Impeachment trial – live: Trump ‘screams’ at TV as Castor’s defence ridiculed and 6 GOP turn on ex-president
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Six Republicans joined Democrats in a 56 to 44 vote ruling the second impeachment of Donald Trump is constitutional and can move forward.
Mitt Romney and Lisa Murkowski were among the expected GOP to cross the aisle, while Bill Cassidy notable joined them despite earlier voting for Rand Paul’s procedural motion to dismiss the impeachment as unconstitutional.
The resolution, which required only a simple majority rather than the supermajority required to convict, was passed after a day of arguments that began with graphic footage of the 6 January riots.
The video was edited, deceptively according to Donald Trump Jr, to mix footage of the riots with the Trump’s “Save America Rally” speech.
The Democrat's House manager Jamie Raskin broke down in tears as prosecutors remembered the events of the day and the "chilling to the core" response from Trump.
Raskin focused on what they called a "January exception" to the constitution, framing Trump's defence - that he is a private citizen now out of office - as setting a precedent that would allow presidents to escape consequences for crimes committed in their final weeks in office.
So powerful was the prosecution's presentation, that Trump's defence team reportedly changed the order of their speakers in an effort to lower the emotion before making their constitutional and free speech arguments.
Trump's lawyer Bruce Castor argued that the so-called "January exception" was nonsense as a president who was guilty of crimes faced punishment by the criminal justice system, and that impeachment was an attack on the constitution so that Democrats didn’t have to face Trump in an election again.
While Joe Biden wasn't watching the proceedings, according to the White House, Trump was reportedly "screaming" at the television at the performance of his defence attorney, who received widespread ridicule over his meandering speech.
The trial was adjourned until Wednesday.
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