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

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“When you combine a snap impeachment with an impeachment of a president who is out of office, you’re going to destroy the presidency,” Lindsey Graham says.

The Republican senator and Trump ally, alleged that impeachment proceedings are a "war on the presidency" by Democrats, hours before the Senate trial begins on Tuesday.

Mr Graham, speaking almost a month after Trump supporters besieged the US Capitol with baseless allegations the presidential election was “stolen” by Democrats, said the party “basically declared war on the presidency."

Gino Spocchia has the story.

Dear Democratic Colleague,

Today is an important day in the life of our Country. In the Senate, our House Managers, under Congressman Jamie Raskin’s leadership, will be defending the Constitution and our Democracy. In the House, our Committees are implementing the Preamble to the Constitution by writing the American Rescue Plan into legislation. Our Committees will follow the instructions of the budget resolution, which was passed on Friday.

Under the leadership of our Chairs, we are demonstrating that we can do our work without abandoning our principles and our responsibility to honour our oath of office and in holding the House to a high standard of integrity.

As soon as we pass the American Rescue Plan, we will send it to the Senate for further legislative action to be signed by President Biden before unemployment benefits expire.

As I have often said of the House Democratic Caucus, you are the most effective and representative body of leaders of integrity, imagination and intellect working For The People. Thank you for the special role that you play in the collaboration of necessary action in this time of crisis of pandemic, of economic insecurity and of the assault on our democracy.

Let us pray for the over 465,000 who have died from the coronavirus, as we work to save lives and livelihoods and as we work to save our Democracy.

Thank you for your leadership and courage.

Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial is poised to begin within minutes, and proceedings are expected to begin with an argument over whether impeaching a former president is unconstitutional.

The ex-president’s defence team will focus on the legal question in a repeat of the question first posed by Senator Rand Paul in January, according to the Associated Press.

Just 5 Republicans voted that the impeachment was constitutional, meaning if those numbers are repeated at the end of the trial then Democrats won’t have a supermajority and Trump will be acquitted.

“Yeah but the election wasn’t stolen though was it, Sarah Palin? Let’s be honest,” Piers Morgan challenged.

The heated row erupted on ITV’s Good Morning Britain on Tuesday when former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin appeared on the show to defend Donald Trump and insisted the 2020 election had been rife with “shenanigans”.

Ms Palin, a former governor of Alaska who was John McCain’s running mate in 2008 and whose appeal foreshadowed the populist Tea Party movement and Mr Trump’s own ascent, was speaking as the Senate prepared to open its second impeachment trial into the 45th president after the House of Representatives accused him of inciting the failed insurrection at the US Capitol.

Joe Sommerlad reports.

As Donald Trumps stands trial for his alleged role in inciting the insurrection at the US Capitol on 6 January, questions about what exactly happened that day – and who exactly carried out what actions – are still lingering.

Although there have been more than 200 arrests tied to the Capitol riot, there has been little new information regarding the death of Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, the identity of the individual or individuals who planted bombs at the headquarters of both the Republican and Democratic parties in Washington DC, and whether or not charges will be brought in the death of QAnon supporter Ashli Babbit.

Mr Sicknick was killed during the Capitol attack after he was struck in the head with a fire extinguisher. Thus far, no one has been charged with Mr Sicknick's death.

Graig Graziosi reports.

With CNN’s ratings falling of a post-Trump cliff in the first weeks of a Joe Biden presidency, the cable news network is giving out free tickets to the hottest show in town this week.

Anyone with an internet connection can tune into the ex-president’s second impeachment after CNN announced it would be dropping its paywall to a live stream, which can be seen on CNN.com homepage, on CNNgo, via CNN.com/go on desktop, smartphone, and iPad, and on CNNgo apps on Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Android TV, Chromecast, and Roku.

The subscription sign-in won’t be required during trial hours from today until 13 February.

Binge away.

The impeachment heard around the internet will begin within the hour, with official proceedings to kick off at 1pm EST (6pm GMT) in the same building in which pro-Trump supporters stormed only weeks earlier, leading to the deaths of five people.

Major networks including ABC News, CBS News, CNN, C-SPAN, Fox News Channel, NBC, and PBS, will all be providing special television coverage of the trial.

CNN is even dropping its paywall for the action (more on that in a moment).

See how to watch the trial for however long it takes. And it could take quite a while if witnesses get called.

Senators are poised to officially begin impeachment proceedings at 1pm EST (6pm GMT) in the same building in which pro-Trump supporters stormed only weeks earlier.

Here is our guide for how to watch the trial.

A group of nine House Democratic impeachment managers prosecuting the case against Donald Trump will present arguments that "will be more like a violent-crime criminal prosecution, because that is what it is," a senior aide told has reporters.

The managers will aim to prove Mr Trump "incited a violent insurrection to interfere with the peaceful transfer of power. That is the most serious of constitutional crimes," an aide said.

The Democrats have also promised to present evidence not previously seen that showed the Capitol incident could have been far worse than it was, aides said.