[UPDATED] IMPEACHMENT FARCE: Democrats Start Second Senate Impeachment Trial Of Trump
Keneci Channel
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[UPDATE] NOT GUILTY: Senate Votes To Acquit President Trump In The Impeachment Trial
The senate voted 57-43 Saturday, to acquit President Trump of one charge of "incitement to insurrection."
67 votes or two-thirds majority is required to convict. But Democrat House impeachment managers failed in their effort to convince more than 7 Republicans to vote with 50 Democrat senators who all voted to convict.
Seven Republican senators -- Sasse, Murkowski, Collins, Cassidy, Romney, Burr and Toomey -- voted with the Democrats. State Republican party committees have denounced the actions of the seven senators, and party activists have vowed to kick them out of the Republican party.
In a statement President Trump said in part:
"It is a sad commentary on our times that one political party in America is given a free pass to denigrate the rule of law, defame law enforcement, cheer mobs, excuse rioters, and transform justice into a tool of political vengeance, and persecute, blacklist, cancel and suppress all people and viewpoints with whom or which they disagree. I always have, and always will, be a champion for the unwavering rule of law, the heroes of law enforcement, and the right of Americans to peacefully and honorably debate the issues of the day without malice and without hate.
This has been yet another phase of the greatest witch hunt in the history of our Country. No president has ever gone through anything like it, and it continues because our opponents cannot forget the almost 75 million people, the highest number ever for a sitting president, who voted for us just a few short months ago."
Trump in the statement thanked his lawyers, and "Senators and Members of Congress who stood proudly for the Constitution we all revere and for the sacred legal principles at the heart of our country."
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[UPDATE] Democrats Cave, Back Off Call For Witnesses In Impeachment Trial After Ted Cruz, Trump Team Name Pelosi As Witness
House impeachment managers reached a surprise agreement Saturday afternoon to avoid opening the door to extending the trial for witnesses and instead agreed to move to closing arguments.
Senate had voted earlier Saturday, to call witnesses in the impeachment trial, a development which could have extended the trial for months.
Senator Ted Cruz(R-TX) said that Democrat senate leader Chuck Schumer was apparently blindsided by the outcome of the vote. "I think Schumer right now is dealing with chaos," Cruz told reporters. "he[Schumer] doesn't know what to do because they hadn't planned on this."
Cruz had earlier in a social media post revealed that Democrats had agreed to not call witnesses before changing their mind Saturday morning. "Chaos at the impeachment trial," he wrote on Twitter. "Dems had agreed to no witnesses, then House Managers changed their mind this morning. Schumer blindsided. Pandemonium. They’re negotiating now to figure out next steps."
Apparently the negotiation led to Democrat House impeachment managers bailing on their earlier demand for witnesses; while President Trump's legal team agreed to allow a statement from Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler into the record that describes a phone call Trump had with Leader Kevin McCarthy(R-Calif) in the midst of the Capitol protest.
After final arguments by Trump's lawyers and House impeachment managers, senators will vote later Saturday on whether to acquit or convict Trump for "incitement for insurrection."
Trump is expected to be acquitted of all charges. Constitutional scholars say the impeachment trial is an unconstitutional hyper-partisan sham.
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Day 5: [UPDATE] DEMOCRATS FLAIL: Senate Votes To Call Witnesses In The Impeachment Trial
In another twist sure to delay proceeding, left-wing Republican senators Murkowski, Collins, Sasse, Romney, Murkowski and Graham joined Democrats, Saturday, to vote 55-45 in support of calling witnesses in the impeachment trial.
In a social media post senator Ted Cruz(R-TX) revealed that Democrats had agreed to not call witnesses, but have apparently changed their mind Saturday morning. "Chaos at the impeachment trial," He wrote on Twitter. "Dems had agreed to no witnesses, then House Managers changed their mind this morning. [Democrat majority eader] Schumer blindsided. Pandemonium. They’re negotiating now to figure out next steps."
Trump lawyer Van der Veen had arguing that if it comes to deposing witnesses, he wants in-person depositions from Harris, House Speaker Pelosi and others, in his office in Philadelphia.
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[UPDATE] Day 4: Trump Lawyers Destroy Democrats' Hypocrisy During Impeachment Trial
The proceeding Friday featured clips showing Democrats including Biden and Kamala Harris, using harsh rhetoric to incite their supporters against President Trump and other elected Republicans.
Trump's defense lawyer David Schoen, played a video montage showing Democrat House impeachment managers in recent years calling for their base and colleagues to fight against the Trump‘s administration.
Schoen said Democrats were being hypocritical for focusing on Trump‘s call on supporters at a Jan. 6 rally in Washington to “fight like hell” before the protest broke out at the U.S. Capitol. “It’s a word people use, but please stop the hypocrisy,” he said to Democrats in the senate chamber.
Trump attorney accused House impeachment managers of doctoring evidence displayed during the trial. He argued that clips presented by the impeachment managers, of Trump’s January 6, call for supporters to "fight like hell," were edited to remove context. "You get more due process than this when you fight a parking ticket," Schoen said at one point in his presentation.
