Former President Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial continues on Saturday.
Stay tuned to Breitbart News for live updates.
All times Eastern.
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5:15 PM: Pelosi, when asked about censure, says: “We censure people for using stationary for the wrong purpose. We don’t censure people for inciting an insurrection that kills people at the Capitol.”
4:50 PM: Collins, on the Senate floor, says Trump kept up the “drumbeat” of pressure on Pence at the January 6 speech. She says Trump was telling Pence to “ignore the Constitution” and “refuse to count the certified votes” while “further agitating the crowd” and “directing them to march to the Capitol.” She says “context was everything,” and says tossing a lit match into a pile of dry leaves is different than tossing it into a swimming pool.
4:19 PM:
The first tweet from @POTUS Biden after the impeachment vote is not about the vote, but focused on his COVID rescue plan — what the White House focused their agenda on this week ⬇️ https://t.co/0WbuIE6LI7
— Molly Nagle (@MollyNagle3) February 13, 2021
4:08 PM: McConnell calls January 6 a “disgrace” and said the mob did what they did because they had been fed falsehoods by Trump. McConnell says Trump is “morally responsible” for the riot, and there is no question about that and it was “foreseeable.” But McConnell says the Senate is “not invited to act as the nation’s overarching moral tribunal.” He says he believes the Senate has no power to convict and disqualify a former officeholder who is now a private citizens.
You could be forgiven, listening to McConnell’s speech, for thinking he had not just voted to acquit.
— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) February 13, 2021
3:55 PM: Schumer, now speaking, says the case against Trump was “open and shut.” He says there is nothing more “un-American” than what Trump did on January 6. He says this was the “most egregious violation of the president’s oath of offie” and a “textbook” and “classical example of an impeachable offense.” He calls the former president’s defense “feeble” and sometimes “incomprehensible.” Schumer says January 6 will live as a “day of infamy” and the failure to convict Trump will live as a “vote of infamy.”
3:50 PM: 57 Guilty, 43 Not Guilty. Trump acquitted because two-thirds did not find him guilty.
Sens. Burr, Cassidy, Collins, Murkowski, Romney, Sasse, Toomey vote “guilt.”
The former president responds:
Statement by Donald J. Trump, 45th President of the United States of America pic.twitter.com/mTCiVeUNXW
— CSPAN (@cspan) February 13, 2021
3:35 PM: Senate now ready to vote on the article of impeachment.
3:25 PM: Raskin says Democrats have about 27 minutes left. He says he will resist the urge to rebut every false thing Van der Veen said in the last hour. He says we have made some progress because Trump’s team lectured House Managers that it was not an insurrection. He says van der Veen today called it a “violent insurrection” and denounced it.
Raskin: “If that is the Raskin Doctrine, that a president of the United State cannot incite violent insurrection against the Union and the Congress, then I embrace it and take it as an honor.”
— Andrew Solender (@AndrewSolender) February 13, 2021
2:55 PM: Van der Veen says the rioting had been “pre-planned” and had been “pre-meditated.” He says Democrats demanded National Guard forces be withdrawn after left-wing rioting last summer. He says political leaders could have downplayed the need for security because they played into the “false narrative” of what happened last summer. He says Pelosi never called it an insurrection when left-wing activists took over federal courthouses and vandalized the Treasury building. Van der Veen now talking about how Harris encouraged supporters to donate to a bail fund for rioters so they can do it over and over again. He says Democrats incited rioters more than Trump incited the insurrectionists. He says “it’s a hypocrisy that the House Managers have laid at the feed of this chamber.” Van der Veen blames a “bloodthirsty” media that “glorified civil unrest” for ratings for contributing to the Jan. 6 riots. He says House Democrats have created a new legal theory to protect speech based on the party label next to someone’s name. He says House Democrats have trampled every “tradition and norm of due process.” He says Trump was given opportunity to question the propriety of various pieces of evidence or engage in fact-finding because much of what the House Managers introduced were based on anonymous sources. He accuses the House Managers of taking a “kitchen sink approach” because their case is so weak. He says the impeachment trial has been a “charade” and nothing more than a pursuit of a “political vendetta” against Trump. Van der Veen says there is no jurisdiction, each allegation had to be divisible, and there was a lack of due process that was “shocking” and “way over the top.” He also says there were no “words of incitement” after mumbling about the First Amendment. He says Senators do not have to indulge the “impeachment lust” of Democrats.
