What happened
At Donald Trump’s impeachment trial in
the Senate, Democratic House managers
this week offered vivid evidence to prove
their charge that the former president “de-
liberately encouraged” a violent insurrec-
tion at the Capitol on Jan. 6. Impeachment
managers screened a wrenching 13-min-
ute video that showed violent scenes
from the uprising—including a bleeding
Capitol Police officer screaming as he was
crushed in a doorway and rioters taunt-
ing and punching overwhelmed police—
interspersed with Trump’s admonitions
at a rally that day to “fight like hell” and
“stop the steal” or “our country will be
destroyed.” After Trump told supporters, “You’ll never take back
our country with weakness,” the video showed, the crowd began
chanting, “Invade the Capitol!”
The assault that followed was “the Framers’ worst nightmare come
to life,” said Rep. Joe Neguse of Colorado. Rep. Jamie Raskin of
Maryland, who’d buried his 25-year-old son the day before the
uprising and was with his daughter during the siege, broke down
as he described hearing rioters “pounding on the door like a bat-
tering ram” as petrified lawmakers called their loved ones to say
goodbye. “Senators, this cannot be our future,” he told a riveted
gallery. Trump, Raskin later said, “watched the insurrection on TV
like a reality show. He reveled in it,” while ignoring pleas to call in
the National Guard.
Trump attorney David Schoen argued that the trial was driven by
“pure, raw, misguided partisanship.” He and co-counsel Bruce
Castor contended that Trump’s use of the word “fight” was not
literal and that it was unconstitutional to convict him now that
he’s out of office. Their meandering, convoluted presentation was
widely panned—and reportedly had
Trump yelling at his TV at Mar-a-Lago.
“I ain’t no lawyer, but I know enough
to know that was some bad stuff,”
said Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.). After
the opening arguments, six Republi-
cans joined Democrats in a 56-44 vote
affirming the constitutionality of the
trial. Senate Minority Leader Mitch
McConnell reportedly told his members
to go with their consciences in the final
verdict, and said he was undecided.
Still, with 17 Republican votes needed,
a conviction remained highly unlikely.
“President Trump will be acquitted,”
said Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas).
What the editorials said
“We stand at a moment that will shape
the future of our democracy,” said the
Chicago Sun-Times. After watching
the “chilling” Capitol footage—the
Confederate flags flying, the chants of
“Pence is a traitor,” police being merci-
lessly beaten—Republican senators must
ask themselves how they can honestly
vote “not guilty.” They can “send a
message to future presidents that assaults
on democracy will not be tolerated”—or
they can “spinelessly turn their backs on
democracy.”“This is a needless partisan exercise that
will further polarize America’s political
factions,” said The Wall Street Journal.
Trump’s speech was “disgraceful,” but he
did tell the marchers to behave “peace-
fully.” Given the certainty of an acquittal,
the trial won’t produce “the deterrent or
censuring effect that Democrats claim to
want.” Their real goal is to stoke their
greatest unifying principle: “hatred for
Donald Trump.”What the columnists said
Raskin “did a masterful job” of proving Trump’s guilt, said
Jennifer Rubin in The Washington Post. He drove home the horror
of the event in “heart-wrenching,” personal terms, using video and
Trump’s own words to show that Trump committed an unprece-
dented “betrayal of office.” Raskin also used history, law, and logic
to demolish the notion that outgoing presidents “get a free pass to
commit high crimes” in their last weeks in office. For Republicans
who won’t hold Trump responsible, “the verdict is already in.”Meanwhile, “Trump’s lawyers made My Cousin Vinny look like
Clarence Darrow,” said Charlie Sykes in TheBulwark.com. After
the Democrats’ powerful, passionate offense, the Trump team’s
incoherent performance “seemed to underline in the most cartoon-
ish way possible the reality that Donald Trump really has no good
defense.” So it is Republican senators who are actually on trial.The trial was “a dud,” said Michael Goodwin in the New York
Post. Trump’s angry Jan. 6 speech “was
reckless,” but he never called for vio-
lence, and he’s now “a private citizen in
Florida” while Joe Biden is president.
The only reason Democrats are staging
this trial is to keep Trump off the ballot
in 2024. “Neutralizing him as a politi-
cal force and dividing the Republican
Party are the ultimate aims.”Republicans will give Trump an unde-
served pass, said David Frum in The
Atlantic.com, but that doesn’t make
the trial a pointless exercise. While
none of history’s four presidential
impeachments led to removal, they all
“had seismic consequences.” This one
emphasizes “the gravity” of Trump’s
efforts to overturn the election and will
“do severe and possibly lethal damage”
to Trump’s hope to position himself for
a 2024 comeback and to remain the
GOP’s “dominant force.” The trial will
leave him and his defenders “exposed
and weakened.” That won’t be justice,
but “it may be enough.” APRaskin: ‘Senators, this cannot be our future.’THE WEEK February 19, 2021
4 NEWS The main stories...
Democrats press their incitement case against Trump
Illustration by Fred Harper.
Cover photos from Reuters, Getty (2)What next?
Former President Trump is increasingly con-
cerned “about his potential exposure to criminal
prosecution,” said Jim Acosta in CNN.com. In
addition to potential local and federal charges
related to the Capitol attack, Trump “has reached
out to advisers to gauge whether he could face
charges” on other matters. He already has
serious legal jeopardy in Georgia, said Richard
Fausset and Danny Hakim in The New York Times.
Prosecutors in Fulton County have launched a
criminal investigation into Trump’s attempts to
overturn Georgia’s election results, including
a phone call he made to Georgia’s secretary of
state, Brad Raffensperger, to “find 11,780 votes.”
Prosecutor Fani T. Willis asked state officials to
preserve documents, noting that the possible
violations of law under investigation include
“the solicitation of election fraud, the making of
false statements to state and local governmental
bodies, conspiracy, and racketeering.” The inquiry,
officials said, will encompass calls made to other
Georgia officials, including Gov. Brian Kemp.