Prosecutors contend that Trump 'became the inciter in principal' and retell riot with explicit video.
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'Ex-President Trump Was No Innocent Eyewitness,' Raskin Says
Representative Jamie Raskin, the lead impeachment manager, said prove will demonstrate that former President Trump abandoned his duties as commander in chief to become "the inciter in principal."
The show will show you that ex-President Trump was no innocent bystander. The evidence will evidence that he clearly incited the January. 6 coup. Information technology will testify that Donald Trump surrendered his role as commander in chief and became the inciter in master of a dangerous coup. And this was, as one of our colleagues put it, so cogently on Jan. 6 itself, the greatest expose of the presidential oath in the history of the The states. The bear witness will show you that he saw it coming, and was not remotely surprised by the violence. And when the violence inexorably and inevitably came every bit predicted, and overran this body in the House of Representatives with chaos, we will show you that he completely abdicated his duty as commander in chief to end the violence, and protect the regime and protect our officers and protect our people. Wait, if you're president of the United states, you've chosen to side with your oath of office. And if you break it, we tin impeach, convict, remove and disqualify y'all permanently from holding any office of accolade, trust or profit under the U.s.. Equally Justice Scalia once said memorably, "You can't ride with the cops and root for the robbers." And if you go inciter in chief to the insurrection, you can't look to exist on the payroll every bit commander in primary for the union.
Representative Jamie Raskin, the lead impeachment manager, said evidence will demonstrate that old President Trump abandoned his duties as commander in chief to get "the inciter in chief."CreditCredit...Erin Schaff/The New York Times
House Democrats prosecuting former President Donald J. Trump on Wednesday showed disturbing, never-earlier-seen video footage of his supporters rampaging into the Capitol last month and searching for onetime Vice President Mike Pence and Speaker Nancy Pelosi to harm or even kill them.
In powerful images played for a silent, sober Senate chamber, the House managers put the horror of the January. half-dozen siege on vivid display as rioters smashed their mode into the building, overwhelmed police officers and marched through the halls seeking to end the counting of the Electoral College votes and hunt down those perceived as Mr. Trump's antagonists.
The footage from Capitol security cameras showed Mr. Pence, who alienated Mr. Trump's supporters past refusing to try to overturn the election, being rushed by Hugger-mugger Service officers down a staircase to escape invaders calling for his expiry. Ms. Pelosi's staff members were shown barricading themselves into an office merely minutes before the mob arrived and tried to intermission down the door.
"They were within 100 feet of where the vice president was sheltering with his family, and they were just feet away from the doors of this sleeping accommodation where many of you remained at that time," Stacey Plaskett, a Democratic consul from the Virgin Islands and one of the House impeachment managers, told the senators sitting every bit jurors.
She and other managers played police dispatch audio recordings and cited legal filings, social media postings and videos to make clear that the rioters posed a serious danger to Mr. Pence, Ms. Pelosi and other lawmakers as well as to law officers.
"Hang Mike Pence! Hang Mike Pence!" the crowd could be heard chanting. Outside the Capitol, where a gallows had been gear up, others called out, "Bring out Pence!" One rioter taped a video maxim, "He's a full treasonous squealer."
They besides were hunting down Ms. Pelosi, and the man famously photographed sitting at her desk was shown conveying a 950,000-volt stun gun. "Where are you, Nancy?" some called out. "We're looking for you!"
"Once more, that was a mob sent by the president of the United states of america to stop the certification of an ballot," Ms. Plaskett told the Senate.
"President Trump," she added, "put a target on their backs and his mob broke into the Capitol to hunt them down."
The new footage came every bit the House managers formally opened their example that Mr. Trump incited an insurrection by arguing that his provocation began months before the 24-hour interval of the riot, equally he propagated a "Big Lie" to persuade supporters that his re-election was being stolen.
Erin Schaff/The New York Times
Erin Schaff/The New York Times
Erin Schaff/The New York Times
Erin Schaff/The New York Times
"Donald Trump surrendered his role as commander in chief and became the inciter in primary of a dangerous insurrection," Representative Jamie Raskin, Democrat of Maryland and the atomic number 82 manager, told the senators.
"He told them to 'fight like hell,'" Mr. Raskin added, "and they brought united states of america hell that day."
Representative Joe Neguse, Democrat of Colorado and another manager, played clips of Mr. Trump asserting even earlier the ballot that "the merely way we tin can lose" is if the other side cheated, priming his base to reject any result other than a victory for him and and so egging them on with repeated phrases like "stop the steal" and "fight like hell."
The managers showed the former president's messages encouraging backers to come to Washington on Jan. 6 to protest the election results. They too methodically assembled online chats reportedly monitored past Mr. Trump's operatives in which his supporters used aggressive language suggesting an intent to utilise violence to terminate the Electoral College count.
After the retelling of the storming of the Capitol, the managers turned to Mr. Trump's response that day, walking senators through his reaction during the siege.
With his Twitter account suspended, Mr. Trump remained silent on Wednesday and left his case to his lawyers, who did not print senators in either party with their opening foray on Tuesday and under the bipartisan rules did not speak on Wed.
