Trump impeachment trial live updates: Biden says charge 'not in dispute' in 1st comments on acquittal

Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, one of the House impeachment managers, asserted that Trump's baseless claims of election fraud well before and after the election provoked his base and led to the riots on Jan 6.

"In tweet after tweet, he made sweeping allegations about election fraud that couldn't possibly be true. But that was the point. He didn't care if the claims were true," Castro said. "He wanted to make sure that his supporters were angry, like the election was being ripped away from them."

Castro argued that the president's "big lie" about election fraud fanned the flames of anger in his base, leading to the riots.

"There's a saying that a lie can travel halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to put on its shoes. And that was before the internet," Castro said. "The point of that saying is that a lie can do incredible damage and destruction, and that's especially true when that lie is told by the most powerful person on earth, our commander-in-chief, the president of the United States."

House manager Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Colo., presented three categories in his remarks to illustrate the impeachment managers' case that Trump "planted the seeds" in the lead up to the insurrection and used the Jan. 6 rally as a final "call to arms."

"He didn't condemn the violence," Neguse said of Trump. "He incited it further. And he got more specific. He didn't just tell them to 'fight like hell.' He told them how, where and when. He made sure they had advance notice -- 18 days advance notice. He sent his save the date for Jan. 6. He told them to march to the Capitol and fight like hell."

"He incited it. It was foreseeable. And again, you don't have to take my word for it," Neguse said, before playing a CNN clip of Trump's former chief of staff John Kelly saying it's "no surprise" the attack happened after Trump's actions.

Neguse reminded that five people died from the attack, dozens were injured but more harm was hoped to be inflicted on some, according to disturbing criminal complaints in the aftermath.

"We learn that members of this group said, I'm going to, quote -- they would've killed Mike Pence if given the chance. In another, we learn of a tweet in real time while they were in the building stating, we broke into the Capitol," Neguse said.

On Trump repeating at his Jan. 6 rally to "stop the steal," Neguse said to the senators, "Of course, each of you heard those words before. So had the crowd. The president had spent months telling his supporters that the election had been stolen. And he used his speech to incite them further, to inflame them, to 'stop the steal,' to stop the certification of the election results."

Of the mob, Neguse said, "They did it all in plain sight -- proudly, openly and loudly. Because they believed, they truly believed, that they were doing this for him."

Neguse went on to ask what would have happened if Trump had said "stop the attack" with "even half as much force as he said 'stop the steal.'"

"How many lives would we have saved?" Neguse said.

House manager Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Colo., discussed Trump's speech ahead of the Jan 6 riot as one of the moments of inciting the mob, though he said that false claims about election fraud the president made long before contributed to the riots.

"Now, some have said that president Trump's remarks, his speech on Jan. 6th, was just a speech. Well, let me ask you this. When in our history has a speech led thousands of people to storm our nation's capital with weapons, to scale the walls, break windows, kill a Capitol Police officer? This was not just a speech," Neguse said. "It didn't just happen."

The House managers showed video exhibits predating the election and predating the riots on Jan. 6 in which Trump asserted to his base, false claims that the election would be stolen from him.

"He was telling Americans that their vote had been stolen, and in America our vote is our voice," Neguse said. "So his false claims about election fraud, that was the drumbeat being used to inspire, instigate and ignite them -- to anger them."

The House managers argued that Trump's remarks were an incitement to violence on Jan 6.

"He didn't condemn the violence. He incited it further. And he got more specific. He didn't just tell them to fight like hell. He told them how, where and when. He made sure they had advanced notice -- 18 days advance notice. He sent his save the date for Jan. 6," Neguse said. "He told them to march to the Capitol and fight like hell."

Lead impeachment manager Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., opening arguments on Wednesday, projected confidence in the House managers' case which he said should compel the Senate to convict the former president and ensure he cannot run for federal office again.

"We believe that the managers' comprehensive and meticulous presentation will lead to one powerful and irresistible conclusion: Donald Trump committed a massive crime against our Constitution and our people, and the worst violation of the presidential oath of office in the history of the United States of America," Raskin sad. "For this, he was impeached by the House of Representatives and he must be convicted by the United States Senate."

Striking back against arguments raised by the defense team Tuesday, Raskin blasted Trump's attorneys for suggesting Trump cannot be convicted or disqualified from office after leaving -- noting a president's oath of office goes through noon on Jan. 20 and that there is no "January exception."

"Portraying Trump as a guy on the street being punished for his ideas is a false description of his actions, his intent, and the role that he played on Jan. 6 when he willfully incited an insurrection -- an insurrectionary mob to riot at the Capitol," Raskin said.

Raskin said the political leanings of the group have "nothing to do with" why they impeached the president but warned if Trump, as the "singular" person responsible, is not held accountable, then it could happen again.

"It makes no difference what the ideological content of the mob was," Raskin said. "If we license and forgive incitement to violent insurrection by militant Trump followers this week, you can be sure there will be a whole bunch of new ideological flavors coming soon."