2:50 PM: Van der Veen says what took place on January 6 was a “grave tragedy” and the “infiltration of the Capitol” was a “heinous act.” He claims the former president is also “deeply disturbed” by the video. He says the question before the Senators is not whether there was a violent insurrection (He says, on this point, everyone agrees.), but whether Trump willfully incited an insurrection against the United States. He says the act of incitement never happened and Trump did not incite violence with his January 6 speech.
Castor (yesterday): “Clearly, there was no insurrection.”
Van der Veen (today): “The question before us is not whether there was a violent insurrection of the capitol. On that point, everyone agrees.”
— Peter Baker (@peterbakernyt) February 13, 2021
2:47 PM: Van der Veen back up mumbling about the “doctrine of evidence.” He says House Managers sent them the evidence while he was already trying the case in the Senate. Van der Veen says House Managers breached basic rules of procedure by introducing new evidence during the closing.
2:45 PM: Raskin, reserves time, after his closing that cited Exodus (“Thou shall not follow a multitude to do evil”) and referenced a Capitol police officer who was called the N-word multiple times by the rioters.
2:39 PM: Raskin says Trump not only betrayed his own country, but he also betrayed his own mob. Trump has “gone quiet and dark,” he says as members of his mob who thought they were “all part of the same team” face charges.
2:32 PM: Neguse mentioned that one Republican and one Democrat in the Senate today voted to override the veto. He says House Managers are here not because hate the former president but because they love the republic. He says he fears the violence on January 6 may have been “just the beginning.”
Rep. Joe Neguse, in reference to the 1986 Senate vote to override Reagan’s veto of sanctions during apartheid: “That vote was not about gaining political favor. In fact, it was made despite potentially losing political favor.” pic.twitter.com/h2lhY71JJQ
— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) February 13, 2021
Longtime McConnell watchers know this, but House #impeachment manager Joe Neguse is appealing to Mitch’s better angels by mentioning John Sherman Cooper’s vote for the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the override of Reagan’s veto of sanctions against South Africa over apartheid.
— Bob Garrett (@RobertTGarrett) February 13, 2021
Here is the veto override that Rep Neguse just referenced. Sen McConnell broke with the Republican president to impose sanctions against apartheid South Africa: https://t.co/t16w61z6Cw
— Dafna Linzer (@DafnaLinzer) February 13, 2021
2:26 PM: Neguse says none of Trump’s team’s arguments have to deal with whether the former president “incited” the attacks.
Rep. Joe Neguse: “The president was invited to testify, he declined. The president was invited to provide exculpatory evidence, he declined. You can’t claim there’s no due process when you won’t participate in the process.” pic.twitter.com/EbfThK0M4X
— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) February 13, 2021
2:19 PM: Neguse, after quoting Kentucky’s Henry Clay, says Trump’s team has offered up distractions and excuses so they do not have to address the facts. Neguse wants to explain why Trump’s team’s distractions are precisely that and do not prevent the Senate from convicting Trump. He says the argument that Trump can’t be convicted for conduct while in office because he is no longer in office does not make any sense. He says impeachment is a remedy separate and apart from the criminal justice system because the presidency comes with extraordinary powers not bestowed upon ordinary citizens. He says Trump is charged with a Constitutional offense and not a criminal offense, so the relevant question is would the Framers have considered a president who incited a violent mob to stop the certification of Electoral College votes an impeachable offense.
He asks: “Who among us thinks the answer to that question would be no?”
Neguse says the former president has counsel during the trial and have argued vigorously on his behalf. He says the former president was invited to testify and decline. “You can’t claim there is no due process when you decline to participate in the process,” he says.
Neguse points out that non-members aren’t allowed on the Senate floor without permission, ‘it’s sacred’ which is why it hurt him to ‘see it desecrated’ as it was on 6 Jan.
— ByJohnLMicek (@ByJohnLMicek) February 13, 2021
2:15 PM: Dean says the insurrectionists are still listening and she didn’t know before she became a House Manager how much Trump incited the rioters. She says she did not to the extent his followers were listening to his every word and how close Members of Congress were to grave danger.