The lawyers have maintained that the former president'south language was protected free oral communication and inappreciably incitement of violence or insurrection.
"There is no set of facts that ever justifies abrogating the freedoms granted to Americans in the United states Constitution," Bruce 50. Brush Jr., 1 of the lawyers, said on Fox News on Wednesday.
House Managers Show Previously Unseen Capitol Riot Footage
House managers presented security videos and police audio recordings that had non been made public as they reconstructed the Jan. vi riot on the 2d day of one-time President Trump'southward impeachment trial.
"Radio communications from the Metropolitan Police Department highlight how, during and and post-obit President Trump'southward speech, Trump supporters descended on the Capitol, and became increasingly violent. What you lot are nigh to hear has non been made public earlier." "In some other radio communication between Metropolitan Police officers, you can hear an officeholder declare that there is a anarchism at the majuscule at 1:49 p.m." "Nosotros are seeing the within view as the mob approaches from outside and beats the windows and doors. Y'all can encounter that the rioters first bankrupt the window with the wooden beam that yous saw previously, and a solitary police officer inside responds and begins to spray the showtime human being who enters, but is quickly overwhelmed. I want you to pay attending to the starting time group of assailants every bit they break into the building. The 2d man through the window is wearing full tactical trunk armor and is carrying a baseball bat. Others are carrying riot shields. Among this group are members of the Proud Boys, some of whom, like Dominic Pezzola, who was recently indicted on federal conspiracy charges, we will discuss later. In this security footage, you can run into Officer Goodman running to respond to the initial breach. Officer Goodman passes Senator Mitt Romney, and directs him to plough around in order to go to condom. On the first floor, merely beneath them, the mob had already started to search for the Senate chamber. Officer Goodman fabricated his manner down to the showtime floor. On the left-hand side of the video, just inside the hallway, is the door to the Senate bedroom. And sentinel how officer Goodman provokes the rioters and purposefully draws them away from the door to the Senate chamber and towards the other officers waiting downward the hall. The rioter seen carrying a baseball bat in this video is the same 1 we saw moments ago, breaching the window on the first floor. While all of this was going on, Vice President Pence was nevertheless in the room near the Senate chamber. Information technology was non until to 2:26 that he was evacuated to a secure location. This adjacent security video shows that evacuation. His movements are depicted by the orangish dot in our model — the red and bluish dots represent the location where the mob and Officeholder Goodman were, and where Officer Goodman led the mob away from the bedchamber, just moments ago. You tin meet Vice President Pence and his family quickly moved downwardly the stairs. The vice president turns effectually briefly every bit he's headed down. Most the aforementioned time Capitol Police announced the Capitol had been breached, Speaker Pelosi'southward staff heeded the call to shelter in place. As y'all can run across here, the staff moves from their offices, through the halls, then enters a door on the correct mitt side. That's the outer door of a conference room, which likewise has an inner door that they barricaded with furniture. The staff and so hid under a briefing room table in that inner room. This is the last staffer going in and then barricading themselves inside of the inner office. After only vii minutes of them barricading themselves, and the last staffer entering the door on the right, a group of rioters entered the hallway exterior. And in one case inside, the rioters accept gratuitous rein in the speaker of the House's offices. In this security video, pay attending to the door that nosotros saw those staffers leading into and going into. One of the rioters, you can see, is throwing his body confronting the door three times until he breaks open that outer door. Luckily, when faced with the inner door, he moves on." "This security footage, which does not take audio, shows a close-up of Trump'due south mob as they move toward the 2nd floor of the House chamber to finish the counting of votes. This security video shows Ashli Babbitt, followed by others in the mob, turning the corner toward the House anteroom doors where the members were leaving. This security video from 2:56 p.m. shows the mob in the House of Representatives wing on the second flooring of the Capitol. Insurrectionists who are notwithstanding inside the building are fighting with the police, who are overwhelmed and trying to get them out. In this security video, you lot tin meet how the Capitol Police created a line and blocked the hallway with their bodies to preclude rioters at the stop of the hall from reaching you and your staff. Additional security footage shows how leader Schumer and the members of his protective particular had a near miss with the mob. They came within just yards of rioters and had to turn around. Going up the ramp with his detail, he'll soon leave of view. Seconds later, they return and run back down the hallway, and officers immediately shut the door and apply their bodies to keep them safe. Here's an audio recording from the radio traffic of the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department describing the violence." "In a separate Metropolitan Police Department radio traffic recording, you can hear an officer when he realizes that the insurrectionists had overtaken the law line." "Hours after members of the House and Senate had left this area, on the west front of the building, the mob continued to grow, connected to beat the officers as they tried to arrive. In this new security video, you can come across the mob attacking officers with a crutch, a hockey stick, a bullhorn and a Trump flag."
Business firm managers presented security videos and police sound recordings that had not been fabricated public as they reconstructed the Jan. half-dozen riot on the second 24-hour interval of erstwhile President Trump'southward impeachment trial.CreditCredit...Senate Television, via Associated Printing
Whispered, panicked calls from terrified staff members barricaded in an office. Violent scenes of smashed windows and kicked-open up doors. Frenzied sound between Capitol Constabulary officers.
