Impeachment case: Democrats accused Trump of 'historic betrayal'

Trump's actions are described as a "betrayal of historic proportions" in the trial brief filed by House impeachment managers, writes The Washington Post.

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House Democrats presented their case to convict 45 President Donald Trump of inciting the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol in a sweeping impeachment motion filed in the Senate on Feb. 2. They accuse Trump of jeopardizing the foundations of American democracy by driving his supporters into “madness” for the sole purpose of maintaining his power as president.

Nine House impeachment managers said Trump was “solely responsible” for the outrage, accusing him of “betrayal of historic proportions.” They argued that he was guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors, primarily because he allegedly used the powers of his office to advance his personal political interests at the expense of the nation.

To bolster their case, managers appealed to the words and actions of the nation's founders, citing lofty passages from the Federalist Papers and contrasting Trump's efforts to remain in office despite his election defeat with George Washington's insistence on leaving the presidency after two terms a year. in the interests of preserving democracy.

“The Framers of the Constitution feared a President who would corrupt his office by sparing ‘no effort or means to secure re-election,’” House Democrats wrote, adding: “They were well aware of the danger posed by opportunists who incite mobs to violence for political gain. They drafted the Constitution to avoid such banditry, which they associated with “the threat of civil unrest and the early rise to power of a dictator.”

“If provoking an insurrection against the Joint Session of Congress after an election defeat is not an impeachable offense,” they wrote, “it is difficult to imagine what will be.”

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Hours later, Trump's new lawyers filed a 14-page response to the House article of impeachment, denying that Trump incited the crowd at the Jan. 6 rally to storm the Capitol and "engage in destructive acts."

While the former president's lawyers were unable to accept his baseless claims that the election was stolen, they defended his right to claim that widespread fraud led to his defeat, a false claim that was echoed by his supporters on the day of the Capitol riot.

Democrats have drawn a straight line between Trump's rhetoric and violence. But Trump's defense team argued that defending free speech allows him to make such claims without punishment.

“The 45th President invoked his First Amendment rights under the Constitution to express his belief that the election results were in doubt,” the memo said.

"There is insufficient evidence from which a reasonable lawyer could conclude that the President's statements were accurate or not, and he therefore denies they are false," his lawyers added.

The documents offer a preview of how both sides will present their cases when the Senate trial kicks off on Feb.9. Most GOP senators have announced plans to acquit Trump. But House Democrats have made it clear that they intend to make Republicans reflect on the horror of what happened on January 6, which killed one Capitol police officer and four rioters. In addition, two officers, one of whom worked for the DC Police, later committed suicide.

Impeachment managers argued that Trump laid the groundwork for the uprising in previous weeks with his relentless attacks on election integrity and his attempts to undermine the results by pressuring government officials.

The Trump defense team denied this claim, referring to an episode cited in a House impeachment article in which he called Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger earlier this year to discuss the state's election results.

They argued that Trump's call in a Jan. 2 phone call that Raffensperger "find" votes to overturn Joe Biden's victory was simply an expression of the president's belief that a careful review of the evidence would lead to a more accurate vote count in Trump's favor.

David Schoen, one of Trump's new attorneys, told The Washington Post that he did not plan to raise a defense based on allegations of election fraud, a strategy Trump reportedly pushed his previous legal team to pursue.

But on Feb. 2, Democrats seized on defense references to Trump's fraud allegations, with Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer saying that by citing baseless allegations, Trump's lawyers had proven "they have no case against the charges."

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-S.C.) simply said he plans to hear arguments next week. Although McConnell voted with most Republicans on an unsuccessful motion to declare the former president's impeachment unconstitutional, he said on Feb. 2, "I think it's an interesting constitutional question."

In their memo, Democratic managers cited Trump's behavior during the insurrection, when he initially did nothing to quell the rioters. They quoted Sen. Ben Sasse (R-N.C.) as saying that senior White House aides told him Trump was "delighted" by the chaos he was seeing on television.

The memo added that there was no evidence Trump called Vice President Mike Pence or any legislative leaders to "check on their security during the attack."

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In their response, Trump's lawyers insisted that he never attempted to interfere with the counting of Electoral College votes at a joint session of Congress that day. When Trump called on rally participants to descend on the Capitol and “fight like hell,” the lawyers wrote, it had nothing to do with “the rally at the Capitol” and was “clearly about the need to fight for election security as a whole.”

In fact, when Trump concluded his speech that day, he told the crowd, "We're going to the Capitol," adding, "We're going to try to give them the kind of pride and courage that they need to take back to our country."

House managers hope to call witnesses to next week's hearing, possibly including police officers who fought to repel the attack. The crowd injured more than 140 police officers, many seriously. But Senate Democrats and Republicans alike have been reluctant to allow witnesses because it would add to the length of the trial, perhaps by weeks.

The brief methodically lays out Democrats' legal arguments for conviction. In addition to arguing that Trump is guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors, the impeachment managers argued that Trump is not protected by the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment, which they wrote was never intended to allow the president to "incite lawlessness if he loses." at the elections".

Democrats also rejected an argument supported by many Republicans that it is unconstitutional to convict a president after he has left office, an argument Trump's lawyers have made repeatedly in their briefs.

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Trump's lawyers and Senate supporters are expected to continue debating the nullity argument. Such an argument is likely to be supported by many GOP senators who do not want to weigh the question of whether Trump instigated the riot.

The managers' note warns that the consequences of adopting such a procedural exception to this case would be dire.

“If the Senate does not try President Trump (and does not convict him), it risks telling all future presidents that there will be no consequences, no accountability, and indeed no response from Congress if they violate their oath to “preserve and defend the Constitution” in recent weeks,” the managers wrote.

The impeachment managers called on senators to bar Trump from ever holding elected office again: “This is not a case where elections alone are a sufficient guarantee against future abuses; President Trump has attacked the election process itself and must be protected from him and anyone else who would try to imitate his behavior. Indeed, it is difficult to imagine a case that more clearly evokes the reasons why the Founders wrote the power of disqualification into the Constitution.”

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