Tag: Impeachment

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New York Meeting will droop Andrew Cuomo impeachment investigation

New York Assembly will suspend Andrew Cuomo impeachment investigation

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo listens during his announcement at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S., May 11, 2021

Eduardo Munoz | Reuters

The New York state Assembly will suspend its impeachment investigation of Gov. Andrew Cuomo after his resignation takes effect Aug. 25, Speaker Carl Heastie said Friday.

Cuomo announced his resignation earlier this week after the New York state attorney general’s office  found that he sexually harassed at least 11 women and oversaw a hostile working environment in his office.

Heastie said there is no longer a need for the state Assembly Judiciary Committee’s impeachment investigation, which was authorized in March, due to the governor’s resignation. The Judiciary Committee also advised the Assembly that the state constitution does not authorize the legislature to impeach and remove an elected official who is no longer in office, Heastie said.

However, the committee’s work over the last several months did uncover evidence related to allegations against the governor, Heastie said, which “could likely have resulted in articles of impeachment had he not resigned.”

This includes evidence related to sexual harassment and misconduct, the misuse of state resources in relation to the governor’s memoir, and misleading disclosure of nursing home data during the coronavirus pandemic.

Heastie has asked the Judiciary Committee to turn over to “relevant investigatory authorities” all the evidence gathered during the inquiry.

The state attorney general’s office is investigating issues concerning Cuomo’s memoir, while the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York is probing his administration’s actions related to nursing home data.

Investigations into the governor’s sexual misconduct are being carried out by local law enforcement authorities in five jurisdictions: Manhattan, Albany, Westchester, Nassau and Oswego.

“The people of this great state expect and deserve a government they can count on to always have their best interests in mind. Our government should always operate in a transparent, safe and honest manner,” Heastie said in a statement Friday.

Lindsey Boylan, a former aide to the governor and one of the 11 women who came forward with sexual harassment allegations, was critical of the Assembly’s decision.

“The Assembly’s decision to call off its impeachment investigation is an unjust cop out. The public deserves to know the extent of the Governor’s misdeeds and possible crimes. His victims deserve justice and to know he will not be able harm others,” Boylan said in a Twitter post Friday.

In his resignation speech Tuesday, Cuomo said he decided to step down to avoid distracting the state as it grapples with the pandemic and other issues.

“Given the circumstances, the best way I can help now is if I step aside and let government get back to government,” Cuomo said Tuesday. “And therefore that is what I’ll do, because I work for you, and doing the right thing, is doing the right thing for you.”

The governor has denied sexually harassing people, but conceded that some of his comments made women uncomfortable, and he apologized for that.

Cuomo dodging impeachment and removal means he still has the option of running for office again, including jumping into a future gubernatorial election.

Cuomo’s reelection campaign account had just more than $18 million on hand after the first half of the year, overwhelmingly surpassing the funds of New York Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul, who will finish the remainder of the governor’s term when he steps down. Hochul intends to run for governor after she finishes out Cuomo’s term.

Records show Cuomo’s campaign paid more than $280,000 to his attorney’s firm, Glavin PLLC, while he was under investigation by the New York state attorney general’s office.

— CNBC’s Dan Mangan and Brian Schwartz contributed to this report.

Correction: Lindsey Boylan is a former aide to the governor and one of the 11 women who came forward with sexual harassment allegations. An earlier version misspelled her name.

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In New E book, Boehner Says He Regrets Clinton Impeachment

In New Book, Boehner Says He Regrets Clinton Impeachment

WASHINGTON – Former Ohio Republican spokesman John Boehner says in new memoir that he regrets supporting the impeachment of President Bill Clinton and calls it a partisan attack he would now have gladly turned down.

In his book About the House: A Washington Memory, a copy of which was obtained from the New York Times, Boehner accused Texas representative Tom DeLay, then Republican No. 2, of a politically motivated campaign against Mr. Clinton over his affair Monica Lewinsky, a White House intern.

The Republican-run House voted in 1998 to indict Mr. Clinton on two counts. He was acquitted by the Senate.

“I think the Republicans charged him for one reason and one reason – because it was strongly recommended to us by a Tom DeLay,” writes Boehner. “Tom believed that the Clinton indictment would get us all those seats in the House of Representatives, would be a huge win politically, and he convinced enough of the membership and the GOP base that it was true.

“I was on board at the time,” continued Mr. Boehner. “I won’t pretend otherwise. But I regret it now. I regret that I did not fight against it. “

Mr. Boehner’s memoir, the cover of which is a photo of the former speaker holding a glass of Merlot with a burning cigarette in an ashtray next to him – his natural habitat for decades – are full of colorful stories from his time in Congress.

He does not hit those whom he regards as right-wing bomb throwers in his group. (He spares Senator Ted Cruz of Texas some particularly violent insults.) And he issues a stinging denunciation from Donald J. Trump, saying that the now-former president “said this by his supporters in the Capitol on January 6th and January 6th.” instigated a bloody uprising “that the Republican Party was taken over by“ Whack Jobs ”.

Mr. Trump’s “refusal to accept the election result not only cost the Republicans the Senate, it also led to mob violence,” writes Boehner.

Mr. Boehner also provides details on some of the most talked about exchanges on Capitol Hill, including the time when Republican Don Young, Republican of Alaska, pulled a knife on Mr. Boehner on the floor of the house after speaking critically about loved ones projects Alaska.

