Former President Trump's Legal Team Begins Defense In Impeachment Trial

The legal team for former President Donald Trump will get to make their defense during the fourth day of the Senate impeachment trial. The Democrat House impeachment managers wrapped up their case on Thursday (February 11), urging lawmakers to vote in favor of convicting Trump of citing insurrection.

Over the past two days, Democrats highlighted the violence at the Capitol on January 6 when a mob of Trump supporters stormed the building during a joint session of Congress and provided evidence the crowd was inspired by the former president. They showed new videos of rioters claiming they were there at the behest of Trump.

"We were invited here," a rioter can be heard yelling in one clip. "We were invited by the president of the United States."

In another video, a rioter can be heard saying that "[Trump] will be happy," before adding, "we're fighting for Trump!"

They also used statements made by the rioters to police, including one Texas woman, who told police, "[Trump] asked us to be there."

"So I was doing what he asked us to do," she said.

The Democrats said that after seeing all the evidence, Senators had no choice but to vote to convict Trump.

"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," lead impeachment manager Jamie Raskin said.

Trump's legal team, which includes attorneys David SchoenBruce CastorMichael van der Veen, and William Brennan, is expected to spend just four hours making their case. They will continue to argue that the trial is unconstitutional and that President Trump's speech before the riots on January 6 was not mean to incite people to attack the U.S. Capitol building and is protected under the First Amendment. They are also expected to accuse Democrats of glorifying violence by recreating the events of the riots during their presentations.

Photo: Getty Images


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