2:01 PM: Dean says Trump was warned by officials that his supporters wanted to commit violence and he ignored them. She plays clips of Trump “inciting” his supporters before the storming of the Capitol. She says the insurrections before, during, and after the attack said they “were doing this” for Trump and following his orders. She says rioters confirmed this after the attack to federal officials. Leahy admonishes Dean that new evidence is not allowed during closing and will be stricken after she plays a a clip from the January 6 rally.
1:53 PM: Closing arguments continue after Lee withdraws his point of order. She says the defense is wrong that one speech cannot cause an insurrection. She says the defense is wrong that Trump could not have caused an insurrection because it was “pre-planned.” She says the defense’s assertion that the insurrection was “pre-planned” supporters their argument because Trump incited supporters to believe in his “Big Lie.”
1:43 PM: Senate in a quorum call as Sen. Lee raises a point of order.
House impeachment manager Rep. Cicilline: “You most vote to convict and disqualify so the events of January 6th can never happen again.” https://t.co/EjgEoHCOAS pic.twitter.com/yvF0NteH2E
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) February 13, 2021
1:37 PM: Cicilline says Trump’s failure to condemn the attack was a “desertion of duty.”
NEW: Pence’s nat’l sec advisor, Keith Kellogg, was w/ Trump during the riots, in Oval Office, Kellogg confirms. Pence’s staff was communicating with Kellogg. “So of course they knew exactly what the circumstance was,” a fmr Pence staffer said. https://t.co/Se5V65HJTO
— Alexander Marquardt (@MarquardtA) February 13, 2021
1:16 PM: Cicilline says Trump incited violence and many people were ready for violence as the House Managers largely repeat arguments they made this week. Cicilline says an innocent person would jump at the chance to testify, but former President Trump declined. He says that the beginning of Trump’s speech “incited an initial wave” of rioters going to the Capitol. He says a much larger wave came after Trump finished his speech. He says it is just not possible that Trump did not know Pence was in danger and was being evacuated from the Senate floor. He says Trump betrayed everyone, including Officer Eugene Goodman, after inciting a riot only he could stop. He says Trump’s further incitement was a “dereliction of duty.”
Rep. David Cicilline: “Former President Trump has remained silent about what he was doing during one of the bloodiest attacks on our Capitol since 1812.” pic.twitter.com/sHQZi3UHg9
— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) February 13, 2021
1:12 PM: Raskin says Trump “delighted” and “reveled” in it when he saw footage of the rioters. He says there was a long period of silence as the mob beat the daylights out of the police officers and hunted own Mike Pence as a traitor. Raskin says Trump must be convicted for the safety of our democracy and people.
Democrats are deeply hostile to the idea of wielding political power. It’s very deeply ingrained in who they are. https://t.co/J5zt7V5H2Z
— Matt Stoller (@matthewstoller) February 13, 2021
What an unbelievable cave by Democrats here.
They cleared the first witness vote — and then decided that they wouldn’t call witnesses.
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) February 13, 2021
1:09 PM: Raskin accuses of Trump of summoning the mob, but says he did not want to be near the action as he scurried back to the White House. He says the mob “unleashed unparalleled” violence against police officers.
Rep. Jamie Raskin on Trump: “And he said he was going to march with them to the Capitol, even though the permit for the rally specifically forbade a march. But he said he would march with them, giving them more comfort that what they were doing was legitimate, it was okay.” pic.twitter.com/FIXRHt7KOL
— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) February 13, 2021
1:00 PM: Raskin says the House Managers have presented irrefutable evidence. Raskin praises Liz Cheney and reads her statement. He says she survived the attempts by Trump supporters to “cancel” her.
12:59 PM: Raskin begins his closing argument and says any reasonable person would concluded that Trump proverbially let the first start and wanted to keep it going.
Rep. Raskin: “When my opposing counsel says that you should ignore the president’s actions after the insurrection began, that is plainly wrong and it, of course, reflects the fact that they have no defense to his outrageous, scandalous, and unconstitutional conduct.”
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) February 13, 2021
12:49 PM: Castor says they are agreeable to Herrera Beutler’s statement’s into the record. The House Managers will enter her statement into the record. Raskin is reading Herrera Beutler’s statement.
12:35 PM: Senators gathering back on the floor.
