The House impeachment managers kicked off day one of Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial with a searing video of the Capitol attack, reminding senators of the stakes of the trial—and of the danger they had faced—at the beginning of an argument about the constitutionality of impeaching someone after he’s left office. Day two begins the actual arguments for convicting Trump, and it’s expected to bring more video evidence of what Trump incited and how he incited it.
The arguments will be presented by the nine House impeachment managers, led by Rep. Jamie Raskin. They have 16 hours to make the case over two days before Trump’s alternately incompetent and scary defense has the same amount of time. You can watch on most television news channels or their websites, and Daily Kos will have live coverage.
Thursday, Feb 11, 2021 · 12:43:42 AM +00:00
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Barbara Morrill
The trial is officially adjourned until tomorrow at 12 ET. We’ll be back with live coverage at that time.
And we’re back, with Rep. David Cicilline walking through Trump’s actions on Jan. 6.
It will be interesting to see if McCarthy will make any comment on this conversation.
Rep. Cicilline spending quite a bit of time on the Tuberville call. Because it is seriously jarring.
Rep. Plaskett’s earlier presentation may have been the most shocking when it came to events on Jan. 6, but Cicilline’s has been almost equally painful just by pointing out Trump’s inaction.
Rep. Joaquin Castro picking up the story now.
Rep. Castro pointing out the timing of Trump’s tweet about Pence, just as the crowd is chanting “Hang Mike Pence,” and then seeing that crowd reacting to the tweet in real time, has to be one of the most impactful moments of the presentation.
The focus on Pence has been so important. Those Republican senators are being forced to acknowledge that Trump sent the mob after him, that they intended to kill him. They’re being put in the position of having to betray Pence to stick with Trump.
Rep. Castro’s use of multiple Republicans pleading with Trump during the insurrection to call it off makes that connection pretty darned clear. Every single person–Republican—making those calls knew that Trump incited this and was the only one who could stop it.
Underscoring Trump’s refusal to call on the National Guard, is another powerful point.
Rep. Castro: “Senators, Donald Trump left everyone in this Capitol for dead.”
Rep. Castro finishes up the day.
Sen. Mike Lee rises to say that statements attributed to him were inaccurate. Considering that the only statement attributed to Lee was simply that he wasn’t Tuberville, it’s hard to see what the heck he’s objecting to.
It’s unclear right now what the procedure is for dealing with Sen. Mike Lee’s objection. The parliamentarian has said that Lee’s motion to have his words stricken is out of order. He’s appealed that ruling, so they should be voting on whether he can ask for his words to be stricken. This is a diversionary tactic, Lee trying to seize attention, disrupt things, change the tenor of the day.
What we’re having now is a roll call while everyone tries to figure out just what the hell Mike Lee is on about. Too bad he’s not as upset about someone starting an insurrection as he is about being misquoted in saying “I’m not Tommy.”
And, whatever that was, we’re done for the night.
So Lee has withdrawn his request, they might have to come back to it tomorrow, but they are now adjourned.
