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WASHINGTON (AP) – Comments by supporters of Donald Trump accused of participating in the deadly riot on the US Capitol may end up being used against him in his Senate impeachment trial as he faces the charge of inciting a violent insurgency.
At least five supporters facing federal charges suggested they were taking orders from then-president when they marched on Capitol Hill on January 6 to challenge the certification of Joe Biden’s election victory. But now those comments, captured in interviews with reporters and federal agents, are likely to take center stage as Democrats lay out their case. This is the first time that a former president has faced such accusations after stepping down.
“I feel like I’m following my president. I was following what we were called to do. He asked us to fly there. He asked us to be there, ”Jenna Ryan, a Texas real estate agent who posted a photo of herself flashing a sign on Twitter, told a Dallas-Fort Worth television station. peace next to a broken window in the Capitol.
Jacob Chansley, the man from Arizona pictured on the Senate dais who was shirtless and wearing face paint and a furry hat with horns, also pointed the finger at Trump.
Chansley called the FBI the day after the insurgency and told agents he surrendered “at the president’s request that all ‘patriots’ come to Washington on January 6, 2021,” authorities wrote in court documents.
Chanley’s lawyer lobbied unsuccessfully for his client’s pardon before Trump’s term ended, saying Chansley “felt like he was answering our President’s call.” Authorities say on the dais in the Senate Chamber, Chansley wrote a threatening note to then-Vice President Mike Pence, who said, “It’s only a matter of time, justice is coming.”
Trump is the first president to be indicted twice and the first to stand trial after leaving office. Load this time “incites violence against the government of the United States”. His impeachment lawyer, Butch Bowers, did not respond to the call for comment.
The opening arguments for the trial will begin the week of February 8. House Democrats who voted to impeach Trump last week for instigating an assault on Capitol Hill say a full toll is needed before the country – and Congress – can move on.
For weeks, Trump rallied his supporters against the election result and urged them to come to Capitol Hill on Jan.6 to rage over Biden’s victory. Trump spoke to crowds near the White House shortly before walking along Pennsylvania Avenue to Capitol Hill.
“We will never give up. We will never concede. It doesn’t happen, ”Trump said. “You don’t concede in the event of theft. Our country has had enough. We won’t take any more. ”
Later he said, “If you don’t fight like a devil, you won’t have a country.” He told supporters to walk to Capitol Hill to “peacefully and patriotically” make your voice heard.
Trump took no responsibility for his role in fomenting violence, saying a few days after the attack: “People thought what I said was very appropriate.”
Unlike a criminal trial, where there are strict rules about what and what does not constitute evidence, the Senate can consider whatever it wishes. And if they can show that Trump’s words had a real impact, so much the better, and the researchers are waiting for him in the trial.
“ Bringing in the statements of these people is part of the evidence that it would be at least reasonable for a rational person to expect that if you said and did the things Trump said and did, then they would be understood. precisely the way these people understood. them, ”said Frank Bowman, a constitutional law expert and law professor at the University of Missouri.
A retired Pennsylvania firefighter told a friend that he traveled to Washington with a group of people and the group listened to Trump’s speech, then “followed the president’s instructions” and went. made it to Capitol Hill, an agent wrote in court documents. This man, Robert Sanford, is accused of throwing a fire extinguisher that hit three Capitol Hill police officers.
Another man, Robert Bauer of Kentucky, told FBI agents that “he walked to the United States Capitol because President Trump said to do so,” authorities wrote. His cousin, Edward Hemenway, of Virginia, told the FBI he and Bauer were on their way to the Capitol after Trump said “something about the capture of Pennsylvania Avenue.”
More than 130 people on Friday were facing federal charges; prosecutors have promised more cases – and more serious charges – will come up.
Most of those arrested so far are charged with crimes such as illegal entry and disorderly conduct, but prosecutors this week filed conspiracy charges against three self-proclaimed members. of a paramilitary group which, according to the authorities, plotted the attack. A special group of prosecutors is considering whether to bring sedition charges, which carry up to 20 years in prison, against one of the rioters.
Two-thirds of the Senate are needed to convict. And while many Republicans – including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky – have condemned Trump’s words, it’s still unclear how many would vote to condemn him.
“While the statements of these people somehow bolster the House Director’s case, I think President Trump benefited from a Republican Party that was unwilling to consider the evidence,” said Michael Gerhardt , a professor at the University of North Carolina school. of Law who testified before the House Judiciary Committee during Trump’s first impeachment hearings in 2019.
“They supported him throughout the first impeachment process, thinking the phone call with the President of Ukraine was perfect and I’m sure they will think it was a perfect speech too. There is no indication yet that they would think otherwise, ”said Gerhardt.
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Richer reported from Boston.
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