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:
Liz Cheney suggests Trump should be part of criminal investigation
Republican congresswoman Liz Cheney has suggested Donald Trump should be subject to a criminal investigation over his conduct relating to the Capitol riot last month.
Ms Cheney, one of the few Republicans to blame Mr Trump for the insurrection, told Fox News people "would want to know exactly what the president was doing" and whether a deleted tweet in which he attacked vice-president Mike Pence was a "premeditated effort to provoke violence".
"There are a lot of questions that have to be answered," she added.
Biden scraps another Trump move, rejoining UN Human Rights Council
President Joe Biden is set to announce that the US will rejoin the UN Human Rights Council , which Donald Trump left in 2018, to fight “injustice and tyranny” around the world.
The decision is the latest in a series of moves taken by Mr Biden to reset US foreign policy since he assumed office last month.
Mr Biden has already announced that the US will rejoin the Paris Agreement on climate change, as well as resuming American funding for the World Health Organisation (WHO), as he pledged to restore alliances and international collaborations that took a back seat during the Trump presidency.
Read more here:
Biden scraps another Trump move, rejoining UN Human Rights Council to fight ‘injustice and tyranny’
Biden has already reversed Trump's decisions to defund the WHO and leave the Paris Agreement on climate
Throw back to infamous Trump Super Bowl tweet
Following the Buccaneers' victory over Kansas City Chiefs at last night's Super Bowl, it's worth remembering this notorious tweet from Donald Trump after last year's final.
After the Chiefs managed to claim the 2020 title, the then-president issued his congratulations and said the team had "represented the Great State of Kansas ... so very well".
Apparently unbeknown to Mr Trump is the fact Kansas City is in fact in Missouri, not Kansas.
The tweet was swiftly deleted.
Trump doesn’t use Gab and is being kept off by ‘dopey’ Jared Kushner
Gab chief executive Andrew Torba says Donald Trump does not use the social media platform, after false reports in the media claimed that he does.
In a post on Gab, Mr Torba blames “dopey advisers like Jared Kushner” for keeping the former president off the self-described “free speech social network.
Reports circulated on Friday that Mr Trump had returned to social media after being banned from Twitter and Facebook and following the demise of Parler.
Read more here:
Trump doesn’t use Gab and is being kept off by ‘dopey’ Jared Kushner, says CEO
Reports circulated on Friday that Mr Trump had returned to social media
Ilhan Omar condemns ‘unreal’ attempt by Republican senator to cast blame at Pelosi for Capitol riot
Ilhan Omar has condemned the "unreal" suggestion by Republican senator Ron Johnson that Nancy Pelosi was somehow secretly in on the pro-Trump Capitol riot on 6 January.
In an interview on Fox, Mr Johnson attacked impeachment, claiming it was a "diversion operation" from focusing on "what the Speaker knew and when she knew it".
"I don't know, but I'm suspicious," Mr Johnson said, baselessly.
Ms Omar, a Democratic congresswoman, responded with a quote by black American author Zora Neale Hurston.
"If you are silent about your pain, they’ll kill you and say you enjoyed it," she tweeted.
"Republicans are now trying to make people believe Speaker Pelosi summoned the mob that wanted her assassinated. Unreal."
Why the Marjorie Taylor Greene episode sets an uncomfortable precedent
Like her mentor and hero, Donald Trump, used to be, Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican member of the US House of Representatives from Georgia, is a significant presence on social media, and controversial with it.
Her Twitter autobiography sums her up succinctly: “Congresswoman for Georgia’s 14th CD, Christian, Wife, Mom, Small Business Owner, Proud American, 100% Pro-Life, Pro-Gun, Pro-Trump, #MAGA, Likes =/= Endorsements.”
Ms Taylor Greene is in the news because her Democrat opponents in what she terms the “House of Hypocrites” have stripped her of her membership of House committees. Technically they are able to do this because they presently enjoy a majority in the House.
Read more here:
Why the Marjorie Taylor Greene episode sets an uncomfortable precedent
She’s been stripped of her membership of House committees, but could the Deomcrats come to regret that? Sean O'Grady explains why it may not have been such a shrewd move
Donald Trump’s niece says impeachment conviction ‘shouldn’t even be in question'
Mary Trump, an author and psychologist who wrote a scathing book and Donald Trump's unsuitability to be US president, has said conviction of her uncle in his upcoming impeachment trial "shouldn't even be in question".
"But we need to keep saying it until it happens," Ms Trump added,
It comes as a large Republican opposition even to the trial itself suggests the former president will be acquitted. Conviction would require at least 17 GOP senators to vote against Mr Trump, a number exceedingly unlikely after just five voted against a motion citing impeachment as unconstitutional.
Donald Trump impeachment timeline 2021 – what to expect when trial starts
Donald Trump will soon be tried in the Senate for a second time, when proceedings against the single-term US president start on 9 February.
The trial comes almost a month after Congress was besieged by his supporters, who wrongly claimed that last year’s election was “stolen” or “rigged” after Mr Trump lost to Democrat Joe Biden.
Democrats – and some Republicans – afterwards said Mr Trump, who pushed those allegations in the months leading up to the attack on the Capitol, “incited” that very “insurrection” on 6 January.
Read more here:
Donald Trump impeachment timeline – what to expect when trial starts
Senate not expected to convict the single-term president after trial – although process could still take weeks
Republican senator baselessly suggests Nancy Pelosi was involved in Capitol riot
Republican senator Ron Johnson has falsely suggested House speaker Nancy Pelosi may somehow have been involved in or aware of the Capitol riot before it happened.
In an interview on Fox News on Sunday, Mr Johnson attacked impeachment as "unconstitutional" and suggested its going ahead was a "diversion operation" from focusing on "what the Speaker knew and when she knew it".
"I don't know, but I'm suspicious," Mr Johnson added.
Needless to say, Ms Pelosi had no role in the planning or the execution of the insurrection, and was in fact one of the lawmakers specifically targeted by rioters on 6 January.
Melania is delighted Trump’s off Twitter and ‘he’s much happier’
Former first lady Melania Trump believes Donald Trump “feels happier” now than when he was in the White House, while the former president himself is glad he isn’t on Twitter, according to his former campaign strategist.
Mr Trump moved to his Mar-a-Lago residence on 20 January in the morning of the inauguration of president Joe Biden, and has been staying there in relative quiet ever since.
In an interview with the Sunday Times, Mr Trump's trusted aide and former campaign manager Jason Miller said that this is the first time in years he has seen the president “truly relaxed" despite the upcoming impeachment trial.
Read more here:
Melania is delighted Trump’s off Twitter and ‘he’s much happier’, aide reports
'Not being subject to the hateful echo chamber that social media too frequently becomes has actually been good' for Trump, says former aide
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