What to expect on the first day of Trump’s second impeachment trial
The House impeachment managers intend to lay out a “devastating” case that former President Trump is responsible for the riots at the US Capitol on Jan. 6, from his actions in the weeks leading up to the riots and his failure to act to stop them, senior aides to the House impeachment team said Tuesday.
The aides would not tip their hand on whether they might call witnesses at the trial or what new evidence they planned to present, but they told reporters Tuesday that the managers’ argument would be a detailed and compelling case that leaves no doubt about Trump’s guilt.
Their case would not be like a constitutional convention, one aide said, but “more like a violent crime criminal prosecution, because that’s what it is.”
The House’s lead impeachment manager, Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, will kick off the House’s two-hour presentation on Tuesday, followed by Reps. Joe Neguse of Colorado and David Cicilline of Rhode Island, the aides said.
On Wednesday and Thursday, when the managers will make their presentation to the Senate, they are looking to use video and other available evidence to show what unfolded on Jan. 6, in an effort to “win the hearts, minds and consciousness of all 100 jurors,” another aide said.
That includes new evidence that has not been seen publicly, the aides said, declining to elaborate.
During today’s opening session, the managers will focus on the question of the trial’s constitutionality. They argued that once the Senate votes today on the matter – which only needs a majority vote, unlike the two-thirds required for conviction – the constitutional question should be considered settled like any other trial motion.
Of course, most Republican senators have argued they’re likely to acquit Trump because they don’t think the trial is constitutional.
The managers have been meeting nearly every day, sometimes twice a day, as part of their extensive preparations for the trial, according to the aides.
CNN’s Manu Raju reports from Capitol Hill:
