Category Archives: US Senate

Impeachment trial: defense lawyers argue Trump is victim of ‘cancel culture’

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Lawyers claim Trump’s ‘fight like hell’ rhetoric on 6 January was no different than the language politicians frequently use

Impeachment lawyers for Donald Trump accused the prosecution of waging a “politically motivated witch-hunt” against the former president, vehemently denying the charge that his words and actions incited the deadly insurrection at the US Capitol as they concluded their sharply partisan defense and prepared for a swift conclusion to the trial.

Confident that Trump’s unprecedented second impeachment trial would again result in acquittal, the defense lawyers channeled the former president’s bombastic style – and his loose relationship with the facts – to denounce the case against him as an “unconstitutional act of political vengeance” fueled by Democrats’ longstanding “hatred” of their client. They claimed the House managers had grievously mischaracterized Trump’s remarks to his followers at a rally on 6 January, when he exhorted them to “fight like hell” during a rally just before they marched down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington and attacked the US Capitol.

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Impeachment trial: Democrats rest case with warning that Trump remains a threat

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  • House managers: years of violent rhetoric led to Capitol assault
  • Diana DeGette: ‘They came because he told them to’
  • US politics – follow live

House impeachment managers rested their case against Donald Trump on Thursday, concluding that the deadly Capitol assault he stands accused of inciting was the culmination of a presidency beset by lies and violent rhetoric, and warning gravely that he would remain a threat to American democracy if not convicted and barred from holding future office.

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‘A wake-up call’: impeachment managers warn against acquitting Trump – video

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House impeachment managers warned that more political violence could occur if Trump is not held accountable. Representative Diana DeGette argued the vote to impeach would make sure this would never happen again.

The  managers rested their case on the third day of the trial after presenting arguments for convicting Donald Trump.

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Trump impeachment: police bodycam footage shows Capitol attack – video

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Police bodycam footage showing officers under attack at the US Capitol attack has been released during the second impeachment trial for Donald Trump. Democrat congressman Eric Swalell played footage captured from the officer's perspective showing the crowd attacking police with whatever items were at hand, including crutches and a Trump flag. Swalell also revealed vision showing the evacuation of representatives including Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer being ushered away by security

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Trump impeachment: new footage shows Mike Pence and Mitt Romney fleeing Capitol attack – video

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New video shown during the second impeachment trial for Donald Trump has revealed Capitol police officer Eugene Goodman leading Senator Mitt Romney away from the rioters as well as the evacuation of former vice-president Mike Pence.

Representative Stacey Plaskett presented the previously unreleased security footage from the 6 January Capitol breach documenting Romney's close call as well as Pence and his family's escape as rioters chanted ‘hang Mike Pence’

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Trump impeachment: Senate to hear prosecution arguments against former president – live

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Prosecutors in Fulton county, Georgia, have reportedly launched a criminal investigation of Donald Trump’s phone call to Brad Raffensperger, the Republican secretary of state, about the presidential election.

The New York Times reports:

On Wednesday, Fani Willis, the recently elected Democratic prosecutor in Fulton County, sent a letter to numerous officials in state government, including Mr. Raffensperger, requesting that they preserve documents related to Mr. Trump’s call, according to a state official with knowledge of the letter. The letter explicitly stated that the request was part of a criminal investigation, said the official, who insisted on anonymity to discuss internal matters.

The inquiry makes Georgia the second state after New York where Mr. Trump faces a criminal investigation. And it comes in a jurisdiction where potential jurors are unlikely to be hospitable to the former president; Fulton County encompasses most of Atlanta and overwhelmingly supported President Biden in the November election.
The Fulton County investigation comes on the heels of a decision Monday by Mr. Raffensperger’s office to open an administrative inquiry.

Related: 'I just want 11,780 votes': Trump pressed Georgia to overturn Biden victory

House impeachment managers are preparing to introduce new visual evidence during their presentation on Wednesday, as the trial begins in earnest following a vote to move forward with the proceedings.

The Democratic managers will lay out their case for why Donald Trump should be impeached, arguing that the former president committed “the most heinous constitutional crime possible” according to a senior aide on the impeachment manager’s team.

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Congressman Raskin breaks down recounting Capitol breach – video

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Jamie Raskin, the Democratic congressman, lead impeachment manager and constitutional law professor, fought back tears as he recounted his experience of the Capitol breach which happened the day after the death of his son. 'This cannot be our future': Raskin's 24-year-old daughter and his son-in-law were hiding in his office during the attack.

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Analysis: Democrats use Trump impeachment to show sometimes symbolism is the point

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Analysis: faith in the US has been shaken and the impeachment trial is a test of accountability before a global audience

The Democratic congressman Jamie Raskin stood at the lectern, faced 100 senators and removed his black face mask to begin the historic second impeachment trial of former president Donald John Trump.

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Trump’s impeachment trial starts with graphic Capitol assault footage – video

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Donald Trump's second impeachment trial opened in the Senate with graphic video of the attack on the Capitol on 6 January and his comments that spurred a rally crowd to become a mob.

The lead House prosecutor told senators the case would present 'cold, hard facts' against Trump, who is charged with inciting the siege of the Capitol to overturn the election he lost to Joe Biden

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‘Trump’s guilt is obvious’, impeachment managers say in new legal brief – live

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The election arm of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), has brought out its final report on the US presidential election, concluding that it was well organised under the circumstances and there was no significant fraud.

The report also found that Donald Trump’s rhetoric and refusal to accept defeat undermined public faith in democratic institutions, and warned the US has long-term problems with providing equal voting rights for all.

