On day 2 of Trump’s impeachment trial begins with Rep. Jamie Raskin laying out Trump’s tweets calling people to DC on Jan. 6, then telling a crowd of supporters that day to “fight like hell or you’re not going to have a country anymore."
Raskin: “He told them to fight like hell and they brought us hell on that day.”
Raskin says for hours Trump did nothing to call off the mob once the Capitol attack started. “He watched it on tv like a reality show. He reveled in it. He did nothing to help us.”
Raskin says for hours Trump did nothing to call off the mob once the Capitol attack started. “He watched it on tv like a reality show. He reveled in it. He did nothing to help us.”
Raskin closing: “Can our country and our democracy ever be the same if we don’t hold accountable the person responsible for inciting the violent attack against our country, our Capitol, our democracy and all of those who serve us so faithfully and honorably. Is this America?”
Rep. Joe Neguse says Trump laid the groundwork for months before the election, telling his supporters the only way he could lose was through fraud. Eg at a rally in October: “The only way we can lose, in my opinion, is massive fraud.”
Neguse says Trump was setting up a no-lose scenario. If he wins, he wins. If he loses, many of his followers will think it was fraudulent.
Neguse listing off Trump’s efforts to overturn the election results.
— filing dozens of lawsuits, which failed.
— Pressuring state officials to change the votes
— Having the Department of Justice inverstigate (they found nothing)
— Calling on VP Pence to not certify the count
— filing dozens of lawsuits, which failed.
— Pressuring state officials to change the votes
— Having the Department of Justice inverstigate (they found nothing)
— Calling on VP Pence to not certify the count
Neguse: “What does he do when his back is against the wall, when all else has failed?”
Says Trump rallied his supporters who believed his fraud claims on the mall. Tells them to “stop the steal” and “fight like hell."
Says Trump rallied his supporters who believed his fraud claims on the mall. Tells them to “stop the steal” and “fight like hell."
Neguse: “When they heard his speech they understood his words and what they meant. Because they heard it before.”
Democrats are playing many clips of Trump’s words on the 6th, eg:
“It’s a pure theft in American history.”
“Make no mistake this election was stolen from you, from me, from the country”
“We will never give up, we will never concede.”
“We will not let them silence your voices"
“It’s a pure theft in American history.”
“Make no mistake this election was stolen from you, from me, from the country”
“We will never give up, we will never concede.”
“We will not let them silence your voices"
After the last one the crowd chants “fight for Trump.” Trump says “thank you” then
“You have to get your people to fight because you’ll never take back your country for weakness, you have to show strength… if you don’t fight like hell you’re not going to have a country anymore"
“You have to get your people to fight because you’ll never take back your country for weakness, you have to show strength… if you don’t fight like hell you’re not going to have a country anymore"
Neguse says rioters believed they were following Trump’s orders, then shows clips of rioters chanting “fight for Trump” and people saying they were called to the Capitol by Trump.
“They were following the president. He alone had the power to stop it, and he didn’t."
“They were following the president. He alone had the power to stop it, and he didn’t."
Dems are hammering the point that Trump didn't try to call off the riot once it started. Neguse says Trump should have taken to TV and twitter to tell people to stop.
“If he’d done so with even half as much force as he’d said 'Stop The Steal' how many lives would he have saved?”
“If he’d done so with even half as much force as he’d said 'Stop The Steal' how many lives would he have saved?”
Obviously “Trump almost got us killed trying to overturn the election” is a more dramatic charge than “Trump tried to pressure the leader of an allied nation to give him dirt on a political rival” but man, the difference between this trial from a year ago is night and day.
Rep. Joaquin Castro shows a bunch of pre-November clips of Trump saying if he loses the election it’s rigged and stolen.
Then he shows news clips of Trump supporters saying they would never accept a Trump loss is valid because if he loses it’s rigged.
Then he shows news clips of Trump supporters saying they would never accept a Trump loss is valid because if he loses it’s rigged.
Castro: “He truly made his base believe that the only way he could lose is if the election was rigged.”
“The most combustible thing you can do in a democracy is convince people an election doesn’t count.”
“The most combustible thing you can do in a democracy is convince people an election doesn’t count.”
The Democratic strategy is pretty simple: Show a lot of clips of Trump telling people their votes were being stolen and that they need to fight to stop it.
Then show people believing their votes are being stolen and trying to fight to stop it.
Then show people believing their votes are being stolen and trying to fight to stop it.
I think we just had a historic moment of a new word being uttered on the Senate floor. 
Impeachment managers are now playing not-before-released audio of capitol police frantically calling for backup and reporting the perimeter was being breached.
“This is now effectively a riot” one officer radios in at 1:49pm on Jan 6th.
Camera footage being shown of rioters smashing in a window and then pouring into the building.
Then security footage shows the other angle of the windows being smashed in as an officer tries to pepper spray them but is wildly outnumbered and has to retreat.
Then security footage shows the other angle of the windows being smashed in as an officer tries to pepper spray them but is wildly outnumbered and has to retreat.
We’ve seen this many times before but it shows just how badly outnumbered Capitol police were and how powerless they were to hold back the crowd.
Oh wow, new footage shows officer Eugene Goodman running by Mitt Romney and signalling at him to get to cover
A *lot* of jarring footage being released of just how close rioters came to Mike Pence, Mitt Romney, and others. Here’s our live update: buzzfeednews.com/article/paulmc…
As the impeachment trial heads into evening. Rep. Cicilline is detailing Trump’s (lack of) actions during the riots. His first tweet was a video of his defiant speech.
Ciccilline: Even if Trump didn’t know his words would spark violence, now it was happening and he did nothing.
Ciccilline: Even if Trump didn’t know his words would spark violence, now it was happening and he did nothing.
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