Impeachment trial – live: Trump poured ‘kerosene on the flames’ as Pence family fled for lives, Democrats say

“The evidence will show that he clearly incited the January 6 insurrection, it will show that Donald Trump surrendered his role as commander in chief and became the inciter in chief,” says Raskin in his opening remarks.

“The evidence will show you that he saw it coming and he was not surprised by the violence.”

The former president’s impeachment team was reportedly hard at work on Wednesday coming up with some rebuttal footage to the damning videos House impeachment managers unveiled on Wednesday, revealing just how close the mob got to lawmakers as they were certifying the 2020 election results. 

Former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton today tweeted that if Republican Senators fail to convict Donald Trump it is because "the jury include his co-conspirators."

Ms Clinton made the comment as Senators get prepared to hear opening arguments in Mr Trump's impeachment trial.

House Democratic prosecutors are seeking to link Mr Trump directly to the riot that left five people dead, replaying videos of the rioters trying to stop the certification of Democrat Joe Biden's victory and Mr Trump's statements urging them to fight the election results.

Today they plan to use Capitol security footage that hasn't been publicly released before as they argue that Mr Trump incited the insurrection, according to Democratic aides working on the case.

Whatever happens in Donald Trump's impeachment trial over the next week one thing is certain - he won't be getting access to his favourite social media app ever again.

Mr Trump's early morning rants on Twitter were a feature of his presidency but he was banned from it in the wake of the violence mob that descended on the Capitol building on January 6.

The company's chief financial officer Ned Segal, has today confirmed the ban is permanent, whatever the outcome of the impeachment trial or Mr Trump's future plans.

Andrew Griffin has all the details.

House impeachment managers are preparing to unveil previously unseen footage from the Capitol riots on Wednesday, according to reports, that would allegedly show just how close the deadly pro-Trump mob got to some lawmakers during the violent attacks. 

Read the latest from Chris Riotta

Three former Republican senators have called on their colleagues not to "shirk" their duties to hold the former president to account during his impeachment trial.

In an opinion piece penned for CNN, David Durenberger, Larry Pressler and Gordon Humphrey say that Mr Trump has "faced little consequence" for the January 6 insurrection so far but the impeachment trial "has the ability to hold a president accountable for his actions."

The trio added that they were disappointed to see so many of their Republican colleagues "challenging the trial's constitutionality" by voting to dismiss impeachment.

"The Senate has now spoken -- all senators must put aside any preconceived and mistaken notions on the legality of the trial, and evaluate all testimony and evidence before rendering a final decision on former President Trump's guilt." the trio added.

Utah Senator Mike has caused controversy after suggesting that Mr Trump deserves a “mulligan” for his speech that incited his supporters to march on the Capitol.

In an appearance on Fox News on Tuesday, Mr Lee said: “Look, everyone makes mistakes, everyone is entitled to a mulligan once in a while,” he said, just hours before Mr Trump’s second impeachment trial began in the Senate.

Report by Louise Hall

The right-wing news host said the rollout of the vaccine has involved "tonnes of celebrity endorsements" but claimed that Americans were not being given the answers to simple questions such as: "How effective are these drugs?"

Mr Carlson also criticised vaccine proponent Melinda Gates,, wife of billionaire Microsoft founder Bill Gates, who has previously commented on cracking down on anti-vaxxer disinformation online.

Joe Sommerlad has all the details

President Joe Biden and and vice-president Kamala Harris will make a trip to the Pentagon today where they will meet with new defence secretary Lloyd Austin and other senior military officials.

Mr Biden, making his first visit to the facility as commander in chief, has made it clear he wants to plough ahead with his policy objectives despite the ongoing furore of his predecessor's impeachment trial.

On the visit he will "pay special tribute to the rich history of Black service members," White House press secretary Jen Psaki confirmed at a briefing on Tuesday.

Mr Austin, who is the country's first black defence secretary, is treating the coronavirus pandemic as a top priority and has ordered fresh assessments of how to root out sexual assault and extremism in the military's ranks.

PepsiCo has announced the new name for its popular pancake and syrup brand Aunt Jemima, months after acknowledging that it had racist origins amid Black Lives Matter protests.

On Tuesday, PepsiCo, the parent company of Quakers Oats, revealed that the Aunt Jemima brand will change its name to the Pearl Milling Company in June, writes The Independent's James Crump.