“Sometimes I can still feel the thing on my neck,” writes Boehner. (The two would remedy the situation later, and Mr. Boehner would serve as best man at Mr. Young’s wedding.)

Mr. Boehner also recounts an encounter in his office where Mark Meadows, then a Republican representative from North Carolina and leader of the right-wing Freedom Caucus, fell on his knees to ask for forgiveness after a failed political coup attempt against Mr. Boehner.

“Not long after the vote – a vote that, like many of the Freedom Caucus efforts, ended in pathetic failure – I was told that Meadows wanted to hit me one-on,” recalled Boehner. “Before I knew it, he had fallen off the couch and on his knees. Right there on my carpet. That was a first. His hands came together in front of him as if to pray. ‘Mr. Speaker, please forgive me, “he said, or equivalent.”

Mr. Boehner said he was wondering at the moment what Mr. Meadow’s “elite and uncompromising gang of Freedom Caucus warriors would have made of their star organizer on the verge of tears, but that wasn’t my problem.”

Mr Boehner looks down on the man who would later become Mr Trump’s White House Chief of Staff.

“I took a long, slow drag on my camel cigarette,” he writes. “Let the tension hang a little, you know? I looked at my camel pack on the desk next to me, then looked down at him and asked (as if I didn’t know), ‘What for?’ “

Maggie Haberman contributed to the coverage from New York.

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Cuomo sexual harassment probe attorneys appointed, impeachment mulled

Cuomo sexual harassment probe lawyers appointed, impeachment mulled

The New York attorney general on Monday appointed a former top federal attorney and a senior labor lawyer to lead the investigation into allegations that Governor Andrew Cuomo sexually molested several women.

Also on Monday, a spokesman for the New York Congregation minority leader William Barclay told the media that a Republican-sponsored resolution to initiate impeachment proceedings against Cuomo would be introduced by the end of the day.

Republicans have a relatively small minority of seats in the assembly and cannot force Democrats to indict Democrat Cuomo.

However, there were growing calls from the Democrats for Cuomo to step down. The governor has said he will not resign voluntarily.

In another development on Monday, Cuomo said his attorney, Kumiki Gibson, would be leaving that post to take a position in the private sector. Beth Garvey, who is Cuomo’s special advisor and senior advisor, will take on Gibson’s acting job.

Garvey was implicated in a failed attempt to induce a former federal judge, instead of Attorney General Letitia James, to investigate allegations that Cuomo molested former aides and behaved inappropriately with other women.

After a backlash to the idea, Cuomo’s office suggested that James share oversight of the probe with the state’s chief judge. The attorney general denied the agreement, and the governor’s office then said it would ask them to oversee the investigation on their own.

James said Monday the investigation would be led by Joon Kim, who served as acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York from March 2017 through the following January, and Anne Clark, who has represented numerous plaintiffs in sexual harassment lawsuits .

Kim is a partner at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton law firm, while Clark is a partner at Vladeck, Raskin & Clark.

“The people of New York deserve a full and independent investigation into these allegations, and I am determined to persevere,” said Clark in a statement released by James’ office.

In a statement, Kim said, “These are grave allegations that require strict and impartial investigation. We will act sensibly and pursue the facts wherever they lead.”

James also named three other lawyers, Jennifer Kennedy Park, Abena Mainoo, and Yannick Grant, to help conduct the investigation.

“We are committed to an independent and thorough investigation into the facts,” said James.

Kim and Clark “are independent legal professionals with decades of experience conducting investigations and fighting to uphold the rule of law,” said James.

“There’s no question that they both have the knowledge and background to lead this investigation and give New Yorkers the answers they deserve.”

Debra Katz, attorney for one of Cuomo’s accusers Charlotte Bennett, said the selection of Kim and Clark “shows that Attorney General Letitia James takes this matter very seriously”.

“We are encouraged by the experience and background of the attorneys who will investigate Charlotte’s claims and expect the investigation to extend into the claims of the other women we know are out there,” said Katz.

It is important that this investigation not only focus on what Governor Cuomo said and did. It also needs to focus on the culture of secrecy, abuse and fear he has cultivated among his staff – often below Violation of the laws he signed protecting workers from sexual harassment. We look forward to working with investigators. “

The investigation began on February 24 when Lindsey Boylan, a former state business development official, wrote in a Medium post that Cuomo had “abused his governor power to sexually harass me, as he did.” many other women did. ” . “

Boylan, who is running for Manhattan District President, wrote that Cuomo kissed her once without her consent and suggested as a joke that they play strip poker while on an official flight. The governor’s office declined Boylan’s account.

Days later, another former Cuomo aide, Bennett, told the New York Times that he had asked her questions about her sex life and whether she “had ever been with an older man.” Bennett, who played soccer against one of Cuomo’s daughters in middle school, is 25 while the governor is 63.

Shortly after this article, the Times published claims by former Obama’s White House employee Anna Ruch that Cuomo put his hand on her bare lower back at a wedding reception and told her that she looked “aggressive” when he was with her His face and then asked if he could kiss her.

Cuomo has said that he “never made progress” to Bennett.

However, he also apologized last week and said, “I understand now that I acted in a way that made people feel uncomfortable. … It was unintentional.”

Karen Hinton, who served as Cuomo’s press secretary for the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, told the Washington Post recently that Cuomo invited her to his Los Angeles hotel room and hugged her in 2000 when she tried to leave the room and pull her back to him when she moves again to leave.

