All the Senators have been sworn in. Senator Patrick Leahy will preside, but is currently in the hospital.
- February 2: Deadline for Trump to respond to the summons and for the House impeachment managers – who will act as prosecutors in his Senate trial – to submit a pretrial brief.
- February 7: Superbowl Sunday. Kansas City Chiefs against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
- February 8: Deadline for Trump to submit a pretrial brief and for House managers to respond to Trump’s response to the summons.
- February 9: Deadline for House managers to submit a rebuttal to Trump’s pretrial brief. Oral arguments begin after.
Let’s begin by listing the arguments against a Guilty verdict:
- You can not try him (DJT), because he is not currently in office.
- The Supreme Court has refused to get involved i.e. the Chief Justice has declined to officiate.
- The assault on the US Capitol and the attempted blocking of the Presidential Certification was a peaceable demonstration with some minor mayhem.
- DJT in his speeches that day, and at mass rallies that year, and on social media (Twitter, Facebook, etc) were exercises in Free Speech and were protected by the First Amendment.
- It will set a bad precedent for a President to be tried and found guilty.
- It will hurt the Republican party because the President is a Republican champion.
- It will hurt individual Republicans, because DJT and the Trump Organization will attack (i.e. ‘primary’) any Republicans who vote guilty as charged.
- It will help individual Republicans because DJT and the Trump Organization will bribe any Republican Senator who votes innocent of charges.
- It will further divide the country, and not unite us.
Now let’s list the evidence and arguments for a Guilty verdict:
- Five people died in the Riots at the Capitol. It was not a peaceable non-violent demonstration, but an organized violent effort to stop the Joint Session of Congress — the peaceable transfer of power.
- The President spoke in person at a mass rally on the Ellipse, (Jan 6, 2021) “We will never give up, We will never concede,”“You don’t concede when there is theft involved. Our Country has had enough, and we are not going to take it anymore. That’s what this is all about…We will STOP THE STEAL!”
- Trump is a liar and a coward. He told the mob that he would be there with them, but he left the march. So who was supervising the mob?
“We’re going to walk down Pennsylvania Avenue… and we’re going to the Capitol… we’re going to try and give our Republicans … the kind of pride and boldness that they need to take back our country.” - A Guilty vote will give Republican Senators a chance to walk away from Trump.
- It will give the Republican party a chance to walk away from Trump.
- The Country is already divided. It will give us the chance to heal.
- Trump is active in politics and he WILL run again in 2024.
- It provides accountability for Trump, something which he sorely lacks.
- Someone has to take responsibility for what happened. Why not pin the blame on the commander-in-chief, leader of the free world, the President sworn to protect and defend the Constitution of the U.S. His dereliction of his duties are appalling. Was there a complete lack of his situational awareness? What was he doing in the White House for those crucial hours while the “storm had come” to the Capitol Dome.
- Imagine if Trump was on the Flight 93 on 9/11 flying over Shanksville PA on its way to the Capitol Dome. What would he have done? Helped storm the cockpit with Mark Bingham and Todd Beamer? Or go on Twitter and complain that he lost the election? Or parachute with Melania to Mar a Lago? What about the rest of us trapped on the doomed plane?
