Politics
Trump impeachment trial ‘could be over TODAY’ as legal teams prep final arguments ahead of vote
DONALD Trump’s impeachment trial could be over as early as today as legal teams prepare for the final argument ahead of the Senate vote.
The former president is the first to be impeached twice and the first to face trial after leaving office.
The final vote could come in this afternoon as the Senate is due to convene at 10am today[/caption]
Michael van der Veen suggested that Trump using the phrase “peaceful and patriotic” to describe the riots during his speech[/caption]
Trump’s defense claim the Capitol riot on January 6 was an isolated incident[/caption]
If he’s convicted, which seems unlikely at the moment, the Senate could bar him from running for office again.
At least 17 Republicans in the 100-seat chamber would have to join all 50 Democrats to find the former president guilty.
Only six Republicans voted with Democrats to move forward with the trial, rejecting an argument made by other Republican Senators that the Constitution does not allow Congress to impeach a president who has already left office.
The final vote could come in this afternoon as the Senate is due to convene at 10am.
Trump’s lawyers tried to make two arguments to dispel the idea that the former president was behind the Capitol riots.
Michael van der Veen suggested that Trump using the phrase “peaceful and patriotic” to describe the riots during his speech at his “Stop the Steal” rally was proof he had told his supporters not to engage in violence.
Another of his lawyers played clips of Democratic politicians also using the word “fight” during speeches to defend Trump’s use of the word.
Michael Van Der Veen, one of Trump defense lawyers, blamed the Dems for inciting violence, with the help of a “dangerous, inflammatory rhetoric.”
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He also denounced the impeachment as a part a “constitutional cancel culture.”
“History will record this shameful effort as a deliberate attempt by the Democrat Party to smear, sensor and cancel, not just President Trump – but the 75million who voted for him,” Van Der Veen added.
Trump’s defense claim the events on January 6 were an isolated incident.
Yesterday, despite the 16 hours allotted for Trump’s defense team to speak, they only used a total of two hours and 32 minutes.
Trump’s team played a compilation of videos showing House Democrats objecting to the electoral college votes on January 6, 2017.
The defense team arrived prepared to argue that the meaning of the former president’s words have been misrepresented.
Before letting the montage of Dems play, Van Der Veen questioned: “Suddenly the word ‘fight’ is off limits?”
He added: “Spare us the hypocrisy and false indignation. It’s a term used over and over and over again by politicians on both sides of the aisle.”
One clip showed now-President Biden saying “the vast majority of protests remained peaceful” – and moments later a clip of a fiery BLM protest from 2020 was played.
Vice-President Kamala Harris was also spotted in the video montage saying: “We like a good fight.”
Day four of Trump’s second impeachment trial:
- Michael Van Der Veen, one of Trump defense lawyers, blamed the Dems for inciting violence, with the help of a “dangerous, inflammatory rhetoric”
- Trump’s defense team played compiled footage of Democrats using the word “fight”
- Defense lawyer David Schoen said his team has “reason to believe the House managers manipulated evidence and selectively edited footage”
- Impeaching Trump seems unlikely as 67 votes are needed in the Senate, and 17 of those must be from Republicans
- Bruce Castor urged: “Political hatred has no place in the American justice system and certainly no place in the Congress of the United States”
- Castor insisted “we have a complete lack of evidence for the article presented by the impeachment managers”
- Trump’s defense finished up their case after three hours of presenting
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer was also seen in one of the videos played, speaking to the Supreme Court.
In the footage, Schumer told Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh they will “pay the price” after “unleashing a whirlwind.”
Other notable people seen in the defense videos were Nancy Pelosi, Bernie Sanders, Chris Cuomo, Johnny Depp, and Maxine Waters.
“I don’t respect this president,” Waters is seen saying in one video. “And I will fight every day until he is impeached.”
Another video showed Waters yelling: “I continue to say impeach him! Impeach 45!”
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Elizabeth Warren was shown in a video from a Woman’s March in 2017 saying: “We fight harder, we fight tougher, and we fight more passionately than ever.”
An MSNBC news clip was also included in the montage – with Warren urging: “Or you can stand your ground and fight back. And that’s what its about.
“We are not turning this country over to what Donald Trump has sold. We stand up and we fight back.
House speaker Nancy Pelosi was one of those included in the videos[/caption]
The final vote could come in this afternoon as the Senate is due to convene at 10am[/caption]