Ana Liss, who had worked as the governor’s advisor to Cuomo, told the Wall Street Journal that he hugged her, kissed her on both cheeks and grabbed her waist.

Cuomo’s office flatly denied Hinton’s account, saying it “didn’t happen”. Referring to Liss’s allegation, his office said that Cuomo had a known habit of kissing and posing for pictures to both men and women.

“That’s what people do in politics,” said Cuomo’s senior advisor Rich Azzopardi.

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World News

Donald Trump acquitted by Senate in second impeachment trial

Donald Trump acquitted by Senate in second impeachment trial

US President Donald Trump gestures during a rally to contest the certification of the results of the 2020 US presidential election by the US Congress on January 6, 2021 in Washington, USA.

Jim Bourg | Reuters

The Senate on Saturday acquitted former President Donald Trump in a 57-43 vote on charges of instigating rioting for his role in the Jan. 6 riot in the U.S. Capitol, which killed 5 people, including a police officer.

Seven GOP senators voted guilty in the most bipartisan majority in support of an impeachment conviction in US history. It took Democrats 17 Republicans to join Trump and hold a separate vote to keep him from running for office in the future.

The decision came after the House impeachment managers reversed course and dropped a call for testimony that would have delayed the verdict. The acquittal marks the end of a five-day impeachment trial.

Republicans who voted guilty included Sens. Richard Burr from North Carolina, Bill Cassidy from Louisiana, Susan Collins from Maine, Lisa Murkowski from Alaska, Mitt Romney from Utah, Ben Sasse from Nebraska, and Pat Toomey from Pennsylvania. Toomey and Burr are not running for re-election in Congress.

Nine House Democrats acted as impeachment managers in the process, arguing that Trump had direct responsibility for the riots and was bringing new video and audio evidence to the US Capitol during the attack.

Trump’s defense team denied that the former president instigated the attack, arguing that Trump’s rhetoric was protected by the first change. His lawyers also argued that the process was unconstitutional as Trump was a private individual and no longer president.

No president before Trump has ever been tried and tried twice, and a former president has never been tried in the Senate.

In Trump’s first impeachment trial, the Senate acquitted Trump of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress because Trump had pressured Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden and his son. Romney was the only GOP Senator found guilty in the trial.

Trump described the process in a statement following his acquittal on Saturday as “another phase in the greatest witch hunt” in US history.

“Our historic, patriotic and beautiful movement to make America great again has only just begun,” Trump said. “I have a lot to share with you in the months ahead and I look forward to continuing our incredible journey together to achieve American greatness for all of our people.”

Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, in a speech in the Senate, classified the acquittal as “un-American” and said the January 6 riots would be Trump’s “last terrible legacy”.

“Let it live on in shame, a stain on Donald John Trump that can never, never be washed away,” said Schumer. “There was only one correct judgment in this process: guilty.”

Chief impeachment manager, Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., Said in his closing arguments that the house managers presented “overwhelming and irrefutable” evidence that Trump orchestrated and instigated the attack on the Capitol.

Raskin compared Trump’s actions to those of an arsonist who started a fire, kept pouring fuel on it, and stood ready to see it burn “happily”. In a separate argument, he got more personal, asking the senators if this was the kind of land they wanted future generations to give.

“This process is ultimately not about Donald Trump. The country and the world know who Donald Trump is,” said Raskin. “This process is about who we are.”

“And if we as a people cannot deal with it together, we all forget the boundaries of party, ideology and geography and all these things. If we cannot deal with it, how will we ever conquer the other?” Crises of our time? “Raskin continued.” Is that America? Do we want to leave this to our children and grandchildren?

Trump’s attorney Michael van der Veen said in his concluding argument that the Democrats had committed a tremendous violation of Trump’s constitutional rights by punishing him for a protected speech on the First Amendment. He described this as an attempt to “censor unfavorable political speeches and discriminate against those who were disapproved of” stance. “

“It is an unprecedented action with the potential to cause serious and lasting damage to both the presidency and the separation of powers and the future of democratic self-government,” said Van der Veen.

Democratic impeachment manager Rep. David Cicilline, DR.I., made his closing argument by going through the timeline of Trump’s actions on the day of the riot and rejecting the defense team’s claim that Trump did not know his Vice President Mike Pence. was in danger.

“It developed on live television in front of the whole world. Do you believe that no one, not a single person, informed the President that his Vice-President had been evacuated? Or that the President did not look at the television Has.” ? Or his Twitter account? “Said Cicilline.

“He cheated on us on purpose. He broke his oath,” added Cicilline.

Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-Pa., Rejected arguments from Trump’s defense team, saying that Trump had convinced his supporters to believe his “big lie” that the 2020 election was stolen and that they had to go out to fight it.

“It is not true that you did this of your own accord and for your own reasons,” said Dean. “The evidence shows the exact opposite, that for Donald Trump they did this at his invitation, at his direction, at his command.”

The Senate had voted to allow witnesses 55 to 45 ahead, with five Republicans joining all Democrats. The GOP Senators were Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Collins, Murkowski, Romney and Sasse.

However, the board agreed to terminate the trial shortly afterwards after including a statement from Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Wash., As evidence on the record. Earlier in the day, Raskin called for Beutler’s removal after confirming the contents of an explosive phone conversation between the House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy and Trump as the attack on the Capitol unfolded.