Related: 'Jim Crow relic': Senate filibuster stands in way of Democratic voting rights push

Here’s where the day stands so far:

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‘Jim Crow relic’: Senate filibuster stands in way of Democratic voting rights push

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Analysis: calls to scrap the requirement for 60 senators to back legislation are growing as Congress weighs sweeping protections

As states around the country advance a wave of measures that would make it harder to vote, Democrats in Washington are planning the most sweeping voting rights protections in decades. But to pass those protections, Democrats will have to overcome a huge barrier.

Related: Fight to vote: civil rights are making a comeback at the DoJ – here’s why

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Senate leaders announce Trump impeachment trial rules – video

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On the eve of Donald Trump's impeachment trial on a charge of inciting the deadly US Capitol attack, Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority and minority leaders, have laid out the framework for the trial. ’All parties have agreed to a structure that will ensure a fair and honest Senate impeachment trial of the former president,’ Schumer said. Each side will have 16 hours to present their arguments and the trial will break on Friday afternoon and resume on Sunday afternoon

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Democrats to open Trump impeachment trial by recounting Capitol attack

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Impeachment managers will present scene in harrowing detail using video and audio recordings

House impeachment managers will open their prosecution of Donald Trump for “incitement of insurrection” by recounting the deadly assault on the US Capitol in harrowing and cinematic detail, rekindling for senators the chaos and trauma they experienced on 6 January.

Related: Donald Trump impeachment trial: what you need to know

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The crucial differences in Trump’s second impeachment trial

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In some ways the trial will be a replay of last year’s – but Trump is the first to be tried by the Senate after leaving office, and it will likely be ‘dramatic’

It might be tempting to call it the trial of the century but it is just as likely to invoke a sense of deja vu. This week Donald Trump faces an impeachment trial in the US Senate. Yes, another one.

Trump stands accused of inciting an insurrection when he urged supporters to “fight” his election defeat before they stormed the US Capitol in Washington on 6 January, clashed with police and left five people dead.

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Donald Trump will refuse to testify at Senate impeachment trial, lawyers say

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Democrats had challenged Trump to explain in next week’s proceedings why he disputed factual allegations

Donald Trump’s legal team has said the former president will not voluntarily testify under oath at his impeachment trial in the Senate next week, where he faces the charge from House Democrats that he incited the deadly insurrection at the US Capitol on 6 January.

The lead House impeachment manager, Jamie Raskin, a Democrat, wrote to Trump asking him to testify under oath before or during the trial, challenging the former president to explain why he and his lawyers have disputed key factual allegations at the center of their charge that he incited a violent mob to storm the Capitol.

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Biden pledges to ‘undo moral shame’ of Trump era with new orders on immigration – live

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US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) has been denounced as a “rogue agency” after new allegations of assaults on asylum seekers emerged, and deportations of African and Caribbean migrants continued in defiance of the Biden administration’s orders.

Joe Biden unveiled his immigration agenda on Tuesday, and his homeland security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas was confirmed by the Senate, but the continued deportations suggested the Biden White House still does not have full control of Ice, which faces multiple allegations of human rights abuses and allegations that it has disproportionately targeted black migrants.

Related: New claims of migrant abuse as Ice defies Biden to continue deportations

A hastily executed transfer of nearly 200 people in California’s prison system set off a public health disaster that endangered the lives of thousands of prisoners and staff and led to dozens of deaths, according to a new report from the state’s office of the inspector general (OIG).

The report published on Monday, the third in a series examining the Covid-19 catastrophe in California state prisons, details the circumstances of a May 2020 transfer of 189 people from the California Institute for Men (CIM) in Chino, California, to San Quentin state prison in the Bay Area and Corcoran state prison in the Central Valley.

Related: California prison transfer led to dozens of deaths and endangered thousands – state watchdog

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Explainer: what is the filibuster and why do some Democrats want to get rid of it?

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Abolishing the filibuster could allow Senate Democrats to pass Joe Biden’s agenda, but there are risks

While the US Senate has temporarily averted a showdown over its so-called filibuster rule, the issue appears likely to resurface, as the wafer-thin Democratic majority endeavors to pass Joe Biden’s legislative agenda into law – and Republicans try to stop them. Here’s what you need to know:

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US senators sworn in as jurors for Trump’s second impeachment trial – live

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There’s been a steady stream of activity on Capitol Hill today, paricularly leading up to the swearing-in of the senators for Trump’s impeachment trial.

At a weekly press conference, Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer said the chamber is prepared to work simultaneously to hold an impeachment trial, approve Biden’s cabinet nominees, and pass additional coronavirus relief.

.@SenSchumer says “a vote on a budget resolution could come as soon as next week.” This would give Dems option to use reconciliation for Covid relief package

McConnell doesn’t say if Trump’s actions were impeachable, saying only that he’ll “listen to the arguments” in the trial.

He says he hasn’t spoken to Trump since the day after he declared Biden had “obviously” won the election (that was 12/15).

Tim Ryan tells reporters on Zoom presser that the order among Capitol Police on Jan. 6 was to not use lethal force unless lives were threatened, as was standard for USCP (he'd asked about it during this morning's closed-door briefing)

Vice president Kamala Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, received her second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine at the National Institutes of Health in Maryland.

Twenty-eight days after receiving her first shot, Harris removed her jacked, rolled up her sleeve and extended her left arm for the jab.

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US House delivers article of impeachment against Donald Trump to Senate

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Senate trial will be the first-ever of a former US president, however the chances that Republicans will convict him are slim

The US House delivered its article of impeachment against Donald Trump to the Senate on Monday evening, setting the stage for the first ever Senate trial of a former US president.

For the second time in just over a year, nine House impeachment managers carried an impeachment charge against Trump in a ceremonial procession across the US Capitol, where just a few weeks ago a violent mob laid siege to the building in a deadly assault on the seat of American government.

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