Agreement reached for framework of second Trump impeachment trial
FOX News congressional correspondent Chad Pergram has the latest from Capitol Hill on 'Your World'
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Tuesday urged Senate Republicans to pay close attention to new evidence introduced by the House impeachment managers during the trial of former President Donald Trump, while framing Trump as fundamentally responsible for motivating the rioters who sacked the Capitol on Jan. 6.
"Those who say 'let's move on, that brings unity,' are false. When you had such a serious invasion of the Capitol. Incited by a president, who we know ... told people the election was false, told people to come to Washington, urged people to march to the Capitol," Schumer said. "When you have such a serious charge, sweeping it under the rug will not bring unity. It will keep the sore open, the wounds open."
Trump's legal team denies that Trump holds any responsibility for the mob that stormed the Capitol about one hour after his Jan. 6 rally near the White House. They say his comments do not comport with Democrats' narrative that he incited the crowd to storm the Capitol.
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"Mr. Trump spoke for approximately one hour and fifteen minutes. Of the over 10,000 words spoken, Mr. Trump used the word 'fight' a little more than a handful of times and each time in the figurative sense that has long been accepted in public discourse when urging people to stand and use their voices to be heard on matters important to them; it was not and could not be construed to encourage acts of violence," Trump's lawyers said in a brief filed Monday.
Schumer, however, continued to implore Republican senators to pay attention to the case the House impeachment managers will make starting at 12 p.m. Wednesday (Tuesday will be used for arguments about the constitutionality of impeaching a former president). He alluded that there will be new information presented, and said he believes their case will be persuasive.
"I believe the managers will present a very strong case. The evidence will be powerful. The evidence, some of it will be new. And I urge all my colleagues to pay careful attention to the evidence," Schumer said. "I particularly urge my Republican colleagues, despite the pressure on them, to pay very real attention to the evidence here, because it's very, very serious. Every senator, Democrat and Republican, has to approach this trial with the gravity it deserves."
FILE - In this Jan. 6, 2021, file photo violent rioters, loyal to President Donald Trump, storm the Capitol in Washington. The words of Donald Trump supporters who are accused of participating in the deadly U.S. Capitol riot may end up being used against him in his Senate impeachment trial as he faces the charge of inciting a violent insurrection. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)
Schumer added: "A mob of white supremacists and insurrections and domestic terrorists falsely believed the election was stolen and tried to overthrow the government. And as I said, the trial is about whether the president -- the man chiefly responsible, feeding the mob with the lies that motivated their behavior, who told them to come to D.C., directed them at the Capitol -- is guilty of inciting violence."
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Trump's lawyers also say Trump's rally was within his First Amendment rights and deny that he lied about the election when he falsely claimed that he won it repeatedly for months.
"Insufficient evidence exists upon which a reasonable jurist could conclude that the 45th president’s statements were accurate or not, and he, therefore, denies they were false," the Trump legal team's answer to the impeachment article said.
Trump's legal team also calls the impeachment trial "political theater" and plans to argue Tuesday that it is unconstitutional because Trump is no longer in office.
"Instead of acting to heal the nation, or at the very least focusing on prosecuting the lawbreakers who stormed the Capitol, the Speaker of the House and her allies have tried to callously harness the chaos of the moment for their own political gain," their Monday brief said.
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