Trump’s team also accused the Democrat impeachment managers of doctoring a tweet included in their presentation. A senior Democrat aide on the impeachment team claimed that one graphic "accidentally" added a blue "checkmark" to a tweet.
The montage drew exasperated reactions from Senate Democrats. Sen. Kristen Gillibrand of New York laughed and others laughed when they appeared in the montage, while Sen. Alex Padilla of California was seen passing a note to Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
Meanwhile, some Senate Republicans, including Lindsey Graham, nodded when the attorneys showed clips of Democrats praising protests.
Trump lawyer Bruce Castor accused Democrats of pursuing impeachment for political reasons, specifically a desire to keep the former president from running for office again. He argued that House impeachment managers cited clips from Trump’s Jan. 6 speech and phone call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger without providing proper context.
At one point in his presentation, Castor played a clip from the speech in which Trump called on his supporters to "peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard."
A second video montage showed lawmakers and media members reacting to news that the FBI had forewarned local law enforcement of a potential threat to the Capitol prior to Jan. 6. "All of these facts make clear the Jan. 6 speech did not cause the riots," Castor said.
At one point during a question-and-answer segment -- where Senate lawmakers were permitted to ask both legal teams for clarification on facts relevant to the case -- senator Marco Rubio(R-FL) argued that Trump impeachment established a "new precedent" allowing the impeachment of a former officeholders.
"Is it not true that under this new precedent, a future House, facing partisan pressure to 'lock her up,' could impeach a former secretary of state[like Hillary Clinton] and a future Senate be forced to put her on trial and potentially disqualify her from any future office?" Rubio asked.
In response, Democrat Rep. Raskin deflected; saying that the "jurisdictional issue is over" and that Rubio's hypothetical "has no bearing" on the proceedings.
Trump lawyer Michael Van Der Veen said that other officials could, in fact, be impeached. He described the hypothetical as a "slippery slope" for politicians.
"If you do this the way they want it done, that could happen to, the example there, a former secretary of state," he said. "That’s not the way this is supposed to work."
Impeachment proceeding resumes Saturday...
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[UPDATE] Day 3: Democrat House Impeachment Managers And President Trump's Lawyers Press Their Cases
As Democrat impeachment managers continue to try to convince senators that Trump should be convicted, they're playing more misleadingly edited video clips of Trump's comments and comments by the January 6 Capitol protesters.
Check back for interesting developments ....
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[UPDATE] Impeachment Trial Day 2: Senator Mike Lee Calls Out Democrat House Impeachment Manager For Brazen Lie About Him
During arguments on the second day of the impeachment trial Wednesday, Senator Mike Lee(R-UT) objected to claims from Rep. David Cicilline(D-RI) that Lee said former President Donald Trump was trying to convince Sen. Tommy Tuberville(R-Ala) to delay the certification of the presidential election on Jan. 6 as a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol.
But Lee has not said publicly what the conversation between Trump and Tuberville was about. "They are contrary to fact," Lee said, disputing Cicilline’s remarks, during the trial. "I am the only witness."
According to Lee's spokesman, "Sen. Lee objected and asked that the false statements be stricken from the record. The House managers agreed to withdraw those statements."
Senator Patrick Leahy(D-Vt) who is presiding over the trial, said that Lee's request was not consistent with the Senate rules. But Lee appealed, requesting a roll call vote on his appeal. This prompted confusion in the chamber on what exactly the Senate was voting on before Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer(D-NY) sent the Senate into a quorum call "while we work this out."
Lee later withdrew his request for a roll call. And Democrat lead impeachment manager Rep. Jamie Raskin(R-Md) claimed that Ciciline was merely quoting a newspaper account, probably fake news.
"We're happy to withdraw it on the grounds that it is not true," Raskin said. "And we are going to withdraw it this evening without any prejudice."
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[UPDATE] Senate Votes To Affirm The Constitutionality Of The Impeachment Trial
Six Republican senators -- Murkowski, Toomey, Collins, Cassidy, Sasse, Romney -- voted with Democrats 56 - 44 to rule that the impeachment proceeding is constitutional.
The vote comes after President Trump's defense counsel David Schoen and House impeachment manager Rep. Jamie Raskin concluded their arguments.
While Democrat Impeachment mangers made mostly emotional speeches, Trump lawyer Bruce Castor warned that “the floodgates will open” on impeachment if Trump is convicted.
“The political pendulum will shift one day -- this chamber and the chamber across the way will change one day and partisan impeachments will become commonplace,” Castor said.
The senate proceeding resumes at noon Wednesday.
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Democrats started their senate impeachment proceeding against President Trump Tuesday, a trial which constitutional scholars have called a partisan sham.
The proceeding will see four hours of debate total, divided between the House impeachment managers and Trump's counsel about whether the impeachment trial is constitutional.
After the debate, the senate will vote on the constitutionality of the proceeding. If a majority of the Democrat-controlled senate say it's unconstitutional -- which is unlikely -- the impeachment proceeding will end immediately. Otherwise the rest of the trial will proceed.
Check back for updates on the impeachment proceeding in the senate ...