Quick chamber color dispatch from @caphilltrish just now: “Schumer and McConnell floor managers appear to have an identical typed page (about 1/2 full) each studying it. Parliamentarian studying the same sheet. Perhaps this is the resolution.“
— Katherine Faulders (@KFaulders) February 13, 2021
I’m told there’s still a chance of no witnesses being called – that a limited number of individuals would instead submit written testimony for the record.
There’s still (perhaps overly optimistic) thought that final votes can take place today.
— Rick Klein (@rickklein) February 13, 2021
11:43 AM: Senate in recess until 12:30 PM, as they try to figure out what to do about witnesses/depositions.
11:40 AM:
Here’s the other problem @KFaulders and I are hearing – trouble in lawyer land. Remember this legal team was already fighting amongst themselves but they pulled it together for what they thought was one last day – now what happens is completely unclear.
— John Santucci (@Santucci) February 13, 2021
11:35 AM:
What comes next: pic.twitter.com/9qjxiYvFJN
— Igor Bobic (@igorbobic) February 13, 2021
11:30 AM:
Republican senators insist that no minds will be changed if witnesses are deposed because they are resting on their argument that there shouldn’t be a trial in the first place for a former President.
“Zero,” Sen. Roger Marshall told me when asked if any minds would be changed
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) February 13, 2021
Senator Bill Cassidy just threw up his hands. “[Senator Richard] Shelby says he’s seen three of these and this is the craziest.”
— Paul McLeod (@pdmcleod) February 13, 2021
11:20 AM:
Hard to understate the amount of unscripted drama in the Senate right now. Everyone thought this thing would be over by lunchtime. Now no one knows anything.
— Mike DeBonis (@mikedebonis) February 13, 2021
11:15 AM:
the laughter, by the way, was very bipartisan. i was looking at the Republican side and many of them were laughing https://t.co/Z3alfFqHRM
— Jon Ward (@jonward11) February 13, 2021
11:10 AM:
Sect 7b of impeachment trial organizing resolution:”If the Senate agrees to allow either party to subpoena witnesses, provisions for the admission of evidence,issuance of subpoenas, arrangements for depositions, other appropriate discovery, testimony by witnesses in the Senate..”
— Craig Caplan (@CraigCaplan) February 13, 2021
.@RepKinzinger tells @KatyTurNBC @SRuhle @HallieJackson — it’s chaotic, but we need to get to the bottom of what happened… we can’t just move on from January 6th.
— Lauren Peikoff (@laurenpeikoff) February 13, 2021
11:05 AM:
Sources close to president Trump are floored by what just happened. “Stunned”. “Stupefied”. “Digesting this” are the words @KFaulders & me are hearing.
— John Santucci (@Santucci) February 13, 2021
as @maggieNYT has often pointed out: there are few deeper forms of humiliation in Trump’s eyes than being laughed athttps://t.co/a434gh5YMS
— Alex Burns (@alexburnsNYT) February 13, 2021
11:00 AM:
Rep. Adam Kinzinger to @GStephanopoulos: “There are people who know things, I don’t know who they are. They’re sitting on information. And now is the time to come forward.”
— Evan McMurry (@evanmcmurry) February 13, 2021
10:50 AM:
Asking the Senate “why are you laughing” is never a good sign for a lawyer. Once again, it is not a good thing for the counsel of a person accused of violent incitement to be struggling with anger management.
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) February 13, 2021
10:40 AM:
Rep. @HerreraBeutler is “one tough member,” former colleague @BarbaraComstock says on @ABC News.
— Ben Siegel (@bensiegel) February 13, 2021
10:35 AM: Motion agreed to by a 55-45 vote.
U.S. Senate APPROVES motion to subpoena witnesses, 55-45.
Full #ImpeachmentTrial video here: https://t.co/t7BAmIvz8v pic.twitter.com/GGx1NQD0IS
— CSPAN (@cspan) February 13, 2021
Trump lawyers in a tight spot.
If they ask for witnesses for other lines of inquiry, it expands the scope of witnesses for House Managers as well.
— Ryan Goodman (@rgoodlaw) February 13, 2021
Schumer calls for an absence of quorum.
Absence of a quorum=we have no idea what to do next
— Susan Glasser (@sbg1) February 13, 2021
10:30 AM: Graham, after it is clear the Senate will vote to call witnesses (Collins, Murkowski, Sasse, Romney), changes his vote to aye.