On the call, Trump appeared to be on the side of the rioters. Beutler’s testimony stated that Trump said to McCarthy, “Well, Kevin, I think these people are more upset about the election than you are.”

Van der Veen responded to Raskin by saying, “We should close this case today,” saying the call for witnesses showed that the House had not properly investigated the riot.

It is unclear whether calling witnesses could have changed the votes of GOP senators who have already made their decisions.

For example, Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell told his Republican counterparts earlier in the day that he intended not to vote guilty, arguing the chamber had no power to convict a former president.

The House indicted Trump when he was still president and McConnell declined to start the process before Biden’s inauguration because there wasn’t enough time. After the acquittal, McConnell criticized Trump for a “shameful breach of duty”.

“There is no question that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day,” McConnell said. “No question.”

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The 7 Republicans who voted to convict Trump in second impeachment trial

The 7 Republicans who voted to convict Trump in second impeachment trial

Senator Pat Toomey, R-Pa., Attends a campaign event at Herbert W. Best VFW Post 928 in Folsom, Pa., Sept. 23, 2016. John McCain, R-Ariz., Is also attending in support of Toomey.

Tom Williams | CQ appeal | Getty Images

WASHINGTON – Seven Republican senators and all of the Democrats found former President Donald Trump guilty on Saturday for instigating the U.S. Capitol insurrection, despite the bipartisan vote that was insufficient to achieve the two-thirds majority required for conviction.

In Trump’s second impeachment trial, Republican Sens. Richard Burr from North Carolina, Bill Cassidy from Louisiana, Susan Collins from Maine, Lisa Murkowski from Alaska, Mitt Romney from Utah, Ben Sasse from Nebraska and Pat Toomey from Pennsylvania voted for the 45th sentence. President.

The seven GOP senators joined 48 Democrats and two independent senators.

The Senate acquitted Trump in a 57-43 vote on charges of instigating riots for his role in the deadly January 6th Capitol riot. It took Democrats 17 Republicans to join Trump.

The decision came after the House impeachment managers reversed course and dropped a call for testimony that would have delayed the verdict. The acquittal marks the end of a five-day impeachment trial.

Trump is the first president to be tried and tried twice.

Senator Mitt Romney, R-Utah speaks to a group of bipartisan lawmakers during a press conference to unveil a COVID-19 emergency relief framework at the Dirksen Senate office building in Washington on Tuesday, December 1, 2020.

Caroline Brehman | CQ Appeal, Inc. | Getty Images

During Trump’s first impeachment trial, Romney was the only Republican to quit his party and convict the president. The Senate acquitted Trump in 2020 on impeachment proceedings resulting from his efforts to pressure Ukraine to investigate then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden.

Senator Lisa Murkowski, who can be re-elected in 2022, had previously called for Trump to resign after the Capitol uprising. Senator Pat Toomey had also called for the president to resign. He has stated that he will not run for re-election if his seat expires in 2022.

Senator Ben Sasse said last month he was open to considering impeachment proceedings against the former Republican president.

Senator Burr, who has announced that he will not seek re-election, had previously voted to oppose impeachment on constitutional grounds. Burr’s term ends in 2022.

Senator Cassidy originally said he would dismiss the case on the grounds that it was unconstitutional, but then changed his voice last week, saying Trump’s lawyers had done a “terrible” job clarifying the matter.

Senator Lisa Murkowski, R-AK, speaks during a Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions nominations hearing for Marty Walsh to be the Secretary of Labor on February 4, 2021 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC.

Graeme Jennings | Pool | Reuters

Trump’s defense team denied the former president instigated the attack, arguing that the former president’s rhetoric was protected by the first change. His lawyers also called the trial unconstitutional as Trump was no longer president.

“The Democrats were obsessed with indicting Mr. Trump from the start,” said Trump’s attorney Michael van der Veen in concluding arguments.

“In short, this impeachment was a complete charade from start to finish. The whole spectacle was nothing more than the opposition party’s unreserved pursuit of longstanding political vengeance against Mr. Trump,” he added.

Senior impeachment manager, Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, urged Senators to review in his closing remarks what he called “overwhelming,” “irrefutable,” and “not refuted.”

“This process is ultimately not about Donald Trump. The country and the world know who Donald Trump is. This process is about who we are,” said Raskin.

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McConnell will vote to acquit Trump as impeachment trial nears finish

McConnell will vote to acquit Trump as impeachment trial nears end

Senate Republican minority leader Mitch McConnell arrives at the U.S. Capitol on February 5 of the second impeachment trial of former U.S. President Donald Trump on February 13, 2021 in Washington, DC.

Almond Ngan | AFP | Getty Images

Mitch McConnell, chairman of the Senate minority, emailed his Republican counterparts on Saturday that he would release Donald Trump in the former president’s second impeachment.

“During a close conversation, I am convinced that impeachments are primarily an instrument of elimination and therefore we have no jurisdiction,” wrote McConnell. The Kentucky Senator also stated that criminal misconduct by a president during his tenure after he has left office can be prosecuted.

McConnell had refused to initiate impeachment proceedings before President Joe Biden was inaugurated, stating that there was insufficient time. McConnell said in his email that he still regards the verdict as a “vote of conscience”.

The final vote on Trump’s conviction was due to take place on Saturday afternoon, less than a week after the trial began and a month after the House indicted Trump on an article inciting the January 6 riot in the U.S. Capitol.

