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:
Trump in ‘great mood’, says adviser Jason Miller
The ex-president’s senior adviser Jason Miller appeared on Fox News to say Donald Trump was in a “great mood” over his chances.
"The president was in a great mood. First of all, he's in Palm Beach ... But otherwise it was a quick conversation, because I had to join Fox News,” Miller said about Trump’s legal team.
Miller has been live-tweeting the impeachment, pointing to instances of the House impeachment managers using the same language they say is evidence that Trump incited violence at the Capitol.
Ted Lieu walks through Trump’s attempts to challenge election results
Trump’s call with Georgia secretary of state asking to find “11,780 votes, which is one more than we have”, was played as Ted Lieu began running through the ex-president’s.
“Trump ran out of non-violent options,” Ted Lieu said.
“And finally, in his desperation, he turned on his own vice president. He pressured Mike Pence to violate his constitutional oath and to refuse to certify the oath.”
Prosecution relitigates Trump’s unproven claims of election fraud
As the trial resume, House manager Madeline Dean is laying out Donald Trump’s unproven claims of election fraud in the weeks leading up to 6 January.
No, it’s not THAT Jennifer Lawrence
There have been few, ahem… silver linings from today’s impeachment hearing.
And there are even fewer for Silver Linings Playbook actor Jennifer Lawrence, who began trending on Google after tweets from a namesake Jennifer Lynn Lawrence were used as evidence against Donald Trump.
"BEST DAY EVER!!! Thanks you @RealDonaldTrump for the retweet," the other Lawrence said in a tweet about marching to DC on 6 January.
Has anyone ever seen these two Jennifer Lawrences in the same room at the same time?
Trump loyalist Josh Hawley ignores impeachment trial evidence by sitting in gallery to review paperwork
Senator Josh Hawley, a bellwether of Donald Trump's "stop the steal" movement to overturn the 2020 election results, was watching the second day of impeachment proceedings against the former president from the gallery above the chamber.
The Trump loyalist, a first-term Missouri Republican, was seen at various points with his legs crossed, his feet propped up on the chair in front of him, and reviewing some sort of paperwork in a manila folder, according to several reporters with a view of the room from their seats in the press gallery.
Mr Hawley, along with Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and a handful of other Republicans, voted against the certification of Joe Biden's electoral victory on 6 and 7 January, even after a pro-Trump mob interrupted the day's proceedings with a bloody insurrection.
The Independent's Griffin Connolly reports.
Trump loyalist Josh Hawley ignores impeachment trial evidence by sitting in gallery to review paperwork
Senator Josh Hawley, a bellwether of Donald Trump's "stop the steal" movement to overturn the 2020 election results, was watching the second day of impeachment proceedings against the former president from the gallery above the chamber.
In his own words: The Trump tweets being used as Democrats’ evidence of incitement to violence
Trump’s incitement was ‘never about one speech’, says House impeachment manager
“This was never about one speech. He built this mob over many months with repeated messaging until they believed that they had been robbed of their vote, and they would do anything to stop the certification,” Eric Swalwell says.
“He made them believe that their victory was stolen, and he incited them so he could use them to steal the election for himself.”
Trump directed the ‘rage’ he incited to Capitol Hill on 6 January
“He directed all of the rage that he had incited to January 6, that was his last chance to stop the peaceful transition of power,” says Eric Swalwell.
Swalwell pointed to the Trump campaigns “Stop the Steal” advertising running up to 5 January.
“And then they stopped. This was purposeful and deliberate planning to target his base to rally around that day, and it wasn’t just his ads, he continued to use his own platform. He told his supporters, who truly believed their victory had been stolen and who were ready to fight when, where, and how, to stop what he believed was a steal.”
Trump ‘doused the flames with kerosene’, says Eric Swalwell
“He doused the flames with kerosene. And this wasn’t just some random guy at the neighbourhood bar blowing off steam, this was our commander in chief. Day after day he told his supporters false, outlandish lies,” says Eric Swalwell.
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