On the 2nd solar day of the impeachment trial, the House impeachment managers showed senators previously unseen Capitol security footage, offering a spooky portrait of the violence unleashed by the pro-Trump mob at the Capitol on Jan. vi.
The new show was introduced by Delegate Stacey Plaskett of the Virgin Islands, who crafted a methodical narrative of the mean solar day, marking each new video with a time stamp. Representative Eric Swalwell, Democrat of California, continued the presentation.
As she began, Ms. Plaskett recalled the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and reports that a plane that was heading for the Capitol.
"Almost every twenty-four hour period, I recollect that 44 Americans gave their lives to stop the aeroplane that was headed to this Capitol edifice," said Ms. Plaskett, who was working equally an aide at the time. "I thank them every day for saving my life and the life of so many others. Those Americans sacrificed their lives for honey of country, honor, duty, all the things that America means. The Capitol stands considering of people like that."
Equally each new video and audio prune was introduced, a map of the Capitol remained at the lesser corner of the screen, where a red dot traced the progress of the rioters in the building as more violent images flickered across the screen.
In one scene, Senator Mitt Romney, Republican of Utah, was walking through a corridor where he encountered Eugene Goodman, a Capitol Police officeholder, who appeared to warn him of the rioters' progress. Mr. Romney broke into a run.
Security footage from within the Capitol showed the mob kickoff smashing through windows to breach the building, before turning to other doors to suspension them open up from the inside, as rioters flooded in. Ms. Plaskett recalled the threats the rioters publicly made against the lives of Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and Vice President Mike Pence.
"They were talking most assassinating the vice president of the United States," Ms. Plaskett said. She added that Mr. Pence and his family never left the Capitol during the siege.
After playing scenes of lawmakers and their staff scrambling to safety, Ms. Plaskett played audio of terrified staff members from Ms. Pelosi'south office, who were barricaded in a room.
"We need the Capitol Law to come up into the hallway," said one, whispering into a phone in hopes that the rioters outside would not hear.
Mr. Swalwell introduced peradventure the nigh gruesome video, depicting the moment that Ashli Babbitt, one of the rioters, was killed, alert viewers before he played the clip that it would be graphic.
Every bit the impeachment managers played videos and never-before-heard recordings of radio communications from Capitol Police on Jan. six, senators from both parties sat in rapt silence. Many strained for a better view. In the back row on the Autonomous side, Senators Mark Warner of Virginia and Michael Bennet of Colorado stood up to watch.
On the Republican side, senators showed little emotion but were paying close attention. Many turned their heads from the video screens only to take notes.
Day 2 ended in procedural chaos as Senator Mike Lee asked for his name to be struck from the prosecution'southward arguments.
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Credit...Alyssa Schukar for The New York Times
An emotional second day of the trial concluded in procedural chaos as a Republican senator objected to testimony that cited him every bit a source for a chat former President Donald J. Trump had during the Capitol attack that is at the eye of the case.
In the concluding 60 minutes of arguments on Midweek, Representative David Cicilline, Democrat of Rhode Island and one of the impeachment managers, spoke of Mr. Trump mistakenly calling Senator Mike Lee, Republican of Utah, in an endeavour to reach Senator Tommy Tuberville, Republican of Alabama. In describing the phone call, which was detailed in news reports, Mr. Cicilline asserted that Mr. Lee had stood by every bit Mr. Trump asked Mr. Tuberville to make additional objections to the certification of President Biden'southward electoral votes.
Equally Mr. Cicilline spoke, Mr. Lee could exist seen writing furiously on a notepad in big letters: "This is not what happened." When Democrats concluded their arguments for the day, Mr. Lee invoked an impeachment rule that allows senators to raise questions during the trial, including most the admissibility of evidence, and asked that the statements well-nigh him be struck as faux.
Senator Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont, the presiding officer for the impeachment trial, ruled the asking as out of guild. Mr. Leahy, who consulted with the Senate parliamentarian, pointed to a rule specific to this impeachment trial that allows the House managers to include elements in their oral arguments that were not in their original pretrial submissions.
A visibly outraged Mr. Lee demanded an appeal.
"My point was to strike them because they were false," he said.
Equally some lawmakers, including Senator Joe Manchin 3, Democrat of West Virginia, demanded that Mr. Lee explicate why the description was simulated, the murmuring and confusion amongst senators and staff temporarily derailed the concluding moments of the day'south proceedings.
Later a series of intense huddles on the floor, where Mr. Lee could exist heard insisting that he did not brand those statements, Representative Jamie Raskin, Democrat of Maryland and the lead impeachment manager, agreed to have dorsum the words. But he reserved the ability to bring the event upward again and litigate it later in the trial.
"Nosotros're going to withdraw it this night and without any prejudice to the ability to resubmit information technology, if possible," Mr. Raskin said. "We can debate it if we need it. Merely it's not — this is much ado about nix, because it's not critical in whatsoever way to our case."