Senators initially voted 55-45 on Saturday morning to call witnesses to the trial, an unexpected development that would likely have delayed the verdict. The Senate then reversed course and will now move forward to end the trial without a witness.

Democrats need two-thirds of the Senate to vote for a conviction, which means that at least 17 Republicans would have to vote with all Democrats and Independents to convict Trump. Only six out of 50 Republican senators believed the trial should take place at all.

In this screenshot from a webcast by congress.gov, a roll-call vote is being held on a motion to summon witnesses on the fifth day of former President Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial at the U.S. Capitol on February 13, 2021 in Washington, DC.

Congress.gov | Getty Images

All Democratic Senators voted to hear witnesses along with five Republicans: Susan Collins from Maine, Lindsey Graham from South Carolina, Lisa Murkowski from Alaska, Mitt Romney from Utah, and Ben Sasse from Nebraska.

The call for testimony came after further details of an explosive dispute between House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy and Trump emerged on a phone call Friday night as the Capitol uprising unfolded in which Trump appears to be on the side of the United States Rioters stood and said they were more “angry” with the election results than McCarthy.

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, DR.I. suggested that the process be halted to remove McCarthy and Senator Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala. Senator Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., Supported Whitehouse’s call in a tweet on Saturday morning. Senator Mitt Romney, R-Utah, said he would also endorse witnesses if both sides ask.

“One way to clear it up? Suspend the process to oath McCarthy and Tuberville and get facts,” Whitehouse wrote in a tweet. “Ask intelligence to submit communications to the White House for review regarding VP Pence’s safety during the siege. What did Trump know and when did he know?”

In this screenshot from a webcast from congress.gov, Senior House Impeachment Head Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) speaks on the fifth day of former President Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial at the U.S. Capitol on February 13, 2021 in Washington, DC.

Congress.gov | Getty Images

During the trial, Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., The chief impeachment manager called to subpoena Rep. Herrera Beutler, R-WA, to inform her of her testimony regarding her communication with McCarthy.

Trump attorney Michael van der Veen responded by saying “We should close this case today” and that the call for witnesses shows that the House has not properly investigated the riots.

Bruce Castor, one of Trump’s defense lawyers, said Saturday he would call “many” witnesses. The Senate is still working on the next steps, as dismissing witnesses can take days or even weeks.

The process was unprecedented in many ways. No president before Trump has ever been tried and tried twice, and a former president has never been tried in the Senate. If the process closes as expected this weekend, it will be the shortest impeachment process ever recorded.

It is also noteworthy that the senators serving as the jury in the trial are themselves witnesses to the events that, according to prosecutors, instigated Trump.

Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA) questions Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta as he testifies during a House Appropriations Committee hearing on the fiscal year 2020 working budget on April 3, 2019 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC.

Al Drago | Getty Images

The break-in at the Capitol forced a joint session of Congress to vacate their chambers, ruining the process of confirming President Joe Biden’s electoral college victory. Five people, including a US Capitol police officer, died as a result of the attack.

Before the siege began, Trump held a rally in front of the White House calling on a crowd of his supporters to march to the Capitol to protest the election results and to pressure Republicans, including then Vice President Mike Pence, for them To question results.

“If you don’t fight like hell, you will have no more land,” Trump said at the rally, one of many statements before, during and after the uprising that the Democrats took as evidence of incitement.

Nine House Democrats selected as impeachment managers in the process argued that Trump has direct responsibility for the invasion. Led by Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., The executives presented within two days that Trump should be convicted and disqualified for ever holding federal office again.

Trump laid the groundwork for the attack over the months by relentlessly spreading the “big lie” that the 2020 elections were stolen by widespread electoral fraud. Managers said Trump set his “Stop the Steal” rally on Jan. 6 as the final stand to reverse the election result, then whipped his supporters and directed them to the Capitol.

“He had gathered thousands of violent people, people he knew to be violent, people he had considered violent,” property manager Madeleine Dean said at the trial. “And then he pointed to us, lit the fuse and sent an angry mob to fight the supposed enemy – his own Vice President and members of Congress – when we confirmed an election.”

Their presentation contained never-before-seen video and audio evidence, including security footage in the Capitol that showed lawmakers running to safety from the mob.

Trump’s lawyers denied that the former president had instigated the attack and placed particular emphasis on his use of the words “peaceful and patriotic” during his speech at the pre-insurrection rally. Trump’s rhetoric, they said, was a fully protected speech under the First Amendment and no worse than what Democrats have said in the past.

The urge to expel Trump from the future office amounts to a “culture of constitutional repeal,” said defense attorney Michael van der Veen.

The defense team also had problems with the legal process. They argued that the impeachment process itself was unconstitutional as Trump was a private citizen and no longer a president. They also said the process was rushed and Trump was deprived of procedural rights.

Van der Veen warned that the process would transform the impeachment power of Congress into a “mechanism for enforcing state control over which individuals can and cannot become president”.

They started their presentation on Friday noon; They finished less than three hours later, although they had up to 16 hours to represent their case.

Trump’s legal roster was released less than two weeks before the first day of the trial when the Senate met to review and vote on whether it had jurisdiction over the former president.

Castor received scathing reviews from Democrats and Republicans for making a tortuous, tangential argument. Senator Bill Cassidy, a Republican who had previously voted to dismiss the trial on constitutional grounds, voted with the Democrats after listening to Trump’s lawyers.

In Trump’s first impeachment trial, only one GOP senator, Mitt Romney of Utah, voted to condemn Trump.

