Rep. Dean chronicles Trump's pressure campaign on officials
Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-Pa., one of the House impeachment managers, focused her remarks on Trump's specific efforts to try to overturn the 2020 election results.
"To be clear, not a single court, not a single judge agreed that the election results were invalid or should be invalidated," Dean said of the 62 post-election legal challenges she said were brought on behalf of Trump.
Dean noted that Trump's attempts to thwart the election ultimately ended up with him "pressuring the Justice Department" and "bullying his own vice president."
She went on to outline how Trump's pressure campaign on election officials, including Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, led to death threats against him and his family. She also noted how Trump "doubled down" on the attacks instead of easing up when the deaths threats went public.
"Let that sink in," Dean said. "A Republican public servant doing his job, whose family had just received death threats, and the president of the United States labeled him an 'enemy of the people.'"
Going on to play the recording of Trump asking Raffensperger to find the precise number of the votes he needed to win, Dean highlighted the impact of call.
"This is the president of the United States telling a secretary of state that if he does not find votes he will face criminal penalties," Dean said. "Senators, we must not become numb to this. Trump did this across state after state. So often, so loudly, so publicly."
"Public officials like you and me receive death threats and calls threatening criminal penalties all because Trump wanted to remain in power," she added.