As Mr. Raskin spoke, Mr. Lee could exist heard beyond the Senate chamber making a snide antiphon: "You're not the one beingness cited every bit a witness, sir."
Prosecutors depict Trump'southward 'Big Lie' of a stolen election.
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Credit...Ruth Fremson/The New York Times
Convicting former President Donald J. Trump will be a challenge for impeachment managers, only they were intent on using the big stage on Midweek to achieve a concurrent objective: decisively discrediting his simulated claims about the election.
The managers labeled Mr. Trump's long avalanche of distortions "the Big Lie," borrowing an expression from the Nazi era used to describe a falsehood so enormous and widely disseminated that it became difficult to deny.
"Let's start with the Big Prevarication," said Representative Joe Neguse, Democrat of Colorado, arguing that Mr. Trump's fake claims almost the election were at the heart of the case and led to the explosive reaction after his Jan. 6 rally.
Despite dozens of lawsuits and extensive recounts in many states, recent polls prove that a majority of Republicans still believe the election was marred by irregularities — including a survey last calendar month showing that 83 percent of Texas Republicans believed "widespread fraud" occurred in 2020.
To brand their case against Mr. Trump, the impeachment managers first set out to recount his debunked claims, flooding the chamber with video of his unsupported pronouncements of a "rigged" ballot.
"The president realized really by last spring that he could lose, he might lose the ballot. And so what did he do?" Mr. Neguse said. "He started planting the seeds to go some of his supporters ready by saying that he could simply lose the election if it was stolen."
Adjacent, Representative Joaquin Castro, Democrat of Texas, dismissed arguments by Mr. Trump's legal squad that the former president was simply exercising his gratuitous speech rights, like any other American.
"A prevarication tin do incredible damage and destruction. And that's particularly true when that lie is told past the virtually powerful person on World: our commander in primary, the president of the United States," Mr. Castro said. He added that the anarchism "did not come from one speech, and information technology didn't happen past accident."
Most leading Republicans have publicly accepted the legitimacy of President Biden'due south decisive election. Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the bulk leader, recently accused Mr. Trump and his circle of feeding "lies" to loyalists.
Merely Mr. McConnell and other Republicans waited weeks afterward the ballot was decided to formally acknowledge the new administration, for fear of offending Mr. Trump.
Impeachment managers raise the role of racism in the Capitol riot.
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Impeachment Managing director Describes Racism at Capitol Riot
Representative Jamie Raskin, the lead impeachment managing director, concluded his opening remarks by quoting one of the Black law officers who faced racist attacks while contesting the pro-Trump anarchism in the Capitol.
One of our Capitol officers who dedicated us that 24-hour interval was a longtime veteran of our force, a brave and honorable public servant who spent several hours battling the mob as office of ane of those blue lines defending the Capitol in our democracy. For several hours directly, every bit the marauders punched and kicked and mauled, and spit upon and hitting officers with baseball bats and fire extinguishers cursed the cops and stormed our Capitol, he defended us, and he lived every minute of his oath of office. And afterwards, overwhelmed by emotion, he broke downwards in the Rotunda. And he cried for 15 minutes. And he shouted out, "I got called an 'n-discussion' 15 times today." And then he reporter, "I saturday down with one of my buddies, another Black guy, and tears but started streaming down my face. And I said, what the f man — is this, America?" That's the question before all of y'all in this trial. Is this America? Can our country and our republic e'er be the same if we don't hold accountable the person responsible for inciting the vehement attack against our state, our Capitol and our commonwealth, and all of those who serve united states so faithfully and honorably? Is this America?
Representative Jamie Raskin, the lead impeachment director, ended his opening remarks by quoting one of the Black police officers who faced racist attacks while battling the pro-Trump riot in the Capitol.CreditCredit...Erin Schaff/The New York Times
The impeachment managers opened their argument for convicting old President Donald J. Trump on Wednesday with a blunt charge that the pro-Trump mob responsible for storming the Capitol was, in role, motivated by racism.
Representative Jamie Raskin, the Maryland Democrat leading the prosecution on behalf of House Democrats, concluded his opening remarks on the second mean solar day of Mr. Trump's impeachment trial in the Senate by invoking the role played by rioters linked to white supremacist groups.
On the day of the attacks, Jan. six, some of the rioters brandished Confederate flags within the Capitol, something that never happened during the Civil War era, while some demonstrators outside the building set upwardly a noose, a chilling echo of the intimidation tactics used against Blacks in the South.
And Mr. Raskin, as he did a 24-hour interval earlier, cast his exclamation in deeply personal terms.
He quoted one of the Black officers who battled the mob that day describing his despair at existence subjected to racist taunts from a crowd of attackers that was, co-ordinate to witness accounts and video, overwhelmingly white.
"Afterward, overwhelmed by emotion, he bankrupt down in the rotunda. And he cried for 15 minutes," Mr. Raskin said, referring to an commodity published terminal month in BuzzFeed News that quoted several wearied defenders of the Capitol anonymously.