That process, in which the Senate examined articles on abuse of power and obstruction of Congress in connection with Trump’s pressure on Ukraine to investigate Biden and his son, took nearly three weeks – allegedly the shortest in US history.

If Trump’s second trial ends on Saturday, it will have lasted five days.

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Politics

Impeachment Briefing: A Combative Protection

Hong Kong Website Doxxing Police Gets Blocked, Raising Censorship Fears

This is the Impeachment Briefing, the Times’ newsletter on the impeachment investigation. Sign up here to get it in your inbox.

  • 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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How Media Differs in Protection of Trump Impeachment Trial

How Media Differs in Coverage of Trump Impeachment Trial

On MSNBC, whose prime-time hosts are always critical of Mr. Trump, presenter Chris Hayes on Wednesday praised the prosecution’s use of “really stunning video”. He said it “masterfully” “linked Trump’s words and actions to the violence shattering the seat of American democracy.”

When the property managers presented their case Thursday afternoon, David Schoen, one of Mr. Trump’s attorneys, appeared on Fox News’ America Reports With John Roberts & Sandra Smith. He criticized the presentation as an “entertainment package” and described it as “offensive”.

Chris Wallace, the Fox News Sunday anchor, said on Wednesday as a guest on Martha MacCallum’s Fox News show that the property managers were doing “a very effective job”. The next day on Ms. MacCallum’s show, Hogan Gidley, a former White House deputy press secretary, urged Democrats’ efforts to equate a refusal to condemn Mr. Trump with support for the Jan. 6 rioters – “a filthy political one Trick and dangerous for the future of our country. “

Multiple guests on Fox News blew up the Democrats’ efforts to win a conviction. “Most Republicans found the property managers’ presentation offensive and absurd,” South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said on Mr. Hannity’s show on Wednesday.

In his monologue Thursday night, Fox News host Tucker Carlson said he couldn’t understand why Democrats were “so angry” after President Biden won the election. “They are crazy, flowery, irrational, scream and threaten,” he said. “It’s bizarre.”

Across the cable separation, there was a point of agreement: the hosts take on the defense lawyers. Mr Hannity described the legal team’s performance on Tuesday as “a little meandering” before his Fox News colleague Laura Ingraham described it as “terrible”.

On Wednesday, MSNBC’s Ms. Maddow said an attorney for Mr. Trump’s Bruce L. Castor Jr. had delivered an “Art Bart Simpson meets Foghorn Leghorn routine”. On Thursday, she apologized for pointing out cartoon characters, saying it was “inappropriate” only to reiterate that his Senate performance was “disastrous”.

A guest at Newsmax, Brian Darling, a former attorney for Senator Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky, presented a testimony of the opening address of both sides. The property managers received a C-Plus. The Trump team received a D.

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Takeaways From Day three of Trump’s Impeachment Trial

Takeaways From Day 3 of Trump’s Impeachment Trial

House impeachment executives on Thursday closed their case against former President Donald J. Trump, warning Senators that it would set a dangerous standard for the country in the future if they didn’t vote for a conviction. The trial will resume Friday when Mr Trump’s defense team comes up with their case that the president did not instigate the attack on the Capitol.

Here are some takeaways from the third day of the trial.

The impeachment managers used their last day of the argument to convince the Senators that Mr Trump invited the rioters to Washington on Jan. 6. They argued that the “insurgents” who attacked the Capitol were not acting alone as its defenders said and will most likely claim if they present their case.

The managers again used video footage of Mr. Trump and his supporters to present their arguments, interspersed with clips of chaos to remind the Senators of how they felt when the Capitol was attacked. They claimed that such violence would not have happened without Mr Trump.

An impeachment manager, Representative Diana DeGette of Colorado, shared her experience during the attack and how she and others ran to safety and saw a SWAT team with weapons aimed at rioters on the ground. Ms. DeGette said she wondered, “Who sent you there?”

She shared comments from rioters, including a Texas real estate agent named Jennifer L. Ryan. “I thought I was going to follow my president,” Ms. Ryan said. “I thought I was following what we were called to do. He asked us to fly there, he asked us to be there, so I did what he asked us to do. “

The Trump impeachment ›

What you need to know

    • A court case will determine whether former President Donald J. Trump is guilty of instigating a deadly crowd of his supporters when they stormed the Capitol on January 6, violently violated security measures, and went into hiding when they met to certify President Biden’s victory.
    • Parliament voted 232 votes to 197 in favor of a single impeachment trial, accusing Mr. Trump of “inciting violence against the United States government” in order to dismiss the election results. Ten Republicans voted against him alongside the Democrats.
    • To convict Mr. Trump, the Senate would need a two-thirds majority to approve. This means that at least 17 Republican senators would have to vote with Senate Democrats to convict.
    • A conviction seems unlikely. Last month, only five Senate Republicans sided with the Democrats in repelling a Republican attempt to dismiss the charges because Mr Trump is no longer in office. Only 27 senators say they are not sure whether to convict Mr. Trump.
    • If the Senate convicts Mr. Trump and finds him guilty of “inciting violence against the United States government,” the Senators could vote on whether to expel him from office. This vote would only require a simple majority, and when it came to party lines, the Democrats would prevail if Vice President Kamala Harris casts the casting vote.
    • If the Senate doesn’t condemn Mr Trump, the former president could run for office again. Public opinion polls show he remains by far the most popular national figure in the Republican Party.