Collins, Murkowski and Romney have all voted yes for witnesses. Looks like its going to happen.
— Dana Bash (@DanaBashCNN) February 13, 2021
10:20 AM: Leahy says all parties must refrain from using language that is not conducive to civil discourse. He says the question before the Senate is the motion to subpoena witnesses and documents. The clerk will now call the roll.
10:16 AM: Van der Veen says he wants depositions from Pelosi and Vice President Harris and “not by Zoom.” He wants depositions done in his office in Philadelphia (“Philly-delphia”) as Senators mock him and laugh at him.
“I don’t know why you’re laughing,” van der Veen says.
Open laughter from Senate when Trump attny Van der Veen says any depositions must happen in person and in his office in Philadelphia.
(Senators all know they control the process and that in the past – Clinton – depositions have happened by video. )
— Lisa Desjardins (@LisaDNews) February 13, 2021
Trump lawyer Michael van der Veen: “None of these depositions should be done by Zoom. We didn’t do this hearing by Zoom. These depositions should be done in person, in my office, in Philadelphia.” pic.twitter.com/iArWQkGlgi
— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) February 13, 2021
10:11 AM: Raskin tells van der Veen that this is the proper time to call for witnesses because this was the time they were allotted to decide if they wanted to call witnesses. Raskin says the information that came out last night apparently backed up by contemporaneous notes will put to rest any lingering doubts that Trump did not want to defend the Capitol. Raskin says the only person the former president’s counsel should interview is their client, Trump. Raskin claims the “dereliction of duty” is built into the incitement charge.
BREAKING: Rep. Jamie Raskin calls for subpoenaing Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler who tweeted a statement last night about talk she had with House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy regarding former Pres. Trump’s possible involvement in the Capitol siege. https://t.co/fkDU2lrJWB pic.twitter.com/Kds4EQqeYV
— ABC News (@ABC) February 13, 2021
10:07 AM: Van der Veen says there is only one article of impeachment and one charge, and that’s “incitement of violence and insurrection.” He says House Managers did not investigate the case before bringing impeachment. He says if they want to have witnesses, he is going to need over 100 depositions.
“If they want to have witnesses, I’m going to need at least over 100 depositions. Not just one,” Trump’s defense attorney Michael van der Veen says at #impeachmenttrial. https://t.co/BY7pGN4vv8 pic.twitter.com/Kql85RJc1J
— ABC News (@ABC) February 13, 2021
10:05 AM: Raskin says House Managers have presented “overwhelming evidence” over the last few days that Trump incited the insurrectionists to storm the Capitol and left no doubt that the Senate should convict. Raskin references Rep. Herrera Beutler’s Friday evening statement about Trump’s comments, and he would like to subpoena Herrera Beutler and her contemporaneous notes.
pic.twitter.com/6N8vg5PRJz
— Jaime Herrera Beutler (@HerreraBeutler) February 13, 2021
10:01 AM: Trial resumes.
GOP Senator Mitt Romney says: “I will support additional witnesses” at Trump impeachment trial “if the counsel on either side wishes to call witnesses,” when asked if he would want to hear from House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy as a witness.
— Clare Foran (@ckmarie) February 13, 2021
Senator Whitehouse nailed it. https://t.co/BfCsfTEh9B
— Senator Jeff Merkley (@SenJeffMerkley) February 13, 2021
9:59 AM:
Sen. Brown tells reporters that he’s “incredulous” that the testimony this week hasn’t changed more minds, but “I’ve watched my spineless colleagues walk around with fear in their eyes for four years so maybe I shouldn’t be surprised”
— Lauren Fox (@FoxReports) February 13, 2021
9:50 AM: Senators are expected to make closing arguments unless Democrats decide at the last minute to call witnesses.
News: in email to colleagues McConnell says he will vote to acquit Trump, per two sources familiar
— Burgess Everett (@burgessev) February 13, 2021
One way to clear it up? Suspend trial to depose McCarthy and Tuberville under oath and get facts. Ask Secret Service to produce for review comms back to White House re VP Pence safety during siege. What did Trump know, and when did he know it?
— Sheldon Whitehouse (@SenWhitehouse) February 13, 2021
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Breitbart News 2021-02-13 14:50:00
