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

Donald Trump's former White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney has said that there's "no chance" that Mr Trump will be convicted in his second impeachment trial and that there's no way that Democrats will be able to bar Mr Trump from running for office in the future. 

Mr Mulvaney told Sky News Australia: "There's absolutely no chance that Donald Trump will be convicted in this Senate trial, no chance that he will be disqualified from further office. They can’t remove him from the White House because he’s already left.

"I will say this, it’ll be a little disappointing, given the gravity of the events of January 6, that there hasn’t been a more thorough investigation of the issue...It looks more and more like a political show trial than it does like an ordinary trial with evidence and decision making,” Mr Mulvaney said. 

Gustaf Kilander reports.

Texas Republican representative Ron Wright, who previously battled cancer, has died at the age of 67 after testing positive for coronavirus.

Mr Wright, who was elected to represent Texas's 6th congressional district in 2018, tested positive for coronavirus in early January, following the Capitol riots.

At the time of his diagnosis, Mr Wright confirmed that he was experiencing "minor symptoms", but his campaign announced on Monday that he had died following his battle with Covid-19.

The Trump legal team claims that there was a "flurry of activity" at the White House to mobilise a security response to the events of 6 January. Details of exactly what was ordered, by whom, and when, are not provided.

CNN fact checking reporter Daniel Dale offers his take on the Trump team's legal brief filed this morning, saying that his lawyers "breezes past the incendiary parts of Trump's January 6 speech — accusing the media of cherry-picking from the speech while itself doing egregious cherry-picking".

Less than four in 10 Americans believe Donald Trump has at least a fair amount of respect for democratic institutions, a new Associated Press poll shows.

Just 37 per cent of those questioned said Mr Trump respected those institutions, almost half the 70 per cent who thought President Joe Biden does.

The survey also revealed just 16 per cent of Americans say democracy is working well or extremely well, a pessimism that spans the political spectrum. Nearly half of Americans, 4 per cent, think democracy isn’t functioning properly, while another 38 per cent say it’s working only somewhat well.

Jamie Raskin has been preparing for this moment his whole life.

Back in the summer of 2018, just over a year into his first term in Washington, the Maryland Democratic congressman skipped off the House floor into the adjoining Speaker's Lobby where reporters routinely mill about seeking impromptu interviews with the nation's most powerful men and women.

A newcomer, mild-mannered and distinctive in appearance for his frizzy black tonsure, Mr Raskin drifted lazily towards the northeast elevator nose-deep in a hefty paperback. Eyes locked on the pages, he pinballed his way through the throngs of journalists and lawmakers.

Read more here:

Former President Donald Trump’s impeachment attorneys have urged the US Senate to dismiss the charges against him in a new brief filed on Monday, a day before the trial was scheduled to begin in Washington.

Mr Trump’s attorneys described the upcoming trial as “political theater” while arguing it was unconstitutional for the Senate to convict a former president after they had already left office. 

Legal scholars and constitutional experts have indicated Mr Trump can still face conviction for fomenting the deadly riots at the US Capitol, however, after he was impeached by the House of Representatives last month during his final days in office. 

Read more here:

The Lincoln Project, an anti-Trump group set up by conservatives opposed to the former president, has published an advert calling for Donald Trump's conviction in the upcoming impeachment trial.

"Your legacy is on the line," the narrator says of Republican senators disinclined to convict Mr Trump. "You know Trump's mob seized the Capitol on his orders. A violent insurrection to hold power. You were saved from assault and death only by providence."

He adds: "Your defences of Trump are hollow, cynical and desperate. We know you are afraid."

The House voted to impeach Donald Trump on Wednesday 13 January, in reaction to his incitement of the Capitol riots just one week prior. This was the first time an American president had been impeached twice.

A mob of pro-Trump supporters breached the US Capitol on Wednesday 6 January during the confirmation of electoral college votes, putting a hold to the process to confirm Joe Biden’s presidential victory for several hours.

The rioters attacked the Capitol after attending a rally led by Mr Trump, who urged his supporters to “walk down to the Capitol” and told them: “You have to show strength, and you have to be strong.”

Read more here:

A prominent conservative lawyer has said that Trump can stand trial

Charles J Cooper, who is one of the top conservative constitutional lawyers, said on Sunday evening that Donald Trump can be tried for impeachment despite no longer being US president.

This went against arguments made by top Republicans over the last month, who claimed that it is unconstitutional to try Mr Trump, as the penalty for impeachment conviction is being removed from office.

However, writing in The Wall Street Journal, Mr Cooper said that the Republican officials were misreading the constitution, and added: “It defies logic to suggest that the Senate is prohibited from trying and convicting former officeholders.”