But at different points in their 75-page trial brief, Trump’s lawyers themselves have distorted or omitted critical facts.
The lawyers – Bruce L. Castor, Jr., David Schoen and Michael T. van der Veen – presented a series of constitutional arguments in the memorandum. In particular, they argued that the Constitution did not allow the Senate to hold a trial for the removal of a former president. They also argued that it was unconstitutional to impeach Trump for “political speech” which they say is protected by the First Amendment.
Many legal scholars claim that both of these arguments are wrong. In this article, however, we will put the constitutional debate aside. Our focus is the part of the memorandum in which the lawyers attempted to defend Trump’s actual conduct.
Trump’s lawyers wrote that of more than 10,000 words in Trump’s speech at Ellipse Park near the White House on the day of the insurgency, “Mr. Trump used the word ‘fight’ a little more than ‘a handful of times and every time in the figurative sense that has long been accepted in public discourse when it prompts people to stand up and use their voices to be heard on issues important to them; it does was not and could not be interpreted as encouraging acts of violence. “
Facts first: Trump used the word “combat” or its variants 20 times in his January 6 speech.
There is no firm definition of “handle”, so we can’t definitively declare the claim false, but 20 times is a lot. And while we’ll leave it to others to determine how literal or figurative Trump was, some of the 20 references were pretty sharp.
Towards the end of the speech, Trump said, “And we are fighting. We are fighting like hell. And if you don’t fight like hell, you will have no more countries.”
At the start of the speech, he said: “Republicans are constantly fighting like a boxer with their hands tied behind their back. He’s like a boxer. And we want to be so nice. We want to be so respectful of everyone, including the wrong people. And we’re going to have to fight a lot harder. And Mike Pence is going to have to come for us, and if he doesn’t, it’ll be a – a sad day for our country, because you’re sworn. to uphold our Constitution. “
Trump was speaking of his desire for Pence to prevent Joe Biden’s electoral votes from being certified – something Pence never had the power to do.
The chronology of the insurgency
Trump’s lawyers have claimed that “a simple timeline of events conclusively demonstrates that the riots were not inspired by the president’s speech at the Ellipse.” Lawyers cited a report that the park is one mile from the Capitol and that the barriers around the Capitol were first crossed before Trump even finished speaking.
Facts first: Because the rioters were still on Capitol Hill more than three hours after Trump concluded the speech, people had more than enough time attend Trump’s speech in the park and then storm the Capitol; the fbi alleged that some participants did this walk, including one that would have gone from Trump’s speech to his hotel, then to Capitol Hill. It’s true that the timeline shows that someone who saw the entire speech at the park might not have been among the very first people to breach Capitol Park, but that’s a narrower claim than that. Trump lawyers.
And all of this ignores the fact that insurgents near Capitol Hill might have listened to Trump’s speech on their phones or might have been inspired by Trump’s previous rhetoric.
Who violated the Capitol and why
Trump’s lawyers argued: “The truth is that people who violated the Capitol on their own did so on their own and for their own reasons, and are being prosecuted under criminal charges.”
Lawyers have linked, in a footnote, to an article by The Gateway Pundit, a right-wing website known to promote false conspiracy theories and whose account was banned from Twitter over the weekend. The article began by asserting that “anti-Trump groups mainly have [the] uprising on the United States Capitol on January 6. The lawyers ‘footnote said of the insurgents,’ Some anti-Trump, some anti-government. ”
Facts first: This is incorrect by omission. Many participants in the insurgency are alleged in court documents tell the fbi their actions were motivated by their support for Trump – and some even said they felt they had been directly instructed by Trump to take action. The list of people accused of the insurgency includes both suspected pro-Trump members of right-wing extremist groups and Trump supporters unaffiliated with formal groups.
While the ideology of some of the alleged participants may be difficult to pin down, there is no evidence to suggest that the insurgency was primarily carried out by opponents of Trump.
Trump’s video during the insurgency
Trump’s lawyers noted that during the insurgency, Trump “told the rioters to go home.” In a footnote on the same page, lawyers clarified that “after hearing reports of violence” Trump tweeted a video “urging people to” go home “and do so” in peace ” “.
Facts first: These statements omit the key context. In the same video in which Trump urged rioters to “come home in peace”, he continued to lie that the election was “stolen” from us and that it was a “fraudulent election.” (And he told the rioters that “we love you” and that “you are very special.”) Plus, Trump hasn’t tweeted the video before 4:17 p.m. EST, about two o’clock after rioters broke into the Capitol and more than three hours after the barricades outside the building were first breached. Also, CNN and other media reported that Trump must have pressured his allies to release the video.
And in a tweet nearly two hours after the video, which was quickly deleted by Twitter, Trump appeared to be proposing a rationalization of the violence while repeating his lie about the election result: “These are the things and the events that happen. during a sacred landslide. Election victory is so unceremonious and viciously stripped of the great patriots who have been treated badly and unfairly for so long. Go home with love and in peace. Remember this day forever! ”
Trump’s reaction to violence
Trump’s lawyers have dismissed media reports of the former president’s reaction to the riot. “There is no legitimate proof, and there can never be, that President Trump was ‘thrilled’ by the events on Capitol Hill. He, like the rest of the country, was horrified by the violence,” they wrote.
Facts first: This is disputed. Several media outlets reported in January that Trump was not horrified by the riot as he watched it unfold on television.
CNN reported: “White House staff were visibly shaken by Trump’s response to the mob that raped Capitol Hill. The president was bordering on enthusiasm for the protests and did not want to condemn them , several people said. ” The New York Times reported: “As supporters burst into the Capitol on Wednesday, Mr. Trump was initially happy, officials said, and ignored aides begging him to intercede.” And The Washington Post reported: “While not necessarily having fun, he was ‘puzzled’ by the show because he thought his supporters were literally fighting for him, according to a close advisor. But, said this person. , he was taken aback by what he considered the spectacle “low end” of people in rag suits rummaging around the Capitol. ”
Trump’s Behind-the-Scenes Actions
Trump’s lawyers said of the former president, “He and the White House have further taken immediate steps to coordinate with authorities to provide whatever was needed to counter the rioters.”
Facts first: This is also disputed. Trump’s lawyers did not say what those “immediate steps” were, so this claim is too vague for us to definitively verify the facts, but it should be noted that Trump initially resisted deploy the national guard. It was Pence who took the lead in the Guard’s deployment and spoke to the Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark Milley, and Acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller.
