LIVE: Trump’s Second Impeachment Trial Continues in Senate | Day 4 - Trump's Defense

by Nomad

Remember This Day Forever

Today is the fourth day in the trial of the Second Impeachment of former president Donald Trump. Trump's defense team now responds to the Impeachment Team's case against Trump and the charge of inciting the riot and attack on the Capitol Building on January 6.

For two days, the Senate and the American people have listened to the allegations against Trump, that he had had a history of promoting violence at his rallies and through his tweets, that he had tried every possible means to have the election results annulled, and finally that he had invited violent extremist groups to Washington on the same day that the Electoral College vote was to be certified.

Trump, according to the prosecution then, commanded them- whom he knew to be dangerous- to march and "fight" like "patriots." With CCTV footage and live-streamed video, the team then showed how desperately the overwhelmed Capitol police fought off the rampaging mobs and how narrowly Senators and their staff escaped them.

Furthermore, they depicted how, in those tumultuous hours President Trump, knowing the lethal danger to members of Congress and, in particular, his own vice-president, did nothing. He was begged by his staff, by his daughter, and members of Congress under siege to do something, anything and he did nothing.

Concluding arguments the lead House impeachment manager, Representative Jamie Raskin said:

"If you think this is not impeachable, what is? What would be? If you don't find this a high crime and misdemeanor today, you have set a new, terrible standard for presidential misconduct in the United States of America."

Democratic Senator Angus King had this to say about the case:

The House managers' presentations are straightforward: raw video and verbatim tweets that spell out the dangers at the Capitol on Jan. 6, the ongoing threat to our democratic system and the importance of accountability."

Embed from Getty Images

However, the Republicans seemed much less impressed with Sen. Lindsey Graham calling the impeachment presentation "absurd and offensive." During the first few hours of the trial Thursday, 15 Republicans reportedly were absent from the chamber.

Forbes also noted:

Many within the chamber were preoccupied with other activities: Sens. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) were reading papers, while, according to CNN’s Jeremy Herb, Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) “had a blank map of Asia on his desk and was writing on it like he was filling in the names of the countries.”

Later Scott told reporters that the trial was a "complete waste of time" and vindictive.” Some Senators found other distractions and a few, including Democrats, apparently had trouble staying awake.

Even Trump’s lawyers were checked out, with David Schoen and Bruce Castor reportedly not taking notes and Schoen even leaving the chamber to speak to reporters and participate in several TV news interviews.

When asked why he took a break from the trial to give interviews, Schoen merely said that the prosecution's case was "more of the same" and the footage of Trump's incitement "offensive, quite frankly."

So, the spotlight now turns to Trump's defense team. Following an inauspicious start on Tuesday, they now seem absolutely confident that regardless of the evidence, party politics will win the acquittal vote.

"Very Friendly Guys"

Eyebrows were raised late Thursday when news broke that three Republican senators, Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Ted Cruz of Texas, and Mike Lee of Utah, met with the defense team behind closed doors.

What they discussed is unreported but such conduct during the middle of an impeachment trial in which the senators have taken an oath to be impartial jurors, is, to say the least, unheard of and unethical.

When asked about the propriety of such a meeting, the head of the defense team dismissed criticism like this:

Trump lawyer David Schoen said that the senators were "very friendly guys" who just wanted to make sure they were "familiar with procedure" on the eve of their rebuttal to the House impeachment managers' presentation.

In Ted Cruz's case, an acquittal is a matter of self-interest and self-preservation. He was, in fact, one of the most vocal Republican allies in Trump’s call to overturn the presidential election results. On various occasions prior to the riots, he promoted Trump's lies that the presidential election was stolen.

And this might have been forgivable if it has stopped there. As the attempted insurrection began to mount outside, Cruz was on the Senate floor, leading the charge to block the certification of the presidential election.

In the wake of the attack, Cruz has faced broad condemnation and widespread calls to resign.

The real question is, of course, how Cruz, given his record, could ever have been permitted to be a juror? Same for Senator Josh Hawley from Missouri who also stoked the fiery anger of the crowds. (He was seen during the presentation yesterday “sitting up in the gallery with his feet up on the seat in front of him, reviewing paperwork, throughout the trial.”)

Nevertheless, the trial will continue today and possibly tomorrow. This will be followed by a Q & A period scheduled and vote sometime next week.

If you'd like to watch the proceedings with us here at Nomadic Politics- with running commentary provided by the community- things kick off at 12 pm EST.

It should be both entertaining and mortifying.