‘The facts are clear’: Inside day three of former President Donald Trump’s second impeachment

Donald Trump has been labelled a “clear and ongoing danger” by Democrats during his second impeachment trial.

Donald Trump’s historic second impeachment trial could finish as soon as this weekend, after his lawyers said they don’t plan to use their full 16 hours to rebut Democrats’ opening arguments.

Senior Trump aide Jason Miller confirmed the defence would use just one day to counter the two day opening from House impeachment managers.

“We will finish up our presentation tomorrow/Friday,” Mr Miller said on Twitter.

Impeachment managers used day three of the trial to claim that Mr Trump presented a “clear and ongoing danger” to the US and that the Senate trial needed to come to a guilty verdict and prevent him from running for office again.

“Is there any political leader in this room who believes that if he is ever allowed by the Senate to get back into the Oval Office, Donald Trump would stop inciting violence to get his way?,” said lead impeachment manager Jamie Raskin on Thursday afternoon, local time.

Impeachment managers want to show Donald Trump’s alleged “lack of remorse” over the Capitol riots and the ongoing “danger” should he run for office again. Picture: Getty Images

“Would you bet the lives of more police officers on it? Would you bet the safety of your family on it? Would you bet the future of your democracy on that?

“President Trump declared his conduct totally appropriate. So, he gets back into office, and it happens again, we will have no one to blame but ourselves.”

“The facts are clear. The case is strong. The evidence is overwhelming,” said an aide, discussing the case against the former president. “The Senate must convict and disqualify Donald Trump.”

Mr Trump’s legal team is expected to launch its defence beginning on Friday (local time), then be given 16 hours, at a maximum of eight hours each day, to present its defence.

Impeachment managers spent Wednesday (local time) recreating the January 6 Capitol incursion, revealing chilling new CCTV footage showing how close the mob was to the Democrat and Republican leaders they were “hunting”.

Mr Trump’s lawyers have described the impeachment as “political theatre” and a “public relations stunt”.

Senior Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said on Thursday the emotive prosecution from impeachment managers wasn’t changing any Republican minds and that Mr Trump would not be successfully impeached.

“The ‘Not Guilty’ vote is growing after today,” Mr Graham said.

“I think most Republicans found the presentation by the House Managers offensive and absurd.”

A Senate vote is expected to vote in coming days as both sides seek to wrap up the trial.

Mr Trump can only be found guilty of “incitement of insurrection” with a two-third majority vote in the Senate, which is considered highly unlikely because it would require 17 Republican senators to cross the floor.

Earlier this week, Mr Trump’s lawyers warned that America would erupt into more violence if the former president was convicted in his impeachment trial.

David Schoen argued that the Democrat-led prosecution was a continuation of their political pursuit of Mr Trump, playing a video clip to the Senate of his opponents calling for his impeachment from the opening moments of his presidency in 2017.

He said that if the impeachment continued, “everyone will look bad” and that it would “open up new and bigger wounds across the nation”.

“This trial will tear this country apart, perhaps like we have only seen once before in American history,” Mr Schoen said, ahead of a Senate vote on whether or not the trial was constitutional.

Trump supporters inside the Capitol during the January 6 riots. Picture: AFP

BIDEN: ‘SOME MINDS MAY BE CHANGED’ BY TRIAL EVIDENCE

Meanwhile, President Joe Biden said on Thursday (local time) that devastating presentations by Democratic impeachment managers in the trial of Mr Trump may change some Republicans who until now opposed convicting the former president.

“My guess is some minds may be changed,” Biden told reporters in the White House.

The president said he had not watched Wednesday’s trial live, but had seen news reports on the hours of video evidence showing how a mob left a Trump rally in Washington and invaded the Capitol in an unprecedented security crisis.