Accusations begin this week as Democrats try to tie Trump to Capitol riots

Accusations begin this week as Democrats try to tie Trump to Capitol riots

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The House executives are eagerly preparing a submission for the trial on Tuesday, relying on the hours of video footage available from Jan. 6 to try to illustrate in-depth details how the rioters were incited by Trump and his months’ lies that the election was stolen from him.

Trump’s legal team plans to argue that Trump did not incite the rioters, and that the trial of a former president is unconstitutional after the House rushed to accuse Trump without giving him a chance to tackle any defense. .

On Monday, both the house management and Trump’s attorneys will file new orders before the trial begins. Trump’s team will submit its pre-trial order at 10 a.m. ET, which will be a more detailed version of the former president’s defense following the initial response to the House’s indictment filed last week.

The House of Representatives will file a response to Trump’s initial submission by noon and give them the opportunity to refute allegations that Trump as well as most Senate Republicans make the trial itself unconstitutional.

The parameters of the trial – which is the first time in US history that a former president has been tried – have not yet been determined. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell are negotiating the resolution, which sets out how long each party should pursue its arguments and how witnesses can be considered. The Senate will vote on the resolution before the trial’s arguments begin, and both Democrats and Republicans are hopeful that it will have bilateral support.

All parties expect a shorter trial than Trump’s three-week indictment in 2020, but the exact length of time for arguments has not yet been decided.

“I think it’s very unlikely.”

Even the Republican senators who are open to condemning Trump say they acknowledge that the votes are not there for a conviction, which requires 17 Republican senators to join every Democrat to vote for a conviction. Last month, 45 of the Senate’s 50 Republicans voted in favor of a procedural motion to dismiss the trial on constitutional grounds.
“I think that’s very unlikely, right?” Pennsylvania Senator Pat Toomey said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.” ‘I mean, you voted 45 Republican senators to suggest that they did not think it appropriate to hold a trial. You can therefore deduce how likely it is that the people will vote to be convicted. I do not agree with their assessment. I think it’s constitutional. ‘
Toomey is one of the Republican senators hoping Democrats can persuade to vote at the end of the trial to convict Trump, after ten House Republicans voted in favor last month.

The other major Republican senators, along with Toomey and the Democrats, voted for the trial to be constitutional: Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Mitt Romney of Utah and Ben Sasse of Nebraska.

Democrats’ case will depend on the January 6 video of the rioters, as well as their comments set out in subsequent accusations, on how they were inspired by Trump to attack the Capitol and try to stop the peaceful transfer of power.

Their case will also focus on Trump’s comments, both in the months leading up to the riots in which he spread unfounded conspiracy theories about election fraud, and on January 6 when he spoke before his followers marched to the Capitol.

‘It’s all about a political theater’

Trump’s team argued in their legal supporters last week that his speech was protected by the First Amendment, and that he did not incite the rioters who attacked the Capitol. But perhaps the bigger argument his lawyers plan to make – and the argument that Republicans in the Senate are likely to point to in an acquittal – is that the trial of a former official is unconstitutional.

“It’s all about a political theater,” former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows told Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo on Sunday. “It’s really about Democrats wanting to make a political point again. Listen, the whole accusation is meant to remove someone from office. President Trump is a private citizen at this point.”

Unlike Trump’s first indictment, which was a complicated story about Ukraine’s attempt to investigate Biden and the cessation of US security assistance, the indictments tell a story that senators know all too well after being forced out of the riots. to flee the Senate. Capitol police raided and closed the room.
This is why drivers are not allowed to call outside witnesses in the trial, unlike the first trial when the push of evidence was an important focal point. House executives sought direct testimony from Trump last week, but his lawyers quickly rejected the proposal, and Democrats are unlikely to get a subpoena.

“We have the unusual circumstances that on the first day of the trial, when the drivers walk on the floor of the Senate, there will be more than 100 witnesses present, and there will be members of the House and Senate,” he said. the House’s intelligence chairman said. Adam Schiff, the general manager during Trump’s first indictment, said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “Whether you need additional witnesses will be a strategic call for the Home Managers.”

Debate over the start of the trial awaits witnesses

The question of evidence has not yet been decided. But the desire for witnesses who could possibly confirm Trump’s thinking and actions as the riots unfold touches many wishes of the Senate Democrats for a speedy trial so they can move on to Biden’s aid package Covid-19.

Yet some Senate Democrats say they do not want to shut down the drivers for the sake of speed. Because Democrats control the Senate, they have the votes to allow witnesses without GOP support, unlike in the 2020 trial.

“I think we need to be steady,” Sen said. Chris Murphy, a Democratic Connecticut, told Fox Sunday about the pressure from Senate Democrats in the first trial to summon witnesses.

“This time we saw what happened,” Murphy added. “President Trump has sent the angry crowd on live TV to the Capitol, so it’s not so important that you have witnesses, but if the Housekeepers want witnesses, we need to allow them to hold it.”

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