In another clip, Ms. Ryan said, “President Trump asked us to be in DC on the 6th, so that was our way of stopping the theft.”

After Joseph R. Biden Jr. denounced the attack on television and asked Mr. Trump to speak on national television and “demand an end to this siege,” one rioter asked, “He doesn’t know that President Trump called us to siege Has?” the place?”

The impeachment managers stressed that despite the five deaths and dozens of injuries among police officers alone, including broken ribs and broken spinal discs, Mr Trump never apologized for what happened on Jan. 6.

“President Trump’s lack of remorse and refusal to answer during the attack shows his state of mind,” said California representative Ted Lieu, a manager. “It shows that he intended the January 6th events to take place. And when it happened, he was happy about it. “

The managers stressed that Mr Trump’s behavior – selling false conspiracy theories and fraudulent claims, praising violence, skewing facts to fit his agenda – was not limited to the presidential fight and elections, and showed video clips of some of the most shocking and most controversial moments of his presidency. Among them was the deadly protest by white nationalists in Charlottesville, Virginia after Mr. Trump encouraged the white supremacy movement in a way that no president had done in generations.

Jamie Raskin, the chief impeachment manager, asked the Senators, “Is there a political leader in this room who believes Donald Trump would stop inciting violence in order to find his way if he ever gets back to the Oval Office from the Senate? ? “

Throughout the impeachment process, House managers have commended former Vice President Mike Pence for standing up against Mr Trump and refusing to reject the vote of the electoral college for re-election.

“Vice President Pence showed us what it means to be an American,” said Lieu on Wednesday. “What it means to show courage. He has put his country, his oath, his values ​​and his morals above the will of a man. “

It was unusual praise to hear from Democrats after Mr Pence worked with his burning boss for four years, which, according to critics, only allowed Mr Trump to do.

Managers stressed that the rioters wanted to assassinate the country’s second in command, Mr. Pence, which appeared to appeal to the Republican senators’ appeal to the sacred chain of command.

“During the attack, the vice president never left the Capitol and remained locked in the building with his family – with his family -” said representative Stacey E. Plaskett, a manager and delegate of the Virgin Islands Non-Voting House. “Remember that as you think about these images and sounds of the attack. The vice president, our deputy, was always the focus. Vice President Pence has been threatened with death by the president’s supporters for rejecting President Trump’s request to overthrow the election. “

Mr. Pence, a former congressman and governor of Indiana, has been largely out of sight since leaving office. At the end of January, he was seen on vacation with his wife in the Virgin Islands.

Earlier this month, Mr Pence announced that he had joined the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.

The house’s impeachment executives closed three days of emotional footage of the attack. They showed Senators how close they were to the violent crowd of Trump supporters as they ducked and ran to safety that day. At times the videos and recordings seemed to resonate with the Republicans in the room. Some of them even praised the work of the property managers. But it wasn’t enough to change her mind.

On Thursday, before the managers closed their case, Republican Senator John Boozman of Arkansas told reporters that he would vote to acquit Mr. Trump. He predicted that the 43 other Republicans who voted with him to find that a former president’s attempt was unconstitutional would also vote for the acquittal.

To get a conviction, Senate Democrats would have to support 17 of their Republican counterparts, and that was never an expected outcome.

“Impeachment is dead on arrival,” Kentucky Republican Senator Rand Paul predicted last month.

Sabrina Tavernise, Luke Broadwater and Glenn Thrush contributed to the coverage.

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Politics

5 Takeaways From Day One among Trump’s Second Impeachment Trial

5 Takeaways From Day One of Trump’s Second Impeachment Trial

The second impeachment trial of former President Donald J. Trump began on Tuesday, 370 days after he was acquitted of high crimes and offenses in his first trial. He is accused of “instigating a riot” for sparking violence in the US Capitol on January 6th. The House impeachment managers and Mr Trump’s defense team argued over whether the Constitution would allow the Senate to hold a trial against a former president and ultimately decided he could move forward.

Here are some takeaways from day one.

In a 56-44 vote, the Senate dismissed Mr Trump’s defense team’s argument and decided, largely partisan, that he had the authority to bring an accused former president to justice. This paved the way for Wednesday’s trial.

Impeachment executives, led by Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland, argued that the rejection of this impeachment trial would constitute a “January exception” that would set the precedent for a Lame Duck president to act inconsistently in the final weeks of his tenure .

The defense team called the prosecutor’s case a “quick impeachment” and argued that a former president does not need to stand trial because it would set the precedent for punishing a former official after leaving office at the whim of the party in power.

Only a simple majority was required on the question of jurisdiction, in contrast to the two-thirds majority required for a conviction. Six Republicans, along with all 50 Democrats, decided that the Senate could continue the process.

In a 13-minute video of scenes from the January 6 attack on the Capitol, the House’s chief impeachment manager, Mr. Raskin, showed a graphical visual record of the attack, including the explicit language of the rioters and riot shouts, as well as clips from Mr. Trumps Comments during the day – like his speech to followers before some of them stormed the Capitol and a Twitter post hours after the attacks, in which he wrote, “Remember that day forever.”

