Today's trial begins with the House Managers' presentation of evidence against Donald Trump. Lead Manager Jamie Raskin will lead off the trial with a presentation of the evidence proving that Donald Trump incited an insurrection against the government and violated his oath of office in the process.
House managers are expected to demonstrate with video and other evidence the direct line between Trump's words and actions and the violent attack on the Capitol on January 6th. I expect them to take this video apart and augment it with even more evidence that Donald Trump is directly responsible for the violence at the Capitol building. Each side will get 16 hours to present their case over no more than two days. Neither side can spend more than eight hours per day making their arguments.
The impeachment managers likely will lay out a very vivid account of what happened on January 6, keying in on key phrases of Trump that day, including when he told the crowd to trek to the Capitol and that “if you don’t fight like hell you’re not going to have a country anymore.” They also will argue that the 14th Amendment prohibits any person who has engaged “in insurrection or rebellion” against the U.S. from holding office. Expect lots of video of the events of January 6, including emotional appeals to remind Senate Republicans on why it is critical to hold the former president accountable.
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UPDATE: 2:30 PST: (Karoli) The Senate is in recess for dinner but will return at about 3:15PM PST/6:15 PM EST.
The House managers have so far done a precise, focused presentation drawing a straight line between Trump's conduct from well before the election through his speech on the Ellipse to the rioters pounding down the doors of the Capitol, attacking police with American flags, baseball bats and more.
