Impeachment Briefing: A Combative Defense

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This is the Times newspaper’s impeachment briefing about the impeachment investigation. Sign up here to get it in your inbox.

what happened today

• Donald J. Trump’s lawyers provided a short defense, using only three of his allotted 16 hours.

• His lawyers claimed, contrary to the facts, that Mr. Trump had never glorified violence, and that he called his conduct false for the conduct of Democrats to make false statements.

• Senators on both sides submitted written questions that were answered by House managers and defense lawyers for Mr. Trump.

• At the break, Republican senators spoke positively of the defense. Far from any major changes, it is unlikely that there will be enough Senate votes to convict Mr. Trump.

• Officer Eugene Goodman, As a hero to divert the crowd and save the senators, to overcome the crisis on January 6, was given a standing ovation and would receive the Congressional Gold Medal.

• The trial was postponed until Saturday, when it is likely to conclude.

The defense presents its case

Mr Trump’s impeachment team presented an impenetrable defense of the former president, calling for the charge of the House, which he instigated an underwriting in the Capitol “Premeditated and Demonic Lies.”

• Just before the riots, Mr. Trump Told his supporters: “If you don’t fight like hell, you can’t go to the country anymore.” In an attempt to suggest a metaphor for political speeches, Mr. Trump’s lawyers submitted Video montage Elected Democrats and some celebrities pronounced the word “fight”.

• “Suddenly, is the word ‘fight’ off-limits?” Michael T., one of the lawyers hired in recent days to defend Mr. Trump. Van der wen. “Turn us away from hypocrisy and false indignation.”

• “Well, you have made the point that it is possible to use ‘fight’ in a metaphor,” said Adam Liptek, who covers the Supreme Court. In The Times live briefing. “The question is whether in context, Trump asked to fight in a physical sense.”

• Mr Trump’s lawyers dismissed the trial as a “constitutional annulment culture”. Bruce L. Kester Jr. said the impeachment was “about canceling 75 million Trump voters and criminalizing the political outlook.”

• Lawyers claimed that the riots were pre-indicated pipe bomb Which were planted before the rally. “You can’t do what was already going to happen,” Mr. Van der said.

• Mr van der Veen also said that the January 6 rally was “hijacked” by extremists, including many anti-leftists. But Republican leaders have rejected that claim. “Some say the cause of the riots was Antifa,” the House Minority Leader, Kevin McCarthySaid, last month. “There is absolutely no evidence, and conservatives should be the first to say so.” (For reference, here’s how Mr. Trump is used False statement about antifa as a smoke screen To the growing right-wing threat.)

• Lawyers leaned too heavily on Mr. Trump’s single use of the word “peacefully” as he urged backers to use the term at least 20 times in the Capitol when he used the word “fight.” “No thoughtful person could seriously believe that the President’s January 6 speech on Ellip was in any way inciting violence or rebellion,” Mr. van der Veen said. “This suggestion is absurd on his face. Nothing in the text can ever be taken as encouraging, condensing or abetting any kind of illegal activity. “

• The defense team argued that the Senate “lacks prior jurisdiction”, even trying to get a former president out of office, was Mr. Trump’s conduct Protected by the first amendment And it came nowhere near the legal definition for “inciting”. In a letter last week, 144 major amendment lawyers and constitutional scholars from across the First Political Amendment “called that argument”Legally trivial. “

• Lawyers for the Trump team also intensified the lawsuit, claiming that Mr. Trump was not given due process. “Trump lawyers complain that they ‘haven’t got enough time to look at the evidence,'” said Mark Leibovich, head national correspondent for Times magazine. “But of course, the evidence was mostly in plain view first.”

What else are we studying

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