Trump’s defense to present case in impeachment trial they’ve likely already won
EXCLUSIVE: Despite what many consider an impressive case presented by House impeachment managers, Republican senators remain unwilling to convict
Donald Trump‘s defense team will lay out its case on Friday in the second impeachment trial of the former disgraced president. They will challenge the U.S. House article that charges Trump of inciting an insurrection.
Their hope is to prevent a conviction. The defense will have to up to 16 hours of allotted testimony on the U.S. Senate floor.
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As the defense prepares its case, look for a few things. For one, they will keep it short. Also, given how Trump feels about visuals, and the fact that the prosecution did what many concluded was an impressive job of utilizing visuals to frame their case, Trump’s defense team will likely follow suit.
The problem is, however, that the defense will be isolating quotes from prominent Democrats — despite the fact that none of those statements resulted in violence and would not be contextual.
Lastly, they know Trump will not be convicted and therefore are expected to their rest case quickly, Dr. Christopher Metzler, a conservative constitutional scholar, told theGrio.
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Former President Trump denied the impeachment managers’ request to appear and testify at the trial. At this point, Republican senators are expected to acquit the former president of inciting an insurrection. For the Thursday testimony on the Senate floor, about 15 Republican Senate jurors were said to be missing from the trial.
On Wednesday, House prosecutors’ testimony centered around how then-President Trump stirred the caldron of hate for years and that the Capitol attack that occurred on Jan. 6 was the lid blown off the insurrectionist can. The culmination of the threats and incendiary words, Democrats argued, became reality that day.
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The presentation of the case from the House impeachment managers continued with more evidence and a focus on the authorities who tried to protect the U.S. Capitol building. Out of the many stories of lives impacted by that fateful day, one officer is dead. One officer lost an eye, and another lost the tip of his index finger as a result of the security breach.
The impeachment managers strategically and carefully built their argument that Trump gradually built up his supporters with a sheer determination to “fight” to overthrow what he repeatedly called a fraudulent election.
Thousands of pro-Trump mobsters chanted in videos, “stop the steal” at the Save America March and during the Capitol security breach on Jan. 6. Another focus of the trial was that the president’s failure to immediately respond to the deadly riot on the Hill.
It took Trump hours to call for a stop to the violent attack on the nation’s second branch of government. He also never condemned the actions of the insurrectionists that day.
In closing for the defense, Congressman Jamie Raskin reminded senators that they were sworn in to invoke “impartial justice.” Raskin ended the presentation with hours to spare offering, “good luck in your deliberations.”
As for tomorrow, Dr. Metzler says of the defense team, “they don’t want to spend time with a case they know they have already won.”
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