The Trump impeachment ›

What you need to know

    • A court case will determine whether former President Donald J. Trump is guilty of instigating a deadly crowd of his supporters when they stormed the Capitol on January 6, violently violated security measures, and went into hiding when they met to certify President Biden’s victory.
    • Parliament voted 232 votes to 197 in favor of a single impeachment trial, accusing Mr. Trump of “inciting violence against the United States government” in order to dismiss the election results. Ten Republicans voted against him alongside the Democrats.
    • To convict Mr. Trump, the Senate would need a two-thirds majority to approve. This means that at least 17 Republican senators would have to vote with Senate Democrats to convict.
    • A conviction seems unlikely. Last month, only five Senate Republicans sided with the Democrats in repelling a Republican attempt to dismiss the charges because Mr Trump is no longer in office. On the eve of the start of the trial, only 28 senators say they are not sure whether to convict Mr Trump.
    • If the Senate convicts Mr. Trump and finds him guilty of “inciting violence against the United States government,” the Senators could vote on whether to expel him from office. This vote would only require a simple majority, and when it came to party lines, the Democrats would prevail if Vice President Kamala Harris casts the casting vote.
    • If the Senate doesn’t condemn Mr Trump, the former president could run for office again. Public opinion polls show he remains by far the most popular national figure in the Republican Party.

The scenes of chaos in the video showed a crowd of protesters forcibly pushing past security barricades and police lines. Shots from inside the building included an officer screaming as he was knocked down by a door and another officer shot killing one of the rioters, Ashli ​​Babbitt.

For many of the Senators on Tuesday, the footage provided different angles than what they saw firsthand when they were brought out of the same Senate Chamber in shock and fear.

“They are asking what a great crime and misdemeanor our constitution is,” Raskin told the senators at the end of the video. “This is a high crime and misdemeanor. If that is not a criminal offense, there is no such thing. “

One of Mr. Trump’s defense lawyers, David I. Schoen, accused the property managers of hiring a “film company” to put together the most disturbing footage of the day. Mr Schön also offered a video account with a collection of calls by Democrats to impeach Mr Trump over the past four years, a false equivalency as none of these comments resulted in violence.

While this is a new Senate – with Democrats in the majority – and the way Mr Trump is accused is different from the allegations he faced in his first impeachment trial, there is no question that Mr Trump will ultimately is acquitted, just like a year ago.

It would take the Democrats 17 Republicans to break with and vote with the former president to have the two-thirds necessary to convict Mr Trump. If the six Republican senators who voted with Democrats Tuesday on the Senate’s right to hold the trial also voted to convict Mr. Trump, it would take Democrats 11 more Republican defectors to get a conviction.

For Democrats, a guilty verdict would be a formal, permanent waiver of Mr. Trump’s behavior. Should Mr Trump be convicted, the Senate could vote to decide whether to run again for office – something the Democrats have argued is in the best interests of the country.

An acquittal would allow Republicans to postpone the conviction of their party’s most popular member. But it would only delay the inevitable reckoning of their party faces between the moderate members and the far right wing, which not only defends Mr Trump but seeks to punish other Republicans for betraying him.

For the Democrats, an acquittal could still be some sort of political victory, as the trial was an opportunity to publicly condemn Mr Trump’s actions in his final days as president and provide a formal record of the Republican senators who refused to accept him to punish.

Senator Mike Lee, Republican of Utah, has already been criticized for proposing that Mr. Trump be given a passport for the January 6th events.

“Look, everyone makes mistakes, everyone is entitled to a mulligan every now and then,” Lee said on Fox News after the property managers argued, using a golf term for a do-over.

As the longest-serving Democrat in the Senate, 80-year-old Leahy is the chairman of the Senate trial against Mr Trump.

Last year, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. held that role, an appointment set out in the Constitution. This time, however, Chief Justice Roberts was not interested in the job. And because the constitution does not provide who should oversee the trial of a former president, it fell to Mr Leahy and gave him the power to rule on key issues such as admissible evidence.

On January 6th, Mr. Leahy was among the lawmakers who had to move away from the violent crowd, making him one of the hundreds of witnesses who were at the Capitol that day. And as one of 100 Senators, he will also vote on whether to convict Mr Trump of inciting violence against the United States.

Mr Leahy’s three hats were a reminder, among other things, that while these trials in the Senate are referred to as trials, they are not comparable to those in courtrooms across the country.

Mr Trump’s defense team unsuccessfully argued that Mr Leahy’s conflict of interest is one reason the trial is unconstitutional.

Bruce L. Castor Jr., the attorney who began the Trump defense team’s arguments Tuesday, led Senators down a tortuous path of generalizations about the Senate, Mr. Trump’s right to freedom of expression, and the difference between murder and manslaughter in criminal justice.

“I have no idea what he’s doing,” said Alan M. Dershowitz, who served on Mr. Trump’s defense team during his first impeachment last year, on conservative television station Newsmax. “Maybe he’ll bring it home, but at the moment it doesn’t seem like an effective advocacy.”

While Mr. Castor was speaking, other senators looked restless and began to talk to each other.

“The president’s attorney kept moving,” Republican Senator John Cornyn told reporters after the trial ended. “I’ve seen a lot of lawyers and a lot of arguments and that wasn’t the best I’ve ever seen.”

Mr Schön, another of Mr Trump’s attorneys, seemed to regain attention in the room when he argued that the Constitution does not allow the impeachment of a former president.

“This process will tear this country apart, perhaps as we have seen it only once in our history,” said Mr Schön, an obvious reference to the civil war. “For political reasons,” he added, “it is wrong, how wrong it can be for all of us as a nation.”

Glenn Thrush contributed to the coverage.