Impeachment trial: Stunning phone call Trump held with McCarthy during Capitol riot revealed
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Your support makes all the difference.The Senate adjourned after Donald Trump's legal team closed its arguments in their defence against impeachment, with a key GOP senator that had indicated a willingness to cross the aisle saying it was "much stronger" than its opening statements.
Alaska's Lisa Murkowski reportedly said the revamped line-up was "very organized in what they've presented and how they've done it.”
During day four of the impeachment trial, Trump's team presented multiple videos that supercut instances of Democrats using the same language they have charged the ex-president of using to incite the riots at the US Capitol.
The videos were the main thrust of Trump's free speech defence, with lawyers arguing the First Amendment must apply to all political speech or it applies to no political speech - including that of Democrats.
They also submitted that the House impeachment managers had manipulated evidence and selectively edited Trump's key speech from 6 January to remove explicit calls for supporters to make their voices heard "peacefully and patriotically".
Day four began amid reports of growing tensions between Trump and his team, with the former president said to want Bruce Castor to have minimal involvement following his disastrous appearance on Tuesday during opening arguments.
Mr Castor kicked off the second session more than two hours into the defence.
It comes as Joe Biden says he is "anxious" to see what his Republicans friends to and whether they will "stand up", despite previously saying he wasn't going to watch proceedings or get involved in deliberations.
The trial will continue on Saturday, 13 February at 10am EST.
Tapper posts screenshots of Trump tweets pressuring Pence
CNN anchor Jake Tapper has posted screenshots of Donald Trump’s now-permanently removed Twitter account in which the former president explicitly called for Mike Pence to interfere with Congress’ counting of electoral votes using powers the former vice-president didn’t even have.
“All Mike Pence has to do is send them back to the States, AND WE WIN,” Mr Trump falsely tweeted on January 6. “Do it Mike, this is a time for extreme courage.”
The tweets provide counter evidence to Mr Trump’s defence’s bizarre argument that their client never intended to interfere with the counting process.
Pence had ‘nuclear football’ with him as he was rushed to safety during Capitol riot
Among the disturbing footage played during Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial is a clip of a military aide following Mike Pence, as he was being rushed to safety during the Capitol riots, holding what defence experts now identify as the “nuclear football” — an emergency satchel containing nuclear strike codes.
The startling footage was aired on the second day of the Senate impeachment trial by House impeachment manager Stacey Plaskett.
The footage showed the evacuation of the then vice president Mr Pence and his family even as a mob chanted “Hang Mike Pence” alongside a makeshift gallows erected at the Capitol building.
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Mike Pence had ‘nuclear football’ with him as he was rushed to safety during Capitol riot
Experts noted that though the insurrectionists could not have launched a nuclear attack because of security controls, they posed the threat of revealing classified information to the world
How Trump and Fox News amplified election misinformation
The Washington Post has created a useful graphic, as shared here by Tech Policy Press chief Justin Hendrix, showing how Donald Trump and far-right news network Fox News amplified misinformation about mail in ballots and election fraud, in a bid to cast doubt about a Joe Biden victory both before and after November’s vote.
As can be seen in the graphic, Fox massively upped its misleading coverage in the days and weeks following election day.
Hawley calls impeachment a ‘kangaroo trial’ after being accused of ignoring it
Missouri Republican Senator Josh Hawley called the impeachment proceedings against former President Donald Trump a “kangaroo trial” after being accused of ignoring it and doing paperwork.
Speaking to Fox News, Mr Hawley said: “It is totally unconstitutional and it is incredibly selfish on the part of the Democrats who are pursuing their own personal political vendettas here.”
One of the leaders of Mr Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of the election, Mr Hawley added: “This is a total kangaroo trial.”
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Josh Hawley calls impeachment a ‘kangaroo trial’ after being accused of ignoring it
Mr Hawley said trial was 'totally unconstitutional and it is incredibly selfish on the part of Democrats who are pursuing their own personal political vendettas here'
‘Growing tension’ in Trump legal camp as former president reportedly wants to ditch lawyer
According to ABC News, there is growing tension within Donald Trump’s legal team just hours before they are set to defend their client on the Senate floor.
The former president reportedly wants his attorney, Bruce Castor, to stay largely stay silent and let partner David Schoen take the lead. It comes after reports suggested Mr Trump was furious at Mr Castor’s earlier performance during opening arguments.
Mr Castor, though, will apparently have a role, despite Mr Trump complaining about him “every day since Tuesday”, according to The New York Times’s Maggie Haberman.
Man charged with threatening to kill president Biden and White House staff
A North Carolina man has been arrested on charges of issuing threats to assault and kill president Joe Biden and “chop off heads” of White House staff, according to court documents.
David Kyle Reeves, 27, of Gastonia, North Carolina, faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine if proven guilty.
According to the complaint, Reeves contacted the White House and as well as the US Capitol police switchboards numerous times to communicate threats of inflicting harm to the president, lawmakers, and the staff.
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Man charged with threatening to kill president Biden and White House staff and ‘chop all your heads off’
The charges could land the man in a federal prison for up to five years
Impeachment manager urges senator to convict Trump because he is ‘overwhelmingly guilty'
Democratic impeachment manager Joe Neguse, delivering the prosecution’s closing argument on Thursday, urged senators to convict Donald Trump “for the crime for which he is overwhelmingly guilty of”.
“President Trump incited an insurrection, an insurrection that he alone had the power to stop, and the fact he didn’t stop it ... more than requires conviction and disqualification.”
Mr Neguse added: “If you don’t, if we pretend this didn’t happen, or worse, if we let it go unanswered, who’s to say it won’t happen again?”
Trump ally Nikki Haley turns on him during impeachment trial: ‘We shouldn’t have followed him’
Former US ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley has turned on Donald Trump amid his Senate impeachment trial, saying that she believes he “let us down.”
In an interview published by Politico on Friday, Ms Haley, 49, who served in Mr Trump’s cabinet between 2017 to 2018, said: “We need to acknowledge he let us down.”
She added: “He went down a path he shouldn’t have, and we shouldn’t have followed him, and we shouldn’t have listened to him. And we can’t let that ever happen again.”
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Biden says Republicans need to ‘stand up’ as impeachment trial readies to hear Trump defence
Despite trying to keep as far away as possible from weighing in on Donald Trump’s impeachment, Joe Biden today said he is “anxious” to see how Senate Republicans will act in the impeachment trial.
“I’m just anxious to see what my Republican friends do, if they stand up,” Mr Biden said about the charge against Mr Trump.
Read more of this breaking story here:
Biden says Republicans need to ‘stand up’ as impeachment trial readies to hear Trump defence
Mr Biden has been trying to stay silent on impeachment trial, leaving judgement of Mr Trump to Senators
‘Redemption day’ for Trump lawyer mocked for impeachment performance earlier this week
Jason Miller, a senior adviser on the Trump 2020 re-election campaign, has said it is “redemption day” for Bruce Castor, the Trump impeachment defence lawyer widely derided for his opening performance earlier this week.
With Mr Trump said to be furious with Mr Castor and keen to minimise his involvement in today’s proceedings, Mr Miller said Mr Castor would have a role and would be “tighter”, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins reports.
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