Trump Knew Pence Was in Danger, Encouraged Mob Anyway
Day two of the impeachment trial in the Senate was about making the case for how serious the January 6th invasion of the US Capitol really was.
Impeachment case managers played previously unreleased video, told horrifying stories, and cited tweets, presenting definitive proof that the mob storming the Capitol was a hunting party. “They came to kill people."
And it could have been a lot worse.
At the end of the day, Senator Mike Lee rose to ask that statements attributed to him by prosecutors be stricken from the record, saying they were untrue.
In his haste to show obeisance to Donald Trump, the Senator from Utah opened the door for perhaps the most damning evidence connecting the ex-president to the events of that day.
From Politico:
Trump called Lee on Jan. 6, the day of the Capitol insurrection, but had meant to call Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.). Lee recounted to the Deseret News last month the call from Trump and said he had passed off the phone to Tuberville when he realized Trump had dialed him by mistake. Trump‘s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani also left a voicemail meant for Tuberville that day to corral support for Trump‘s election disputes, but he‘d also accidentally dialed Lee.
Nobody has ever accused Sen. Tuberville of being the sharpest tool in the shed. When he was asked about the content of the call by reporters later in the day, Tuberville unwittingly established a time frame demonstrating the ex-President’s complicity in drumming up the mob to seek out Vice President Mike Pence.
From the Huffington Post: (emphasis mine)
He didn’t get a chance to say a whole lot because I said, ‘Mr. President, they just took the vice president out. I’ve got to go,’” Tuberville said.
According to video footage from that day, Pence was removed from the Senate at 2:14 p.m. after rioters had broken into the Capitol, meaning that when Trump lashed out at Pence at 2:24 p.m., he already knew Pence’s life was in danger.
“Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution,” Trump wrote in his tweet.
Videos shown by Democratic House members presenting their impeachment case document that rioters were aware of Trump’s tweet. Some had erected a gallows outside the Capitol. Others roamed the halls, chanting, “Hang Mike Pence.”
https://twitter.com/TheRynheart/status/1359952843067830275?s=20
Day Three of the case against Donald Trump is set to recall the events of the day from the point of view of those participating in the Capitol invasion.
Here’s just one example, from CNN:
The Justice Department is now making clear that a leader among the Oath Keepers paramilitary group -- who planned and led others in the US Capitol siege to attempt to stop the Biden presidency -- believed she was responding to the call from then-President Donald Trump himself.
"As the inauguration grew nearer, [Jessica] Watkins indicated that she was awaiting direction from President Trump," prosecutors wrote in a filing Thursday morning.
This is the most direct language yet from federal prosecutors linking Trump's requests for support in Washington, DC, to the most militant aspects of the insurrection.
https://twitter.com/B52Malmet/status/1359929248111353860?s=20
Because a substantial portion of the GQP has been radicalized and those wishing to run for re-election know their careers depend on aligning with the Trumpanistas, don’t expect many Senators to be moved by the powerful presentations made over the past three days.
Via NPR:
The mob that attacked the U.S. Capitol may have been a fringe group of extremists, but politically motivated violence has the support of a significant share of the U.S. public, according to a new survey by the American Enterprise Institute (AEI).
The survey found that nearly three in 10 Americans, including 39% of Republicans, agreed that, "If elected leaders will not protect America, the people must do it themselves, even if it requires violent actions."
Just to make sure that no evidence gets in the way of their complicity, GQP Senators are doing their best to not see what’s being presented:
As Abby Zimet says at Common Dreams:
Rand Paul, who "wrote a Fox op-ed calling the trial "of dubious merit," doodled on a pad.
Chuck Grassley read on a hidden iPad, though he reportedly glanced up when the mob shrieked "Hang Mike Pence!"
Rick Scott, who has called the trial "a waste of time," studied papers in his lap;
Tom Cotton and Marco Rubio likewise found Very Important Things to read.
The seditious Josh Hawley lied the trial is unconstitutional,
Ted Cruz told Hannity it's because "they hate Donald Trump" and every January "we're going to be doing another impeachment,"
Kevin Cramer sneered, “Welcome to the stupidest week in the Senate.” Their silence, of course, is the sound of their complicity:
They want to ignore the horrors of the Capitol riot because most of them are guilty of inciting it. Hillary Clinton: "If Senate Republicans fail to convict Donald Trump, it won't be because the facts were with him or his lawyers mounted a competent defense. It will be because the jury includes his co-conspirators."
https://twitter.com/AnaCabrera/status/1359942283089616900?s=20
The official propaganda organ of the GQP is also doing its best to ignore reality. Rather than show any of the chilling video footage presented, Fox News cut away for items like Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban's decision to forego the national anthem at his NBA team's home games, and the viral video of a Texas attorney's "I'm not a cat" Zoom courtroom filter fail.
https://twitter.com/JoyAnnReid/status/1359742038682591232?s=20
***
The House Democrats don’t expect their presentation will last all day. Which means all those GQP Senators will have time for respite before Team Trump takes the floor.
There are two expectations for the ex-President’s defenders, namely that their arguments will be short and sweet, along with the probability that Black Lives Matter will be blamed for starting the violence. (Really!)
https://twitter.com/PatrickW/status/1359942411519164420?s=20
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