The third day of Donald Trump’s Senate impeachment trial got underway on Thursday, with the Democrats who are making the case for his conviction for inciting the deadly rampage at the U.S. Capitol set to focus on the damage wrought in the rampage and the former president’s role in inflaming the rioters, Reuters reported.
As the Senate reconvened on Thursday, the nine House of Representatives lawmakers serving as prosecutors planned to illustrate the riot’s “terrible toll” and Trump’s “role in assembling, inciting and inflaming the insurrectionists,” a House aide said before the session began.
The Democratic-led House on Jan. 13 charged the Republican former president with inciting an insurrection by exhorting thousands of supporters to march on the Capitol on Jan. 6 as Congress gathered to certify Democrat Joe Biden’s election win.
The House trial “managers” spent much of Wednesday recounting the events that led to the riot and highlighting the threat to Mike Pence, Trump’s vice president.
There also will be a focus on Thursday on Trump’s “lack of remorse” during and following the siege, “which is an element in the impeachment calculus,” the House aide said.
Democrats face a difficult task in securing a conviction and barring Trump from ever again holding public office given his continued popularity with many Republican voters. Trump has expressed interest in again running for president in 2024.
While some Republican senators in the Senate have said that the House managers are presenting their arguments well, many hold fast to their position that Trump should not be convicted.
Republican Senator Marco Rubio told Fox News that while the Jan. 6 attack was “horrifying,” impeachment was not appropriate given that Trump was no longer in office.
House managers have said Trump planted the seeds for the riot by encouraging violence and making false claims that the Nov. 3 election was stolen long before Jan. 6. They also have said he did little to put an end to the violence as it spiraled out of control, despite pleas from many Republicans to ask his supporters to stop.
Senators on Wednesday were shown searing security footage of the pro-Trump mob stalking the Capitol hallways chanting “Hang Mike Pence!” and searching for Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Previously unseen videos from inside the Capitol showed rioters smashing windows and fighting with police, coming within 100 feet (30 m) of the room where Pence was sheltering with his family. The mob had set up a gallows outside.
The footage, which also included body-camera views of brutal attacks on Capitol police, showed Pence and lawmakers being hustled to safety steps ahead of an advancing mob. The attack on the Capitol resulted in the deaths of five people, including a police officer.
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