Impeachment trial: Donald Trump acquitted of inciting insurrection
Donald Trump accuses Democrats of cancel culture after being acquitted of inciting insurrection, with the Senate voting 57 to 43 to convict him.
Donald Trump has accused the Democrats of transforming justice into a “tool of political vengeance,” after the US Senate voted to acquit him of inciting insurrection on January 6.
After a week-long trial, the Senate voted 57 to 43 to convict the former president, short of the two thirds majority needed for a guilty verdict.
All 50 Democrats voted to convict, joined by seven Republicans. Sixty-seven votes were required to convict.
In a statement released minutes after the vote on his second impeachment, Mr Trump claimed the Democrats were attempting to “cancel” opposing viewpoints.
He described himself as a champion for the rule of law and for the right of Americans to peacefully debate the issues of the day.
“It is a sad commentary on our times that one political party in America is given a free pass to denigrate the rule of law, defame law enforcement, cheer mobs, excuse rioters, and transform justice into a tool of political vengeance, and persecute, blacklist, cancel and suppress all people and viewpoints with whom or which they disagree,” he said.
“I always have, and always will, be a champion for the unwavering rule of law, the heroes of law enforcement, and the right of Americans to peacefully and honourably debate the issues of the day without malice and without hate.”
Mr Trump also thanked his legal team and “all of the United States Senators and Members of Congress who stood proudly for the Constitution we all revere and for the sacred legal principles at the heart of our country.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer blasted the decision to acquit Mr Trump, calling the vote “un-American” and insulting to patriots who gave their lives for the republic over the centuries.
Mr Schumer told Senators that today was a “day of infamy.”
Speaking minutes after the vote, Mr Schumer told the Senate: “The former President inspired, directed, and propelled a mob to violently prevent the peaceful transfer of power, subvert the will of the people, and illegally keep that President in power.
“There is nothing, nothing more un-American than that.
“There is nothing, nothing more antithetical to our democracy … insulting to the generations of Americans patriots who gave their lives to defend our form of government.”
Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell was also scathing about the former president despite voting to acquit him.
Mr McConnell said Mr Trump was “practically and morally responsible” for provoking the Capitol riots and suggested he could be liable for criminal conviction.
He said the mob that stormed the Capitol believed they were acting on Mr Trump’s instructions as a “forceable consequence of the growing crescendo of false statements, conspiracy theories and reckless hyperbole, which the defeated president kept shouting out through the largest megaphone on planet earth.”
Mr McConnell said he ultimately did not vote for conviction because he didn’t believe the constitution allowed for the Senate to convict a former president.
“If President Tump were still in office I would have carefully considered whether the House managers proved their specific charge,” he said. “The question is moot because former President Trump is constitutionally not eligible for conviction.”
However he said the vote to acquit did not excuse Mr Trump’s behaviour and said he was still liable for everything he did while in office now that he is a private citizen.
How today unfolded
Anne Baarrowclough 7.45am: Trump acquitted of inciting insurrection
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has described today as a “day of infamy” after the Senate voted to acquit former president Donald Trump.
Senators voted 57 to 43 to convict Mr Trump, short of the two thirds majority needed for conviction.
The decision to acquit Mr Trump came after a brief, five day impeachment trial in the US Senate. It came as no surprise; Democrats faced an uphill battle to get 17 Republicans to join them in convicting the president.
As it was, seven Republicans voted with all 50 Democrats.
The Republicans who voted with the Democrats were: Richard Burr of North Carolina, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Mitt Romney of Utah, Ben Sasse of Nebraska and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania.
Bill Cassidy had voted against impeaching Mr Trump but changed his mind during the trial.
The Democrats’ two day case centred on hitherto unseen security footage of the siege in a final pitch to persuade Republicans to vote to convict the former president.
As they finished their case, House impeachment managers played comments by rioters, including one man who told police as he tried to break the line: “We were invited here … we were invited by the president of the United States.”
Democrat house prosecutor Diana DeGette said of the rioters: ‘‘They truly believed that the whole intrusion was at the president’s orders — and we know that because they said so.”
She played videos in which Trump supporters roamed through the Capitol Building chanting ‘‘stop the steal’’, a cry that Mr Trump had encouraged at his rally held just before the riot. One video showed a rioter shouting at police ‘‘we are listening to Trump — your boss’’.
Mr Trump’s team argued that Democrats had brought Mr Trump’s impeachment to silence opposing political views, and that they had introduced “constitutional cancel culture.”
The Trump lawyers also that Mr Trump urging his supporters to “fight” could not be construed as inciting an insurrection.
They showed a compilation video to argue that prominent Democrats have consistently used the word “fight” and the phrase “fight like hell” in several speeches and interviews, with a particular focus on Elizabeth Warren urging supporters to fight a number of times.
