went on to complain about how he felt he was being treated.
He also claimed Mr. Trump has “enhanced” protected free speech rights as an elected official, a new argument that Mr. Trump’s team hasn’t presented before.
1:22 PM
Schoen accuses Democrats of manipulating evidence presented in trial
Mr. Trump’s lead attorney David Schoen claimed the House impeachment managers manipulated the evidence put forth in the impeachment trial and selectively edited video footage, arguing there is “significant reason to doubt the evidence” presented.
“We have reason to believe that House managers manipulated evidence and selectively edited footage,” he said. “If they did this in a court of law, they would face sanctions from the judge.”
Schoen cited as an example a tweet used by the managers that featured a user who had a blue checkmark next to her name, when the user is not verified by Twitter. He also played a longer version of Mr. Trump’s comments about the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, though his remarks were widely condemned at the time.
“They selectively edited the president’s words over and over again. They manipulated video, time-shifting clips and made it seem the president’s words were playing to a crowd when they weren’t,” he said.
In this image from video, David Schoen, an attorney for former President Donald Trump, speaks during the second impeachment trial of Trump in the Senate at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Friday, Feb. 12, 2021.
Senate Television via AP
Schoen also questioned how and when the managers received the shocking new security footage unveiled in their presentation Wednesday, suggesting Democrats withheld it from the American people for political gain.
“How did they get it? How are they the ones releasing it? Why wasn’t it released through law enforcement and the Department of Justice?” Schoen said.
He also took aim at the impeachment managers for relying on media reports during their presentation and said there is “reason to believe” the Democrats created “false representations of tweets.” While Democrats requested Mr. Trump voluntarily testify about the events of January 6 during the proceedings, Schoen and lawyer Bruce Castor have rejected the request.
“President Trump did not incite the horrific terrible riots of January 6,” Schoen said.
Schoen argued the violence perpetrated by Mr. Trump’s supporters were in contrast to the former president’s law-and-order message. He also said “political opportunism” and “hatred” for Mr. Trump led Democrats to rush impeachment through the House.
Arguing the former president was denied due process in the proceedings, Schoen said he and Mr. Trump’s lawyers were denied the opportunity to test the integrity of the evidence used against him and accused Democrats of attempting to disenfranchise more than 74 million people who voted for Mr. Trump in November.
Schoen also accused Democrats of a “double standard” and then played a montage of comments from Democrats, including President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, and actors using violent language about Mr. Trump. A substantial portion of the montage featured prominent Democrats using the word “fight.”
“You didn’t do anything wrong,” Schoen said of Democrats. “It’s a word people use, but please stop the hypocrisy.”
In an effort to rebut Democrats’ argument that Mr. Trump was seeking to throw out votes that were legally cast and halt the counting of electoral votes on the false grounds the election was stolen, Schoen then played a montage of Democrats objecting to electoral votes cast in the 2016 and 2000 elections. Those instances, however, did not lead to violent riots.
Little of Schoen’s presentation addressed Mr. Trump’s conduct or refuted the charge he incited an insurrection.
12:36 PM
Trump defense team alleges Trump offered “peace” and January 6 rally was “hijacked”
In his first 10 minutes of their arguments, Trump attorney Michael van der Veen offered false and misleading information about the Capitol attack.
Van der Veen claimed Mr. Trump’s first two tweets after the Capitol attack were offering words of peace. But that’s not accurate. Mr. Trump’s first tweet after the assault on the Capitol began was to blast Vice President Mike Pence for lacking “courage.” That was while Pence was still in danger on Capitol Hill. It was only after that that Mr. Trump tweeted support for police.
Van der Veen also trying to argue that people of “various different stripes and political persuasions” had “hijacked” the president’s rally. He pointed to one apparent member of “Antifa.” But there is no evidence that the vast majority of those who rushed the Capitol were anything but Trump supporters. Surveillance video and video posted to the Internet show people with Trump flags and gear. Some were caught on camera saying they came because the president told them to, or for the president.
12:17 PM
Trial resumes with Trump’s defense attorneys making their case
The Senate impeachment trial resumed Friday, as Mr. Trump’s attorneys get their chance to argue their case. Mr. Trump’s defense team has 16 hours to make their arguments.
The Senate chaplain, Barry Black, prayed that the senators would be infused with “non-partisan patriotism,” and that they would make choices for God’s “greater glory.”
The acting sergeant at arms urged the senators to be silent upon “pain of imprisonment,” as is the warning each day. The Senate will take 15-minute breaks every two hours or so, and take a break for dinner around 5 p.m.
Michael van der Veen, who had not yet argued before the Senate before Friday, began the defense’s case.
“This impeachment is completely divorced from the facts, the evidence and the interest of the American people,” insisting that no reasonable person could come to the conclusion that Mr. Trump’s speech on January 6 incited violence.
Van der Veen said “no person could seriously believe the president’s January 6th speech on the Ellipse was in any way an incitement to insurrection.”
“The president devoted nearly his entire speech to an extended discussion of how legislators should vote on the question at hand,” van der Veen said.
The Trump attorney claimed Mr. Trump wanted the process to play out according to the “letter of the law.”
11:05 AM
Impeachment managers won’t say if they plan to call witnesses
Senior aides to the Democrats’ House impeachment managers’ team still won’t say if the impeachment managers plan to call witnesses to make their case that former President Trump should be convicted for inciting an insurrection. But the senior aides say the managers are confident in the arguments they made during their two days of opening arguments.
