These questions dominated the last hours of the trial and almost led to an attempt by the home managers to open the process to new evidence from witnesses. Several Republicans have said in public statements that Trump opposed the pleas of allies to deny the rioters and that he launched a Twitter attack on Vice President Mike Pence as he was expelled from the Senate.
Senate Democrats were blinded Saturday morning when the management of the House indictment testified, leading to a majority vote to call witnesses. But after negotiations between Democrats, the managers later conceded and allowed a public statement from Representative Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-Wash.) To be included in the report. Herrera Beutler said in a statement late Friday night that House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-California) had told her that Trump had denied his plea to force rioters on Jan. 6 and immediately called for a more thorough broadcast of the evidence against the former president.
The decision to skip live evidence left the details unconfirmed and would appear after Trump was released from trial.
Democrats expressed hope that the testimony and emotional appeal they made during the trial would move enough Republicans to convict Trump – a result they said was necessary to ward off future violence. To voice their case, the Housekeepers played graphic videos, including never-before-seen recordings, showing the horrific and chaotic nature of the January 6 violence at the Capitol.
Trump’s defense team has maintained that it is unconstitutional to execute a former president on charges of indictment because the primary remedy, removal from office, is no longer in force. But the Senate voted at the start of the trial to uphold the authority of the chamber to hold the proceedings, and a conviction would have barred Trump from holding the future federal office.
The argument of Trump’s lawyers, a minority view among constitutional experts, has given Republicans a way to agree on an acquittal without expressing Trump’s behavior, which most GOP senators have criticized as reckless but not impeccable. to defend.
Other Republicans said the House could not prove that Trump’s actions and remarks contributed to the violence at the Capitol, and that it did not meet the legal standard for incitement.
McConnell, despite his vote to acquit Trump, indicted the former president in a statement after the trial, accusing him of being responsible for unleashing “terrorism” on the Capitol.
“They did it because they were told wild lies by the most powerful man on earth because he was angry that he had lost an election,” McConnell said. ‘Many politicians sometimes make overheated comments … but it was different. This is different from what we have seen. It was an increasing conspiracy theory. “
In particular, McConnell also suggested that Trump could still be held criminally liable for his actions, claiming that Trump “has not escaped anything yet.”
Michael van der Veen, one of Trump’s attorneys for the indictment, dismissed McConnell’s criticism and told reporters: “We settled the fight in that room and we put the case on the carpet. We won. Innocent.”
Lawmakers have said the case against Trump is overwhelming; they argued that the rioters obeyed his words, acted on them, repeated them while storming the Capitol and then quoted in court when they were prosecuted.
In addition, senators who voted to punish Trump cited his failure to send aid to the Capitol until hours after it became clear that Congress had been overtaken by the violent uprising and that Pence was in danger and evacuated from the Senate. is.
The House executives and Trump’s attorneys reached an agreement to avoid giving evidence after both parties agreed to introduce a public statement from Herrera Beutler setting out her version of a call between Trump and McCarthy.
Herrera Beutler, who voted to accuse Trump in the House, called on Pence and other Republicans to tell their story in public – but by the afternoon of the acquittal, no one else had emerged.