Rebecca Ballhaus 7.30am: Democrats ‘violently breached’ trial procedure
Trump lawyer Michael Van der Veen called the Capitol riot a “grave tragedy” but said that Mr Trump had at no point explicitly encouraged his supporters to engage in violence. “No matter how much truly horrifying footage we see of the conduct of the rioters, and how much emotion has been injected into this trial, that does not change the fact that Mr Trump is innocent of the charges against him,” he said.
Mr Van der Veen accused House managers of having “violently breached” trial procedure, referring to a dispute over video Democrats played during their closing arguments.
He said the riot had been planned by activists on both the left and right, a claim that is contradicted by video footage and charging documents that show the vast majority of those who planned and attended the riot were Trump supporters or affiliated with right-wing groups. Mr. Trump in a phone call with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy on Jan. 6 claimed the protesters were linked to antifa — referring to the loose network of antiracist, anti-fascist protesters — which Mr. McCarthy disputed, saying the rioters were Trump supporters.
Mr. Van der Veen also blamed Democrats for not trying to hold the Senate trial before Mr Trump left office, saying “they could have tried the president while he was still in office if they really believed he was an imminent threat.”
Then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell could have brought the Senate back early with agreement from the Democratic leader under a 2004 law that authorises the emergency return of the Senate provided that both politicians agree.
The Wall St Journal
Anne Barrowclough 7.20am: Hero police officer: children ‘keeping me in the norm’
Capitol Police officer Eugene Goodman, who will receive the Congressional Gold Medal for his heroic actions during the riot, told reporters his children kept him “in the norm”.
NBC reports Mr Goodman seemed exhausted and sighed when he was asked if he was ready for the attention to subside.
“My daughter, she’s 13 — she could care less though she just wants her video games,” he said, adding that his children were keeping him “mentally in the norm.”
Mr Goodman received a standing ovation during a break of the impeachment trial on Saturday (AEDT) when it was announced he would receive the Congress’ highest honour. He was seen on video leading the mob away from the Senate chamber and to a different area, allowing politicians to flee safely.
Anne Barrowclough 6.50am: Trump defence team begin closing arguments
Donald Trump’s defence team is now making their closing arguments, condemning the violence of January 6 but insisting that Mr Trump was not responsible for it.
Lawyer Michael Van der Veen said the Democrats were trying to “discriminate against a disapproved viewpoint”, and silence Mr Trump.
Closing the prosecution case, lead Impeachment manager Jamie Raskin argued that Mr Trump was the “inciter-in-chief” of the violence and “supported the mob.”
“We’ve proved he betrayed his country, we’ve proved he betrayed the Constitution, we proved he betrayed his oath of office,” Mr Raskin said.
“Senators, this trial in the final analysis is not about Donald Trump, the country and the world knows who Donald Trump is. This trial is about who we are, who we are,” he added.
Anne Barrowclough 6.35am: ‘Trump invited, incited, directed’ rioters
Impeachment manager Madeleine Dean began her closing argument by playing a video montage of Donald Trump repeating the false claim that the election had been rigged.
“Donald Trump invited them, he incited them, then he directed them,” she said of the mob that attacked the US Capitol before playing the video.
The video she showed included scenes of Mr Trump lying repeatedly over the election result even before it was held.
“There won’t be a transfer, frankly,” Trump said. “There will be a continuation.”
“The only way we’re going to lose is if there’s mischief, mischief and it will have to be on a big scale,” he said. “So, be careful.”
Ms Dean said Mr Trump’s conduct “culminated” in the then president sending a save the date invitation on December 19 for the event on January 6. She said he also spent $50 million from his legal defence fund to broadcast his message to “stop the steal” on all major networks.
Ms Dean added that Mr Trump knew, as he addressed his supporters, that they would become violent, as some wore body armour and helmets and others had weapons.
“It is not true that they did so of their own accord and for their own reasons,” she said. “The evidence makes clear that they did this for Donald Trump at his invitation, at his direction, at his command.”
Eliza Collins 6.10am: Senators appear exhausted, slumped in chairs
As the House managers presented their closing arguments a general exhaustion clouded the Senate chamber.
Many senators who had been intently taking notes early on had stopped, and other senators were slumped in their chairs.
Most Democratic Senators were in the room the start of the remarks, while more than a half dozen Republicans were absent. Sen. Joe Manchin (D., W.Va.) was tapping his leg up and down repeatedly. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D., Ore.) was eating.
Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.), who had told his GOP colleagues he planned to acquit former President Donald Trump, sat unmoving, staring straight ahead even when the House managers displayed images and video on the chamber’s screens.
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R., La.) one of the few Republicans seen as being up for grabs, sat with his head in his hands and rubbed his forehead repeatedly. Even Mr. Cassidy, who had been one of the Senate’s most voracious notetakers, seemed to have slowed his pace.
The Wall St Journal
Anne Barrowclough 6.00am: ‘He wilfully betrayed us’
Impeachment manager David Cicilline stresses that Donald Trump must have known Mike Pence was being evacuated when he sent a tweet attacking his vice president.
