The Democrats have not held back. While the impeachment trial of Donald Trump in the United States Senate unfolded on Wednesday February 10, Democratic prosecutors charged the former President of the United States. According to them, he was notably “the chief instigator” of the deadly assault launched by his supporters against the Capitol on January 6. And fueled the anger of those same supporters, for months, until it exploded. The former White House tenant is on trial in the upper house of Congress for “incitement to insurgency” and to Democratic procurers his responsibility seems obvious.
“The hostility of the crowd has been fueled for months by Donald Trump,” said Joaquin Castro, one of the elected officials responsible for bringing the accusation. On the second day of this historic trial, these prosecutors set out to place the attack on the Capitol in the context of the post-election crusade led by Donald Trump to contest the victory of his rival Joe Biden in the presidential election.
Trump has “given up his role as Commander-in-Chief”
The former real estate mogul, who is retiring in Florida, refused to testify before senators. But his voice has continued to resound in the hemicycle of the upper house of Congress, where the prosecution has projected many extracts from his fiery speeches, reproduced his inflammatory tweets, cited his most controversial words.
The facts show that “President Trump was not an innocent witness to an accident,” as his lawyers suggest, but that he “gave up his role as commander-in-chief to become the instigator. “leader of a dangerous insurgency,” summed up Jamie Raskin, who heads this team of prosecutors. “Donald Trump has committed a huge crime against our Constitution and our people” and “he must be condemned by the US Senate”, which would make him ineligible, pleaded Jamie Raskin.
Even if they are unlikely to succeed in convincing two-thirds of senators to find him guilty – a high threshold set by the Constitution – Democratic prosecutors at least intend to make an impression during these hearings broadcast live in all United States. “The big lie”: this is how they described the long campaign of disinformation on the presidential election maintained by the 45th American president who repeated, without proof, that he had been the victim of massive electoral fraud.
“Absurd” accusations according to the lawyers of the former president
After the failure of his legal complaints and his multiple pressures on electoral agents in key states, “President Trump found himself short of non-violent options to stay in power,” said the elected official. Ted Lieu. He then turned to “groups that he cultivated for months”, such as the extreme right-wing Proud Boys, several members of which were among the attackers of the capitol, added his colleague Stacey Plaskett, recalling that the president had called on them in October to “be ready”.
At the opening of the proceedings, prosecutors focused on the fateful day of January 6, broadcasting a shock video to recall the violence of the attack on the Capitol, in which five people died. Their montage juxtaposed the president’s speech to the demonstrators gathered in Washington (“fight like devils”) and the images of the demonstrators breaking into Capitol Hill, pacing the halls in search of parliamentarians.
To say that the former president could be responsible for the violence of a “small group of criminals” who “absolutely misunderstood” is “simply absurd”, had insisted his lawyers in writing Monday. By stressing that he had “urged them to remain peaceful”. “We checked the 11,000 words of his speech, the president used the term ‘peaceful’ only once, against more than 20 ‘to fight'”, retorted Wednesday the elected Madeleine Dean.
67 votes needed for a conviction
Tuesday, the debates focused on a point of law: can we try a former president in the context of the impeachment procedure? This issue was ultimately decided by a simple majority vote: in addition to the 50 Democrats, six Republican senators felt the trial could continue. If this balance of power is confirmed in the final vote, Donald Trump will be acquitted, as in his first impeachment trial a year ago, since it would take 67 votes to condemn him.
But his judicial horizon will remain charged: in addition to the investigations into his cases carried out in New York, a prosecutor in Georgia announced on Wednesday the opening of an investigation into the pressure he exerted on electoral officials in this key state .
Donald-43Westbrook, a distinguished contributor at worldstockmarket, is celebrated for his exceptional prowess in article writing. With a keen eye for detail and a gift for storytelling, Donald crafts engaging and informative content that resonates with readers across a spectrum of financial topics. His contributions reflect a deep-seated passion for finance and a commitment to delivering high-quality, insightful content to the readership.