"And he shouted out, I got chosen an Northward-discussion 15 times today. And then he recorded, I sat downwardly with one of my buddies, some other Black guy in tears, just started streaming down my face, and I said what the F, man, is this America?" Mr. Raskin said, paraphrasing the account to clean upward the language.
A mean solar day before, Democrats highlighted the heroism of Eugene Goodman, a Black Capitol Law officeholder, who diverted dozens of aroused rioters from where legislators and journalists were hiding, putting himself at nifty risk. Footage of Mr. Goodman coaxing the demonstrators to follow him was featured in a graphic 13-minute video shown to the Senate on Tuesday.
Weeks before Election Solar day, Mr. Trump condemned white supremacist groups after initially refusing to denounce their activities during a presidential debate.
Stacey Plaskett, the House delegate from the U.S. Virgin Islands, gets a high-contour function at the trial.
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Plaskett Recalls Sept. xi in Impeachment Trial Speech
Delegate Stacey Plaskett of the Virgin Islands recalled existence at the Capitol during the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, every bit she described scenes of the pro-Trump mob violence at the Capitol on Jan. vi.
When I kickoff saw this model that was created for this, I thought dorsum to Sept. xi. I know a lot of you senators were here, some of you might have been members on the House side. I was also here on Sept. 11. I was a staffer at that time. My office was on the west front end of the Capitol. I worked in the Capitol, and I was on the House side. This year is 20 years since the attacks of Sept. 11, and about every day I remember that 44 Americans gave their lives to stop the plane that was headed to this Capitol building. I thank them every day for saving my life and the life of and then many others. Those Americans sacrificed their lives for love of land, laurels, duty, all the things that America means. The Capitol stands because of people like that. This Capitol that was conceived by our founding fathers, that was built past slaves, that remains through the cede of servicemen and women around the earth. And when I recollect of that, and I recall of these insurgents, these images, incited by our own president of the U.s. attacking this Capitol to stop the certification of a presidential election, our democracy, our commonwealth.
Delegate Stacey Plaskett of the Virgin Islands recalled being at the Capitol during the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, as she described scenes of the pro-Trump mob violence at the Capitol on Jan. vi.CreditCredit...Senate Television, via Associated Press
As the consul from the U.Due south. Virgin Islands, Stacey Plaskett could not vote when the House impeached former President Donald J. Trump final month.
But she assumed a front end-and-center office at his Senate trial on Wed, narrating the first part of the presentation of the storming of the Capitol, which featured a string of videos, including previously unseen footage from security cameras.
Ms. Plaskett, 54, a Democrat, is one of nine House impeachment managers for Mr. Trump's second impeachment trial. Named last month by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, they are serving as the prosecution team for the trial.
Built-in in Brooklyn, Ms. Plaskett served as an banana commune attorney in the Bronx, and she also worked at the Justice Section and as a congressional staff fellow member. Equally part of her presentation on Wednesday, she recalled being at the Capitol on Sept. eleven, 2001, when she was working as an aide at that place.
She was elected in 2014 as the delegate from the Virgin Islands and is now in her 4th term.
The meaning of incitement may differ in a court than in an impeachment trial.
Firm impeachment managers argued that former President Donald Trump had convinced his supporters over months that the election was stolen, incited the Jan. 6 riots and refused to stop the mob.
"Now, I want to be very clear about what nosotros volition show you during the course of this trial. As my fellow managers nowadays our case to you lot today, tonight, tomorrow, it'll be helpful to remember about President Trump's incitement of insurrection in three distinct parts. The provocation, the attack and the harm. Permit's start with the provocation. We will prove during the class of this trial that this assault was provoked by the president, incited by the president. And as a result, information technology was predictable and information technology was foreseeable. And as you evaluate the facts that we nowadays to you lot, it volition get clear exactly where that mob came from." "You saw President Trump prime for months, his supporters to believe that if the election was lost, it just could take been and then because it was rigged. Simply that took time. Just like to build a fire, it doesn't just starting time with the flames. Donald Trump for months and months assembled the tinder, the kindling threw on logs for fuel to take his supporters believe that the only way their victory would be lost was if it was stolen. So that style, President Trump was ready if he lost the ballot, to light the lucifer. And on Nov. 7, after all the votes were counted, President Trump did lose by seven meg votes. But for Donald Trump, all was not lost. He had a backup plan: Instead of accepting the results or pursuing legitimate claims, he told his base more than lies. He doused the flames with kerosene." "I'll start past discussing President Trump'due south actions leading upwardly to the ballot when he ready his big lie. Beginning in the spring of 2020, President Trump began to fall backside in the polls. And past July, President Trump had reached a new low. He was running xv points backside his opponent. And he was scared. He began to believe that he could legitimately lose the election. And and so he did something entirely unprecedented in the history of our nation. He refused to commit to a peaceful transition of power." "Permit'south start with Dec. 12. You will see during this trial a man who praised and encouraged and cultivated violence. 'We have merely begun to fight,' he says, more than a calendar month after the election has taken place. On December. nineteen, 18 days earlier Jan. 6, he told his base of operations about where the battle would be, that they would fight next: January. 6 would be wild, he promised. 'Be there, volition be wild!' said the president of the United states. They were invited here past the president of the United States of America. And when they showed upwards, knowing of these reports that the oversupply was angry and it was armed, here'south what Donald Trump told them. 'If y'all don't fight similar hell, you're not going to have a country anymore.' And so he aimed directly at the Capitol declaring, 'You'll never take dorsum our country with weakness. You have to show forcefulness, and you have to exist strong.' He told them to fight like hell, and they brought united states hell." "Past 2:15 P.K., the crowd was chanting in unison, 'Hang Mike Pence' outside the very building he had been evacuated from with his family unit. Now, even if President Trump didn't know that his inflammatory remarks about his vice president would upshot in chants of 'Hang Mike Pence,' by 2:15 P.M., he surely knew." "Even when President Trump knew what his words were causing, he didn't practice any of those things to stop the crowd."
