NEW: Trump had NO intention of calling the rioters off. Kevin McCarthy pleaded w/ him on a call on Jan 6. But Trump didn't care. He wanted it to happen. He knew the danger. And facilitated it by doing nothing.
.@JakeTapper: So during the insurrection, GOP leader calls Trump to call off the mob. And Trump says, "well, Kevin, I guess they care more about the election than you do." As terrorists attack the Capitol & kill people.
@jaketapper Here's the story: New details about Trump-McCarthy shouting match show Trump refused to call off the rioters. A furious McCarthy told Trump rioters were breaking into his office through the windows, and said, "Who the f--k do you think you are talking to?" cnn.com/2021/02/12/pol…
Like all things Trump, the #ImpeachmentTrial hovers somewhere between high drama & high farce. The Senate just broke out in laughter b/c Trump's personal injury lawyer demanded 100 witnesses be deposed, and in his office in Philly, dammit. Senators now voting on witnesses.
First it was 4, then Lindsey Graham changed his vote.
Meanwhile, McConnell will acquit Trump w/ or w/o witnesses. He also says that Republicans can vote their conscience. Which just highlights how Banana Republican the GOP is. They have to be told to vote their conscience by their leader who has none. #ImpeachmentTrial
Trump's legal case today will be short. Expect an onslaught of diversionary #whataboutism & false equivalence—the propaganda content from Foxnews & RW media maligning BLM racial justice protests w/ cherrypicked images of Black people yelling & buildings burning. #ImpeachmentTrial
Bigly gaslighting & whataboutism hits every agitprop point: Witch hunt, completely divorced from facts. No serious person could believe Trump incited insurrection. Nothing in the text could ever be construed… Russia didn't hack the election… Cancel culture! 🙄#ImpeachmentTrial
Schoen says Dems rely on rumors—Even on reporter @AndrewFeinberg who once worked for Sputnik! Then plays disinformation montage of people saying "reportedly". Says, Doubt the evidence b/c Ds manipulated video & tweets. But admits a tweet's wrong date was fixed. #ImpeachmentTrial
DeGette: The crowd chanted the same words as Trump—at the rally and again during the Capitol siege: "Fight like Hell, Fight for Trump. Stop the Steal." They responded to his calls and followed his instructions. They said he invited them, he told them to do it. #ImpeachmentTrial
Raskin: Michigan Capitol siege was a dress rehearsal for storming US Capitol. Trump praised it, sided w/ the extremists against Gov Whitmer. Even after violent extremists were arrested for assassination plot, Trump vilified HER—not the violent insurrectionists. #ImpeachmentTrial
If you're not shaking, you're not paying attention. Trump's sociopathy is fully exposed. He unleashed violent extremists & radicalized Americans to turn against each other so he can stay in power. He happily incites violence, even civil war. A Putin goal BTW. #ImpeachmentTrial
Raskin: Trump praised, encouraged & cultivated violence. He became the Inciter-in-Chief. The Jan 6 mob organized openly. They were sent here by the President. They were invited here by him. When they showed up, he whipped them into a frenzy to "fight like hell." #ImpeachmentTrial
.@RepJoeNeguse: This wasn't just a speech. It didn't just happen. Trump's words were carefully chosen. They had specific meaning to that crowd. He repeated the same words—the drumbeat—for wks: Election was stolen —Stop the Steal—Fight Like Hell to Stop the Steal #ImpeachmentTrial
Rep Neguse: Trump's speech was part of a carefully crafted plan. The crowd understood his words b/c they had heard them before—for months. His rally speech ended w/ a final call to arms, to the mob he assembled & incited to violently stop the transfer of power. #ImpeachmentTrial
“If that’s not an impeachable offense, there is no such thing.”—Lead #Impeachment Manager @RepRaskin says, after showing the #ImpeachmentTrial Exhibit-1—a harrowing montage of video from Jan 6, from Trump speaking at StopTheSteal rally to the pro-Trump mob attacking the Capitol.
@RepRaskin "Presidents cannot inflame insurrection in their final days and then walk away."—#Impeachment Manager @RepJoeNeguse, after presenting the constitutional arguments based on plain text, precedent & conlaw scholarship that Senate has jurisdiction & must try Trump. #ImpeachmentTrial
@RepRaskin@RepJoeNeguse .@davidcicilline: After a betrayal like this, there can be no unity w/o accountability. Trump incited a violent mob to attack the Capitol to overturn an election he lost. People died. This was a national tragedy. A disaster for our standing in the world. #ImpeachmentTrial
KGB operatives told Trump he should enter politics. “It was a charm offensive…he was extremely vulnerable intellectually, and psychologically…prone to flattery." Russians pretended to be impressed w/ Trump. Told him he should be POTUS one day; that he could change the world👀
KGB flattered Trump while feeding him talking points on a 1987 trip to Russia. Soon after returning to US, Trump began exploring a run for GOP nomination, held a campaign rally in NH & bought full-page ad in NYT, WaPo & Boston Globe—expressing skepticism about US paying for NATO.