“It was unfolding on live TV in front of the entire world. Does it strike you as credible that nobody, not a single person, informed the president that his vice president had been evacuated? Or that the president didn’t glance at the television? Or his Twitter account?” Mr Cicilline said.
He stressed that Mr Trump “didn’t do anything to help his vice president” on January 6, referencing the phone calls that Mr Trump placed to Senators Mike Lee and Tommy Tuberville, and to Kevin McCarthy that contradict his lawyers’ argument that he was unaware of what was going on.
“He wilfully betrayed us. He violated his oath,” Mr Cicilline said.
The House managers began their argument shortly before 5am (AEDT), meaning they should conclude around 7pm before it goes to the defence. The defence is not expected to use their entire two hours.
Anne Barrowclough 5.35am: Phone call ‘ended as mob smashed McCarthy’s windows’
The impeachment managers have said the call between Mr Trump and Mr McCarthy ended as the mob smashed the windows of Mr McCarthy’s office.
Lead impeachment manager Jamie Raskin began his closing arguments by quoting what lead Republican Liz Cheney chairwoman of the House GOP Conference, said about the January 6 attack on the Capitol when she declared she would vote to impeach Mr Trump.
Mr Raskin said House Democratic managers offered “overwhelming and irrefutable” evidence that Mr Trump “incited this insurrection against us.”
Mr Raskin read Ms Cheney’s statement in wake of the riot.
“The President of the United States summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack. Everything that followed was his doing. None of this would have happened without the President,” she said. “There has never been a greater betrayal by a President of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution. I will vote to impeach the President.”
Anne Barrowclough 5.25am: Details of Herrera Beutler statement
Jaime Herrera Beutler’s full statement about the phone call between Donald Trump and Kevin McCarthy is as follows:
“In my January 12 statement in support of the article of impeachment, I referenced a conversation House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy relayed to me that he’d had with President Trump while the January 6 attack was ongoing.
Here are the details:
“When McCarthy finally reached the president on January 6 and asked him to publicly and forcefully call off the riot, the president initially repeated the falsehood that it was antifa that had breached the Capitol. McCarthy refuted that and told the president that these were Trump supporters. That’s when, according to McCarthy, the president said: ‘Well, Kevin, I guess these people are more upset about the election than you are.’
“Since I publicly announced my decision to vote for impeachment, I have shared these details in countless conversations with constituents and colleagues, and multiple times through the media and other public forums.
“I told it to the Daily News of Longview on January 17. I’ve shared it with local county Republican executive board members, as well as other constituents who ask me to explain my vote. I shared it with thousands of residents on my telephone town hall on February 8.
“To the patriots who were standing next to the former president as these conversations were happening, or even to the former vice president: if you have something to add here, now would be the time.”
Anne Barrowclough 5.15am: Rioters ‘more upset about election than you’
The details of the phone call between Mr Trump and Mr McCarthy were revealed by CNN on Saturday (AEDT). During the conversation, detailed by Republican Jaime Herrera Beutler,
Mr McCarthy pleaded with Mr Trump to call off the mob.
Mr Trump responded: “Kevin, it’s not my people, it’s Anti-Fa,” CNN reports.
Mr McCarthy said: “No, it’s your people,” to which Mr Trump answered: “Well, Kevin, I guess those people are more upset about the election than you are.”
The congressman replied: “Who the f*** do you think you are talking to?”
A number of Republican senators have told CNN they believed Mr Trump’s comments proved the then president supported the rioters and facilitated the violence by failing to act.
However it is doubtful that the new details about the conversation with Mr McCarthy will change Republican senators’ minds over whether to convict or acquit the former president.
Mr McCarthy voted against impeaching Mr Trump and has made up with him in a meeting at Mar-a-Lago, Mr Trump’s private club in Florida.
Anne Barrowclough 5.00am: Trial resumes after hours of confusion
After adjourning over the decision to call witnesses, House impeachment managers are now making their closing arguments.
The decision to call witnesses through the entire process into confusion, with speculation it would have to be adjourned for two weeks. However ultimately the Senate agreed to enter into the record a statement from Republican congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler, in which she described the phone call between former President Trump and House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy instead of calling her as a witness.
Anne Barrowclough 4.30am: Senate votes to call witness, extending trial
The Senate has voted to call witnesses in Donald Trump’s trial in an unexpected twist, after House Democratic managers said that they wanted to subpoena a Republican congresswoman who had knowledge of a conversation between Mr Trump and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy on the day of the attack on the Capitol. The phone call, in which Mr Trump appeared to support the rioters as Mr McCarthy begged him to call them off, was revealed on Saturday (AEDT) by CNN.
Senators were expected to vote today whether to acquit or convict Mr Trump after both sides presented closing arguments.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell earlier told his GOP colleagues that he would vote to acquit, and many Republican and Democratic senators have said they have largely made up their minds on how they will vote.
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