Washington – House Democrats conclude their arguments in favor of sentencing former President Donald Trump to his indictment in the Senate on Thursday, a day after presenting a dramatic video timeline that shed new light on the scope of the attack on the Capitol on 6 January.
Senior aides to the removal team said Thursday’s arguments would become the aftermath of the attack, including Trump’s role. They also plan to examine the damage caused by the riots, both physical and not, the president’s lack of remorse and the legal issues that apply in this case.
“We, the team and the executives, are confident that these tests have the power to change our minds and in fact we believe we saw a little more movement yesterday,” one aide said. “By the end of today, I think many of the questions raised by senators who spoke to the press last night will have been thoroughly answered and their duty to condemn will be clear.”
On Wednesday, dismissal managers spent hours building the case that Trump would be responsible for inciting the crowd that stormed the Capitol, arguing that the attack was the culmination of months of ex-president efforts to undermine the integrity of the election.
Officials revealed security images not seen until now from congressional halls to drive home the extent to which riots reached lawmakers, staff and Vice President Mike Pence, who had resisted Trump’s pleas for hinder the counting of electoral votes. Senators sat in silence as managers presented the meticulously constructed timeline, with many saying they were shaken after reliving the violent episode.
“I know how I felt in the Senate chamber when I could hear those voices. I knew what it meant to run down that aisle with my colleagues,” Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski said. “I wasn’t fully aware of everything else going on in the building. So when you see all the pieces come together, just the full awareness of that, the enormity of that, that threat, not just for to us as people, but also legislators, but the threat to the institution and what Congress poses is disturbing. “
The trial is set to resume Thursday at noon and Democratic officials are asking for an eight-hour deadline to end the case before Trump’s legal team begins its defense on Friday.