House impeachment managers argued that old President Donald Trump had convinced his supporters over months that the election was stolen, incited the Jan. 6 riots and refused to stop the mob.CreditCredit...Erin Schaff/The New York Times
When Donald J. Trump was running for president in 2016, he pointed to some protesters at one of his rallies and told the crowd to "get 'em out of here." The protesters, who said they were then viciously assaulted, sued him for inciting a riot.
Mr. Trump won the accommodate. A federal appeals courtroom, relying on a case concerning the Ku Klux Klan, ruled that his exhortation was protected by the First Amendment. And now his lawyers are making the same argument at his impeachment trial, where he stands accused of inciting an insurrection.
But Democrats say that argument misses two fundamental points. An impeachment trial, they debate, is concerned with abuses of official power, meaning that statements that may be legally defensible when uttered by a private individual can notwithstanding exist grounds for impeachment.
Equally important, they say that Mr. Trump's statements on Jan. 6 should not be considered in isolation just as the final effort of a calculated, monthslong campaign to violate his adjuration of office in an try to retain power.
Stacey E. Plaskett, a Democratic delegate from the Virgin Islands and an impeachment manager, said Mr. Trump'southward statements were the culmination of a blueprint of conduct that deliberately encouraged lawlessness. "Donald Trump over many months cultivated violence, praised information technology," she said. "And then when he saw the violence his supporters were capable of, he channeled it to his big, wild historic event."
Mr. Trump's telephone call to the crowd in 2016 had none of that baggage, merely Approximate David J. Hale of the Federal District Courtroom in Louisville, Ky., allowed a lawsuit against him to proceed, writing that incitement is a capacious term. Quoting Black'southward Law Lexicon, he wrote that information technology was defined every bit 'the act or an instance of provoking, urging on or stirring upward,' or, in criminal law, 'the human activity of persuading another person to commit a crime.'"
Just the United States Courtroom of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, in Cincinnati, reversed Gauge Hale's conclusion, ruling that the Supreme Court's decision in Brandenburg v. Ohio protected Mr. Trump. "In the ears of some supporters, Trump's words may have had a trend to arm-twist a physical response, in the issue a disruptive protester refused to exit," Judge David W. McKeague wrote for the bulk, "merely they did not specifically abet such a response."
It was significant, too, Judge McKeague wrote, that Mr. Trump had added a caveat to his exhortation, co-ordinate to the lawsuit. "Don't hurt 'em," Mr. Trump said. "If I say 'go get 'em,' I go far problem with the printing."
Mr. Trump offered a similarly mixed message on Jan. 6. Fifty-fifty as he urged his supporters to "go to the Capitol" and "fight like hell," he also made at least one milder comment. "I know that everyone hither will presently be marching over to the Capitol edifice to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard," he said.
Ordinary courts might consider the speech in isolation and credit the occasional calmer passage. But the Business firm managers are urging the Senate to hold a president to a different standard, one that takes business relationship of the months of actions and statements leading to the spoken language and that holds him responsible for whatsoever call to violence or lawlessness.
Two Times videos show Trump's persistent election lies echoed by rioters at the Capitol.
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Credit...Doug Mills/The New York Times
In a 38-infinitesimal video, The New York Times uses former President Donald J. Trump's own words to prove how his persistent repetition of lies created an alternating reality in which he won re-ballot. A second video shows evidence of rioters mimicking and amplifying Mr. Trump'southward language during the deadly assault on the Capitol on Jan. 6.
In hundreds of public statements on tape from November. 4 to Jan. vi, Mr. Trump repeatedly said he "won the ballot by a landslide" and that the election was "rigged" and "stolen" past the Democrats. Such assertions have been proven imitation by courts and ballot officials across the country. Mr. Trump'south language as well signaled to his supporters that they needed to "fight" to "have dorsum our country."
Mr. Trump's lawyers say the former president did not "direct" his supporters to storm the Capitol. However, according to Timothy Snyder, a history professor at Yale University, "you lot're not commonly going to find a leader telling you exactly what to do."
Instead, there's a "vague directive," which followers sharpen and human activity on, said Professor Snyder, who has written extensively nearly similarities between Mr. Trump'southward language and that of authoritarian rulers. "That is exactly what Trump did," he said.
