Watch Live: Senate Impeachment Trial, Day 4

U.S. Capitol at Dusk September 2013. Photo by Martin Falbisoner.

Day four of the second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump will be broadcast today starting around noon Eastern. Today, it’s the Trump lawyers’ turn to present a case to the Senate and the American people explaining why President Trump should not be found guilty.

Expectations are high that their case will consist primarily of deflection. Unlike the House managers’ use of statements made by assailants and insurrectionists, there are likely going to be examples of when Democrats have used language similar to President Trump’s, specifically focusing on things like “fighting”. The long history of political speech using language of conflict is expected to be presented to show that Trump was being, in his way, a normal politician and could not reasonably be interpreted to be calling his people to arms unless similar assumptions were made about prior politicians.

What portions of their argument which do not focus on false equivalencies and claims of similar past actions are expected to center on the process, returning to the question of whether the trial should have been allowed to continue in the first place.

The specifics of the case… that Trump had spent months lying to his most rabid supporters and telling them the election had been stolen, that the date and time chosen for the rally was scheduled to put an angry mob near the Capitol during the certification, and even things which have not been significantly examined because investigations are ongoing such as the extent to which allies of the President may have funded some transit to Washington and promoted the invalid theory that if certification were stopped Trump would automatically remain President… will be ignored to the greatest extent possible.

Senators Lee, Cruz and Graham, all skilled lawyers even if they are gravely dishonest (see the article here) spent time with Trump’s defense attorneys this week, presumably to counsel them on the best presentation of their material. This should impede Democrats and dubious Republicans from bringing the attention back to the key points raised by the House managers.

Following the opening presentation, there will be a question and answer session; while the defense has enough time allotted for two days, the general perception is that the case against Trump is so damaging that the defense would like to move toward a vote as soon as possible. To that end, many professionals believe that Trump’s team will attempt to contract most of their response into a single day with the hope of ending the trial tomorrow.

Watch the event unfold here:

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About AlienMotives 1991 Articles
Ex-Navy Reactor Operator turned bookseller. Father of an amazing girl and husband to an amazing wife. Tired of willful political blindness, but never tired of politics. Hopeful for the future.