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Former President Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial is an unconstitutional act of “political theater” on the part of Democrats who ignored key facts about the Capitol riot in their rush to try, his lawyers argued in a long written defense on Monday.
75-page trial memorandum says Trump “inciting insurgency” charge is belied by the words he actually spoke to his supporters before they stormed the halls of Congress – as well as evidence showing that the attack was in fact planned.
“One might have been excused to think that the Democrats’ feverish hatred for Citizen Trump and their ‘Trump inconvenience syndrome’ would have broken down now, since he is no longer president, and yet for the second time in a little over a year. the United States Senate is preparing to sit as an impeachment court, but this time on a private citizen who is a former president, ”his lawyers wrote.
With the trial set to begin Tuesday, Trump’s lawyers accused Democrats of seeking to “create a mechanism for them to silence a political opponent and a minority party,” and urged the Senate to “summarily reject this brazen political act” .
“The truth is, the people who criminally violated the Capitol did so on their own and for their own reasons,” lawyers Bruce Castor, David Schoen and Michael van der Veen say in the new case.
Trump’s defense will argue that the trial is unconstitutional and that careful analysis of Trump’s words in a pre-riot speech and then rid him of his wrongdoing.
“Sir. Trump concluded his speech at the Ellipse by stating ‘[s]o let’s go down Pennsylvania Avenue. I want to thank you all. God bless you and God bless America. Thank you all for being here, it’s amazing. Thank you so much. Thank you, ”the file says.
“Despite House Managers’ accusations against Mr. Trump, his statements cannot and reasonably cannot be interpreted as a call for immediate violence or a call for the violent overthrow of the United States government.”
During the pre-riot speech, Trump told his supporters he had been defrauded of his re-election and urged his supporters to “fight like hell” to persuade lawmakers to invalidate voters in swing states. Skirmishes near the Capitol began before the end of the speech.
Five people died when Trump supporters broke into the Capitol building and disrupted President Biden’s certification of victory.
The record suggests there will be an intense focus on the timeline of Trump’s words, including after rioters crash into the building. Democrats and some Republicans say Trump took too long on Twitter to demand an end to the siege.
Trump’s lawyers write: “The House Managers’ suggestion that President Trump did not move quickly enough to quell the violence is absolutely not true. Upon hearing reports of the violence, he tweeted, begging the crowd to be ‘peaceful’, followed by a tweeted video urging people to ‘go home’ and do so in ‘peace’.
According to video analysis, the building’s first breach occurred at 2:12 p.m. on January 6. Trump’s first post-break-in tweet said at 2:38 p.m., “Please support our Capitol Police and Law Enforcement. They are really on the side of our country. Stay in peace! “
Trump’s legal team also argues that Trump’s First Amendment right to free speech is undermined by the lawsuit and the process violates the Constitution because Trump is now a former president.
And lawyers are responding to a claim by Democrats that the trial is permitted under an 1876 precedent. The House was impeached and the Senate tried a former cabinet member, William Belknap, for accepting bribes. -vin as secretary of war.
Trump’s lawyers write: “While historical accounts suggest that few senators thought Belknap was innocent, the majority of those who voted to acquit him did so because they did not believe the Senate had jurisdiction over condemn someone who was no longer in office.
17 Senate Republicans are unlikely to vote to condemn if necessary. Although Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Ait said the rioters were “provoked by the President” and he was open to sentencing, he joined 45 of the 50 Republicans who voted not to allow the trial because it would be unconstitutional.
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