Impeachment trial – live: Trump poured ‘kerosene on the flames’ as Pence family fled for lives, Democrats say
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Your support makes all the difference.The mob was just "58 steps away" as Congress members fled, hid, or put on gas moments before the mob poured through the hallways of the Senate and House chambers.
Day two of Donald Trump's impeachment heard how close Mike Pence was to being "executed" and Nancy Pelosi came to being "murdered" before they were evacuated from the Capitol building to a safe location.
Never before seen security footage showed Republicans and Democrats alike running for their lives, with Mitt Romney and Chuck Schumer shown on camera fleeing through corridors to find a safe place to hide.
Julian Castro said Trump "left them for dead" as Trump's provocations of a "stolen election" added fuel to the fire of the riots.
House managers began the second day the impeachment trial with Donald Trump's own words as they showed tweet after tweet and played video after video of the ex-president's messaging to supporters that threw "kerosene on the flames".
Democrats Madeline Dean, Ted Lieu, Jamie Raskin, Eric Swalwell and Stacey Plaskett walked Senators through a forensic retelling of the timeline to show how Trump actively "helped plan" the march on the Capitol.
The trial heard the Proud Boys followed Trump's calls to "stand back and stand by" while videos from the Save America Rally showed supporters yelling "invade the Capitol".
Dean broke down in tears as she remembered the moment rioters banged on the House chamber door: "For the first time in more than 200 years, the seat of our government was ransacked on our watch.”
The trial is adjourned until Thursday.
Key stories:
Prosecution plays never-before heard police radio
Pence ‘target of rage’ after his betrayal of Donald Trump, say prosecutors
Stacey Plaskett says Mike Pence’s “betrayal” of Donald Trump made him the target of the mob as they stormed the Capitol.
“The vice president was the direct target of that rage,” she says.
“While vice president Pence presided over the joint session, Trump supporters began their assault on their Capitol.”
‘Violent footage to come’: Trial resumes with warning of disturbing content
“I do want to alert everyone that there is some very graphic, violent footage coming just so people are aware,” says Jamie Raskin.
BREAKING: Video shows crowd responding to Trump speech by chanting ‘Invade the Capitol’
A video has been shown at Donald Trump's impeachment trial of supporters at his January 6 rally responding to his fiery speech with chants of "Invade the Capitol".
The Independent's Andrew Buncombe has more on this angle.
Video shows crowd responding to Trump speech by saying: ‘Invade the Capitol’
A video has been shown at Donald Trump's impeachment trial of supporters at his January 6 rally responding to his fiery speech with chants of "Invade the Capitol".
The Senate takes a 10-minute recess
The trial will continue at 4pm EST.
Read: ‘And so they came, draped in Trump’s flag’, The emotional speech that left Madeline Dean in tears
“By 12:30 pm, as President Trump continued to incite his supporters, large segments of the rally crowd had amassed at the Capitol, at 12:53 pm as the president’s speech was playing on cell phone broadcasts, the outermost barricade of the north-west side of the Capitol was breached,” Dean said, visibly upset.
She continued: “At 1:45 pm, the president’s followers surged past Capitol police shouting, ‘this is a revolution’… an hour after President Trump ended his speech the insurrectionist mob overwhelmed Capitol security and made it inside the halls of congress.”
“Because the truth is, this attack never would have happened but for Donald Trump. And so they came, draped in Trump’s flag, and used our flag, the American flag, to batter and to bludgeon. And at 2:30 pm, I heard that terrifying banging on the House chamber doors. For the first time in more than 200 years, the seat of our government was ransacked on our watch.”
Madeline Dean begins detailing Trump’s ‘last-ditch effort to retain hold on power’
Dean returns to recount the moment rioters swarmed the Capitol.
“I will never forget that sound, shouts and panicked calls to my husband and to my sons, instructions to flee, and then the constant worrying of gas mask filtering the air,” she says.
“The chamber of the United States House of Representatives turned to chaos.”
The Independent submitted as evidence at Trump impeachment
Well this is… meta.
The Independent’s contributing reporter Andrew Feinberg was quoted by House manager Stacey Plaskett during testimony on day two of Donald Trump’s impeachment trial.
"That’s because the operation closely monitored the web’s darkest corners, ranging from mainstream sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and Reddit, to fringe message boards like 4chan and 8chan (now called 8kun) to TheDonald.win, an offshoot from a banned Reddit community dedicated to rabidly supporting all things Trump. "
Here is the original story originally published on 12 January:
White House insiders say Trump knew Capitol riots would happen | Andrew Feinberg
'He is closer to Donald than his sons and he has more intimate knowledge of Donald's thoughts,' said one insider about the head of Trump’s social media strategy team
BREAKING: Trump thinks Democrat impeachment case can be ‘very easily rebutted’
The Independent's Graeme Massie has more from Jason Miller's appearance on Fox News.
Trump thinks Democrat impeachment case can be ‘very easily rebutted’, senior adviser says
Donald Trump thinks that the Democrat impeachment case against him can be "very easily rebutted," a senior adviser says.
‘Stand back and stand by’: Stacey Plaskett say says Trump sent message to Proud Boys
Playing a clip from the presidential debates, House impeachment manager Stacey Plaskett says Donald Trump told Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by” when asked to condemn the group.
“His message was heard loud and clear, the group adopted that phrase, ‘stand back and stand by’, as their official slogan,” she said.
“They created merchandise with that slogan, which they wore proudly across their backs at Trump’s rallies.”
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