“We are confident that our position will remain as strong as today. And at the end of this trial, the senators will have no choice but to vote to convict and disqualify,” an aide said.
With the former president’s lawyers indicating they will use just three to four hours of the 16 they are allotted to make their arguments, the House managers are prepared to move to a four hour question and answer session with senators as soon as Friday afternoon.
In a call with reporters Friday morning, the aides sought to rebut three of the arguments that the former president’s lawyers have indicated they will make to defend the former president: That the trial is unconstitutional because the former president is now a private citizen, that Mr. Trump’s speech is protected by the First Amendment, and that Democrats have used similar inflammatory political language.
The aides argued that the matter of constitutionality was settled by the vote at the start of the trial on Tuesday whether the Senate had jurisdiction to consider the impeachment. That vote was 56 to 44, with six Republicans joining Democrats to say it was within the Senate’s jurisdiction.
“By their oath that they have sworn they cannot consider jurisdiction issues,” one aide said.
“They really believe that the logical conclusion of the law is that a president who has lost an election can incite mob violence can direct his followers to ransack the Capitol, to stop the peaceful transfer of power, and that there is nothing that the United States Senate can do about it,” said another aide.
Several Republicans disagree with that point.
“If there is an opportunity or they think that there is a case, it should go to the courts, not to Congress where we don’t have a sitting president,” Republican Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa told reporters on Thursday evening.
One aide said that although there were several empty chairs from Republicans on Thursday, “I won’t paint them all with the same brush.”
“I won’t speculate as to their reasons for not being in their seats, but I would note separately it’s a testimony to the power of the overwhelming evidence that the managers have brought to bear in this case — that one of the only ways not to convict is to pretend you didn’t hear it,” the aide said.
The aides also argued that their case against Mr. Trump rests on much more than the speech he gave on January 6.
“President Trump was not impeached because of the words he used — viewed in isolation, without context [that] are beyond the pale,” an aide said. “Plenty of other politicians have used strong language, but Donald J. Trump was president of the United States. He sought to overturn a presidential election that has been held by every single court to consider it.”
Aides also called arguments about strong language used by other Democrats, which the former president’s lawyers are expected to show on tape during their arguments on Friday, are a “distraction campaign” that draw a “false equivalence” between the two issues.
“Like so much of what President Trump’s lawyers might say, that’s a gimmick. It’s a parlor game meant to inflame partisan hostility and play on our division,” an aide said.
— Rebecca Kaplan and Nikole Killion
10:27 AM
Republicans remain unconvinced by impeachment managers’ arguments
Despite the powerful presentation from House managers attempting to connect Mr. Trump to the events of January 6, most Senate Republicans have made statements indicating they are unconvinced by the Democrats’ arguments.
GOP Senator Mike Braun told reporters on Thursday evening that he didn’t think the managers’ arguments had swayed any Republicans. Senator Mike Rounds argued that the impeachment trial itself was unconstitutional, even though the Senate voted earlier this week to dismiss the constitutionality question.
Other Republicans said that the arguments by impeachment managers were redundant.
“I thought today was very repetitive actually. I mean, not much new,” Senator Josh Hawley, who spent much of his time in the visitors gallery reading documents during the impeachment managers’ arguments, told reporters.
“I think the end result of this impeachment trial is crystal clear to everybody,” Senator Ted Cruz said. “Donald Trump will be acquitted. And every person in the Senate chamber understands there are not the votes to convict him. Nor should there be.”
Cruz, Senator Lindsey Graham and Senator Mike Lee met with Mr. Trump’s attorneys on Thursday evening to discuss their legal strategy.
9:11 AM
Biden watching to see if GOP Senators “stand up” during impeachment trial
President Biden, asked by a reporter Friday morning about his predecessor’s Senate impeachment trial, said, “I am just anxious to see what my Republican friends do and if they stand up.”
In response to another question about whether he would be speaking with any of them about how they should vote, he curtly said that no, he would not.
The president, first lady Jill Biden and their dogs were making a visit to the White House North Lawn to see the first lady’s overnight Valentine’s display with large heart-shaped messages calling for “Love,” “Unity,” “Amor” and “Gratitude.”
8:44 AM
Three GOP senators met with Trump’s legal team Thursday night
Democrats wrap up Trump impeachment arguments…
02:56
Republican Senators Ted Cruz, Lindsey Graham and Mike Lee, all jurors in President Trump’s Senate trial, met with his legal team Thursday night for what Cruz called a “friendly” meeting.
“We were discussing their strategy for tomorrow, and we were sharing our thoughts in terms of where we thought the argument was and where it should go,” Cruz said Thursday.
Asked whether he was comfortable with the strategy, the Texas Republican said that the outcome was already clear, that the president would be acquitted. Congressional correspondent Nikole Killion is on Capitol Hill reporting on the impeachment trial.
Mr. Trump’s lawyers will be arguing that his impeachment is unconstitutional and denies him due process. Trump lawyer David Schoen suggested Thursday night that he didn’t think the team would take the full day to present its defense of the former president — “maybe, maybe three to four hours something like that” — and he also raised the possibility that the question and answer period with senators might also begin Friday.
However, on Friday, just before the trial was to begin, Schoen told reporters, “I don’t think we’re going to do a wrap today.”
Alan He and Zak Hudak contributed to this report.