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  • Donald J. Trump’s lawyers delivered a brief defense with only three of their 16 hours.

  • Contrary to the facts, his lawyers alleged that Mr. Trump never glorified violence, and they mistakenly equated his behavior with the Democrats’ use of combative rhetoric.

  • Senators from both parties submitted written questions that were answered by the property managers and defense attorneys for Mr. Trump.

  • During breaks, Republican senators spoke favorably of the defense. Without major changes, it is unlikely that there will be enough votes in the Senate to condemn Mr Trump.

  • Officer Eugene Goodman, hailed as a hero on January 6 for distracting the mob and saving the Senators from danger, received a standing ovation and will receive the gold medal of Congress.

  • The process has been suspended until Saturday when it is expected to be completed.

Trump’s impeachment team presented a fire defense for the former president and described the House’s charges of instigating a Capitol riot as “an absurd and monstrous lie”.

  • Shortly before the uprising, Mr. Trump said to his supporters, “If you don’t fight like hell, you will have no more land.” In an attempt to suggest the metaphorical nature of political speeches, Mr. Trump’s lawyers presented video montages of elected Democrats and some celebrities uttering the word “fight”.

  • “Suddenly the word ‘fight’ is taboo?” said Michael T. van der Veen, one of the lawyers hired in recent days to defend Mr Trump. “Spare us the hypocrisy and false indignation.”

  • “OK, you indicated that it is possible to use ‘fight’ in a metaphorical sense,” said Adam Liptak, who covers the Supreme Court, at the Times’ live briefing. “The question is whether Trump has called for fighting in the physical sense in context.”

  • Mr. Trump’s attorneys dismissed the process as a “culture of constitutional repeal”. Bruce L. Castor Jr. said the impeachment is about “turning down 75 million Trump voters and criminalizing political positions.”

  • The lawyers alleged the riot was deliberate and pointed to pipe bombs that were planted before the rally. “You cannot goad what was about to happen,” said Mr van der Veen.

  • Mr van der Veen also said the January 6 rally was “kidnapped” by extremists, including far-left anti-Nazi activists. But the Republican leaders have denied this claim. “Some say the riot was caused by Antifa,” House minority leader Kevin McCarthy said last month. “There is absolutely no evidence of this and conservatives should be the first to say this.” (In connection with this, Mr. Trump has used false statements about Antifa as smoke protection for a growing right-wing threat.)

  • The lawyers relied heavily on Mr. Trump’s single use of the word “peaceful” when he urged supporters to march to the Capitol while minimizing the use of the word “fight” 20 times. “No thinking person could seriously believe that the President’s January 6 speech on the ellipse was in any way inciting violence or riot,” said van der Veen. “The proposal is obviously absurd. Nothing in the text could ever be construed as encouraging, condoning, or inciting for illegal activity of any kind. “

  • The defense team argued that the Senate “had no jurisdiction” to bring a former president who is now out of office to justice, that Mr. Trump’s behavior was protected by the first amendment and that it was nowhere near the legal definition for “inciting” would correspond. In a letter last week, 144 leading First Amendment attorneys and constitutional scholars across the political spectrum called this argument “legally frivolous.”

  • Trump team lawyers also portrayed the process as rash, claiming Mr Trump was not treated properly. “Trump attorneys seem to be complaining that they didn’t have enough time to see ‘the evidence’,” said Mark Leibovich, Times Magazine’s chief correspondent. “But of course most of the evidence was visible beforehand.”

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