WASHINGTON, Feb 12 (NNN-AGENCIES) — House prosecutors wrapped up their impeachment case against Donald Trump on Thursday with an impassioned appeal to the Senate to convict the former president of inciting the deadly Jan 6 attack on the US Capitol and bar him from ever holding office again.
“We humbly, humbly ask you to convict President Trump for the crime (of)
which he is overwhelmingly guilty,” said Democratic Representative Joe
Neguse, one of the nine impeachment managers from the House of
Representatives.
“Because if you don’t, if we pretend this didn’t happen — or worse, if we
let it go unanswered — who’s to say it won’t happen again?”
The House impeachment managers rested their case after two days of
arguments that included Trump’s own words and hours of graphic video from the assault on the Capitol by Trump supporters who were seeking to halt certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s November 3 election victory.
Trump’s lawyers will begin their defense on Friday, arguing that the former
president cannot be held personally responsible for the storming of Congress.
They have also argued that the trial itself is unconstitutional because
Trump is now out of office, although the Senate rejected that argument
earlier this week.
Jamie Raskin, the lead House manager, reminded the 100 senators who are
sitting as jurors of their oath to render “impartial justice.”
“Exercise your common sense about what just took place in our country,”
Raskin said, noting that Trump stood by doing nothing for two hours as his
supporters rampaged through Congress.
“Why did president Trump not tell his supporters to stop the attack on the
Capitol as soon as he learned about it?” Raskin asked. “As our constitutional
commander in chief, why did he do nothing to send help?”
But despite what even some Republicans have said was a strong prosecution case, Trump retains an unshakeable grip on the party, making conviction highly unlikely.
It would take a two-thirds majority in the 100-member Senate, meaning 17
Republicans would need to join the chamber’s 50 Democrats.
Republican Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana said video footage shown by
House managers on Wednesday was “powerful,” but “how that influences final decisions remains to be seen.”
Other Republican senators have clearly already made up their minds and do not intend to break with Trump, who has threatened to derail their careers.
Republican Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri echoed the argument of Trump’s defense lawyers that it is unconstitutional to try a former president. — NNN-AGENCIES
