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Lawyers for Donald Trump launched their attempt to defend the former president on Friday, saying the second impeachment trial was a “politically motivated witch hunt.”
Michael van der Veen, one of Trump’s lawyers, used this phrase on Friday to describe Democrats’ motivation to impeach Trump a second time. He argued that Trump’s fiery rhetoric on January 6 was no different from what politicians frequently use in American politics today. Trump urged his supporters to “fight like hell” at a rally just before they walked down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington and attacked the US Capitol.
“No thoughtful person could seriously believe that the president’s Jan. 6 speech on the Ellipse was in any way an incitement to violence or insurgency,” Van der Veen said.
He also backed away from the events of January 6, instead focusing on several cases from the past year in which he accused Democrats of using similar language and not doing enough to condemn violent protesters. .
“This unprecedented effort is not about Democrats who oppose political violence. These are the Democrats who try to disqualify their political opposition. It’s a culture of constitutional nullification, ”he said. “History will record this shameful effort as a deliberate attempt by the Democratic Party to smear, censor and annul not only President Trump, but the 75 million Americans who voted for him.”
At one point, Trump’s lawyers played a vast supercup of Democratic politicians by using the word “struggle” to try to make the case that Democrats were hypocritical to impeach Trump. But Democrats said Trump was not impeached just for using the word ‘struggle’ – he invited supporters to Washington on the day Congress counted the Electoral College, and after years of encouraging violence , he told his supporters to “fight” and come down. Capitol.
Democrats spent much of the week preparing some of these arguments. They released numerous videos in which the insurgents yelled at the police that they had been invited by Trump, and pointed to several court documents in which rioters accused of criminal offenses said they were acting at the behest of Trump.
“President Trump was not impeached for using words that the House deemed prohibited or unpopular. He has been indicted for inciting gun violence against the government of the United States of America, ”said David Cicillin, House impeachment officer earlier this week.
Jamie Raskin, the top Democratic House prosecutor, responded to the claim that Trump’s statements were protected by the First Amendment earlier in the week, saying it was “absurd.” While an ordinary citizen can demand the overthrow of the government, said Raskin, the President of the United States, who takes an oath to defend the nation from all enemies, cannot do the same.
“If you’re the President of the United States, you’ve chosen a side with your oath of office,” Raskin, a longtime constitutional law professor, said earlier this week. “And if you break it, we can indict, convict, remove and permanently disqualify you from any position of honor, trust or profit in the United States.”
Trump’s lawyers have indicated they intend to make a brief defense today.
Lawyers will likely try to redirect the responsibility of the former president to the only people who besieged the Capitol. They also plan to argue that his speech at the rally that day was protected by the First Amendment. Trump’s lawyers are likely to frame the impeachment trial as a rushed effort without due process, driven by personal animosity from Democrats, according to the Associated Press.
Although Trump’s team has 16 hours to make their case, they intend to spend only three or four hours doing so, Schoen told reporters on Thursday. Republicans want to conclude the trial quickly, according to Axios, after Democrats mount heavy lawsuits filled with heartbreaking videos.
Trump’s lawyers will enter their arguments knowing that 17 Republicans would have to vote to find Trump guilty in order to convict him. It is unlikely that so many Republicans will vote against the former president, increasing his chances of being acquitted.
Trump’s team could also revisit the argument that Trump cannot be impeached because he is no longer in office. A majority of senators – including six Republicans – rejected the argument after hearing hours of debate on the issue on Tuesday.
Friday will be the first time Trump’s lawyers have presented arguments at the trial since a difficult opening on Tuesday. Bruce Castor, a Pennsylvania district attorney acting as one of Trump’s attorneys, delivered winding opening remarks that were hard to follow, a performance that allegedly infuriated Trump.
Depending on the end of the proceedings, there could be a vote during the trial as early as Saturday.
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