From the Impeachment Managers' Brief: "It is impossible to imagine the events of January 6 occurring without President Trump creating a powder keg, striking a match, and then seeking personal advantage from the ensuing havoc."
On Constitutionality of trial after POTUS term ends: "The Constitution governs the first day of the President’s term, the last day, and every moment in between. Presidents do not get a free pass to commit high crimes and misdemeanors near the end of their term."
Reading the brief I'm struck by the dozens of footnotes citing Trump's twitter account. The former President's tweets providing evidence of intent the managers use against him.
The brief relies almost entirely on open-source materials: news reports, video, police reports. The managers make that a virtue: "This case does not involve secretive conduct, or a hidden conspiracy, requiring months or years of investigation."
There's no one quote to highlight, but @RepRaskin's fingerprints are all over the section about constitutionality of trying a former official. Deep dives into the Federalist papers, contemporary British impeachments, and debates among the framers as they refined the tool.
The Trump legal team's response, as expected, focuses heavily on an argument that it would be unconstitutional to try & convict a FORMER official. They also argue the President's speech was 1st amendment protected, and phrases like "fight like hell" were metaphor, not instruction
Buried in legalese in the response, Trump's attorneys say that he stands by his claim that he won the election in a "landslide."
"To the extent Averment 5 alleges his opinion is factually in error, the 45th President denies this allegation."
"To the extent Averment 5 alleges his opinion is factually in error, the 45th President denies this allegation."
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