A graphic, 13-infinitesimal video of the Jan. 6 riot moved hearts just not necessarily minds in the Senate.
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Watch Full Video: Impeachment Prosecution
During Tuesday's impeachment proceedings, the prosecution played a video with graphic images and explicit language detailing the events of Jan. 6.
"Nosotros will stop the steal." [cheering] "Today, I volition lay out but some of the evidence proving that we won this election, and we won information technology by a landslide. This was non a close ballot. And afterward this, we're going to walk down and I'll be there with you lot. Nosotros're going to walk down — nosotros're going to walk downwardly to the Capitol. "Accept the Capitol." "Allow's take the Capitol." "We are going to the Capitol where our problems are. It's that direction." [shouting] "Everybody, this style, this way." "Tens of thousands of folks that came in with duffle bags — where the hell did they come up from?" "U.South.A.! United states of americaA.! The statesA.! UsA.!" [gavel pounding] "Madam Speaker, the vice president and the United States Senate." "UsA.! U.s.A.!" "The Constitution says you have to protect our country, and you accept to protect our Constitution. And you lot can't vote on fraud and fraud breaks up everything, doesn't it? When you lot take hold of somebody in the fraud, you're allowed to go past very different rules. So I hope Mike has the courage to practise what he has to do. When we fight, we fight like hell, and if you lot don't fight like hell, y'all're not going to take a country anymore." [shouting] "Then we're going to motility down Pennsylvania Artery. I love Pennsylvania, and we're going to the Capitol, and nosotros're going to effort and give our Republicans — the weak ones considering the potent ones don't need any of our assistance. We're simply going to attempt and give them the kind of pride and boldness that they demand to have dorsum our country." "Bulk Leader." "We're debating a pace that has never been taken in American history. President Trump claims the ballot was stolen. The assertions range from specific local allegations to ramble arguments to sweeping conspiracy theories." "United statesA.! United statesA.! U.s.a.A.!" "But my colleagues, goose egg before us proves illegality anywhere near the massive scale, the massive scale that would have tipped the unabridged election." "Our House! Our House! "Our House! Our House!" [shouting] [banging on door] "Accept a look, take a expect." "It's like a —" "My challenge today, is non about the adept people of Arizona —" "And it will stand up in recess until the phone call of the Chair." "Thanks." "Now, Mr. Speaker, tin can I have club in the sleeping accommodation?" "The House will be in guild. The House will be in order. OK —" [shouting] "Stop the steal! Stop the steal! Stop the steal!" "Treason! Treason! Treason! Treason! Treason! Treason! Treason! Treason! Treason! Treason! Treason! Treason!" "Defend your Constitution, defend your country." Defend your Constitution." [banging on doors] "Finish the steal! End the steal! Cease the steal!" "Stop the steal! End the steal! Stop the steal! Stop the steal!" "Break it downward! Break information technology down! Break it down! Break it down!" [gunshot] [screaming] "Where the fuck are they?" [screaming] "Boost ho! Heave ho! Heave ho! Heave ho!" [screaming] "Fight for Trump! Fight for Trump! Fight for Trump! Fight for Trump!" "There'due south never been a fourth dimension like this where such a thing happened, where they could take it abroad from all of us, from me, from you, from our land. This was a fraudulent ballot. Simply we can't play into the easily of these people. We take to have peace. So become home. Nosotros love you. You're very special. You've seen what happens. Yous encounter the way others are treated that are and then bad, and and then evil. I know how you feel, but go dwelling house and go habitation in peace." "United statesA.! UsaA.! U.S.A.! United statesA.!"
During Tuesday'due south impeachment proceedings, the prosecution played a video with graphic images and explicit language detailing the events of Jan. 6.CreditCredit...Kenny Holston for The New York Times
The gut-wrenching video aired by Democratic impeachment managers on Tuesday set the tone of former President Donald J. Trump's impeachment trial by reminding senators — at present jurors, then the quarry of a mob — of the raw violence that pervaded the Capitol on Jan. 6.
After a short opening statement, the lead manager, Representative Jamie Raskin, played a video. Running more than xiii minutes, it showed the riot in searing particular: a constabulary officer crushed against a door, screaming in pain; lawmakers and journalists taking comprehend in the House sleeping accommodation; Officer Eugene Goodman of the Capitol Police leading rioters away from the unsecured Senate flooring. It as well showed Mr. Trump telling his supporters: "Go home. We honey you. You're very special."
Most legislative events, even impeachments, have a predictable cadence. Merely the video, edited by Business firm Democrats to present the attack on the Capitol on a visual timeline coinciding with Mr. Trump'southward statements and tweets, was one of the rare moments, common in cinema simply rare on C-SPAN, that took the bedchamber by surprise.
There was an audible gasp in the room when the images appeared of a Capitol Police officer firing a single fatal gunshot at a protester who was trying to break into the Firm chamber. And the discordant sound of curses at the police that day drew looks of disdain in a sleeping room with strict rules against the use of profanity.
