February 11, 2021

Live Blog: After Terrifying New Footage, Democrats Finalize Their Case for Conviction

Here’s the latest.

Mother Jones illustration; Michael Brochstein/Sipa/AP; Getty

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Welcome back to Mother Jones’ live coverage of Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial.

On Thursday, Democrats will continue making their case for conviction after spending Wednesday presenting previously unknown details and video footage that revealed just how close pro-Trump insurrectionists had come to endangering the lives of lawmakers during the January 6 riot. In another piece of damning evidence, House impeachment managers showed that Trump knew that Mike Pence was in danger when he lashed out at the then–vice president on Twitter—an attack instantly picked up by insurrectionists, who were seen in a new video reading Trump’s tweet to fellow rioters. As House impeachment manager Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) put it, “They were paying attention. They also followed instructions.” 

Follow along for the latest:

4:10 p.m. ET: The House impeachment team wrapped up several hours early. Rep. Jamie Raskin appealed to senators’ common sense, in the two senses outlined by Thomas Paine in his 1776 pamphlet: the sense accessible to everybody, even those without extensive education, and the sense common to everyone in a community. “Senators, America, we need to exercise our common sense about what happened,” he said. “Let’s not get caught up in a lot of outlandish lawyers’ theories here. Exercise your common sense about what just took place in our country.”

The defense will begin its arguments at noon tomorrow.

2:00 p.m. ET: Rep. David Cicilline is providing powerful evidence of the trauma inflicted upon Black staff workers and Capitol Hill police officers during the insurrection. “Then after all that, these same workers, many of them people of color, were forced to clean up the mess left by mobs of white nationalists.”

Cicilline’s presentation also includes chilling videos of rioters physically harassing and taunting officers.

1:35 p.m. ET: Speaking on the various harms prompted by Trump’s actions, Rep. Diana DeGette outlines the massive financial hit DC and states around the country have endured because of the insurrection, largely due to increased security needs. As DeGette notes, this comes as states are already under intense financial constraints because of the pandemic.

1:30 p.m. ET: Mother Jones senior voting rights reporter Ari Berman on the absurdity of it all:

1:20 p.m. ET: In the latest sign Republicans aren’t budging:

1:15 p.m. ET: Rep. Ted Lieu is playing interviews from former Trump officials, including John Kelly, John Bolton, and Mick Mulvaney, who unequivocally denounced Trump’s role in inciting the insurrection. Lieu also cites the flood of resignations within the Trump administration that followed the attack. That list includes high-profile Trump enablers who wanted everyone to conveniently forget their loyalty to Trump over the past four years.

12:30 p.m. ET: Lead impeachment manager Jamie Raskin hits an important point: “January 6 was a culmination of the president’s actions, not an aberration from them. The insurrection was the most violent and dangerous episode so far in Donald Trump’s continuing pattern and practice of inciting violence.” Raskin then plays the many, many incidents of Trump promoting violence long before the insurrection. Those included Trump’s praise for Greg Gianforte after he body-slammed a reporter and Trump’s infamous “both sides” remarks in the wake of Charlottesville.

For more on Trump’s violent rhetoric and record of inciting violence, Mother Jones has you covered.

12:15 p.m. ET: Rep. Diana DeGette kicks things off with a video showing the pro-Trump mob screaming, “We were invited here! We were invited by the president of the United States!” 

10:00 a.m. ET: House impeachment managers are expected to discuss the various “harms” caused by Trump’s actions, physical and beyond, as well as the former president’s lack of remorse for his actions, Mother Jones national security reporter Dan Friedman reports this morning.

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WE'LL BE BLUNT

It is astonishingly hard keeping a newsroom afloat these days, and we need to raise $253,000 in online donations quickly, by October 7.

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Readers also told us to just give it to you straight when we need to ask for your support, and seeing how matter-of-factly explaining our inner workings, our challenges and finances, can bring more of you in has been a real silver lining. So our online membership lead, Brian, lays it all out for you in his personal, insider account (that literally puts his skin in the game!) of how urgent things are right now.

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