Senators remained impassive for the most role, merely there were times when their emotions showed. Many of the reporters who covered the anarchism were securely moved, fighting dorsum tears as they watched the images of the building being overwhelmed by angry protesters. Some were seeing many of the images for the showtime time.
Senator Cory Booker, Democrat of New Jersey, put a hand over his eyes equally he absorbed the video. Senator Susan Collins, Republican of Maine, took conscientious notes. A few looked away or gazed at their phones in discomfort.
Senator Roy Blunt of Missouri told reporters that it was "the longest time I've sat down and just watched straight footage of what was truly a horrendous solar day." (Mr. Blunt, a Republican, all the same voted against continuing the trial.)
Michigan Senate majority leader is caught on hot mic challenge that Capitol riot was a hoax.
Paradigm
Credit...Elaine Cromie for The New York Times
Michigan'southward top elected Republican, Mike Shirkey, the State Senate majority leader, said on Wednesday that he stood behind previous remarks in which he called the attack on the U.S. Capitol a "hoax" and indicated he might challenge Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to a fistfight.
Mr. Shirkey was heard speaking on an open microphone in the Michigan Capitol on Midweek in what he apparently thought was a individual chat. "I frankly don't accept dorsum any of the points I was trying to make," he said, a reference to recent comments about the Capitol siege, which is the focus of former President Donald J. Trump's impeachment trial in the Senate.
At a restaurant last week, Mr. Shirkey told a grouping of Republican officials, "That wasn't Trump people," referring to the mob that stormed the Capitol on January. 6. "That's been a hoax from Day i," he added. "It was all staged."
A video of the lunch was uploaded to YouTube. Mr. Shirkey also made offensive remarks that day virtually Ms. Whitmer, a Democrat, saying he and fellow Republican lawmakers had "spanked her hard" in the Legislature. "I did contemplate inviting her to a fistfight on the Capitol lawn," he added.
Ms. Whitmer was repeatedly a target of sexist name-calling by Mr. Trump and baseless accusations over fraud in the Michigan election. Half-dozen men with extremist ties were charged in a plot to kidnap her.
Mr. Shirkey, whom Mr. Trump pressured to reverse the election results in Michigan later President Biden won the country, has walked a line between demonstrating loyalty to fervid Trump supporters and not taking a torch to democracy. His comments during the lunch were made to officials of the Hillsdale County Republican Party one twenty-four hours earlier it censured him for non continuing up strongly enough to Ms. Whitmer.
He apologized when the recording became public.
Simply on Wed, Mr. Shirkey's hot mic comments bandage dubiousness on his apology. He was recorded speaking to Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist Ii, a Democrat, once again questioning who had instigated the January. 6 riot. Of more than 175 rioters arrested, many exhibited potent support for Mr. Trump on social media, and at to the lowest degree 21 had ties to far-right militant groups.
"The assignment of cause, information technology was planned months, weeks and months in advance by somebody that … unfortunately is getting blamed for it," Mr. Shirkey said, according to The Detroit Free Printing. He added that the F.B.I. had notwithstanding to make up one's mind "who was behind it."
"Some of Trump's people got caught upwards in the mob and did things that they shouldn't have washed," he said.
G.O.P. releases target races for House every bit thousands of Republicans get out the political party.
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Credit...Stefani Reynolds for The New York Times
Information technology may be roughly twenty months away, but the political winds are shaping upwardly for a narrow battle for the Firm in 2022.
The National Republican Congressional Committee on Midweek released a list of 47 House Democrats whose seats it is targeting in the midterm elections, including moderates like Representatives Abigail Spanberger and Conor Lamb, besides equally Democrats who represent districts Mr. Trump carried in November.
Midterm elections often provide an opportunity for the party out of power in the White Business firm to make gains in Congress, riding a wave of backfire while unseating members who were previously carried to victory by a presidential candidate at the top of the ticket.
Simply every bit the Republican Political party continues to press hopes for wresting dorsum at to the lowest degree part of Congress from Autonomous control, their ranks announced to be thinning following the attack on the Capitol on January. 6.
An analysis of January voting records by The New York Times found that nearly 140,000 Republicans had quit the party in 25 states that had readily bachelor information (19 states do not have registration past party). Voting experts said the data indicated a stronger-than-usual flight from a political party after a presidential election, as well as the potential start of a damaging period for G.O.P. registrations every bit voters recoil from the Capitol violence and its fallout.
"Since this is such a highly unusual activity, it probably is indicative of a larger undercurrent that's happening, where there are other people who are also thinking that they no longer feel like they're part of the Republican Party, but they merely oasis't contacted election officials to tell them that they might change their party registration," said Michael P. McDonald, a professor of political science at the University of Florida. "And then this is probably a tip of an iceberg."
Simply, he cautioned, information technology could as well be the song "never Trump" reality simply coming into focus, with Republicans finally taking the stride of changing their registration, fifty-fifty though they had non supported the president and his party since 2016.
Even if some of their voters are deserting them, Republicans practice have 1 baked in reward in 2022: Democrats volition most likely lose some seats through redistricting alone.
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