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

Biden remembered those who were killed and called for unity going forward.

Last Updated: February 15, 2021, 4:10 PM EST

Former President Donald Trump's historic second impeachment trial ended with a 57-43 vote to acquit in the Senate. He faced a single charge of incitement of insurrection over his actions leading up to the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Feb 11, 2021, 12:04 PM EST

Senate reconvenes for Trump's second trial

The Senate has reconvened for Trump's second impeachment trial and will continue to hear arguments from House impeachment managers on Thursday.

Senate Chaplain Barry Black first led the chamber in a prayer. Presiding officer Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., then led the group through the Pledge of Allegiance, followed by the traditional "Hear ye! Hear ye! Hear ye!" proclamation from the sergeant-at-arms.

After brief remarks from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, House managers will continue and conclude their presentation in support of the singular article of impeachment for "incitement of insurrection," receiving up to 16 hours over two days.

A cart from the Library of Congress is seen outside the Senate on Capitol Hill, Feb. 10, 2021, in Washington, D.C.
Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

Managers on Wednesday argued that Trump spent months priming supporters to storm the Capitol on Jan. 6, in a last-ditch effort to overturn the election results after failed attempts to compel local, state and federal law enforcement and election officials to do so.

They also used never-before-seen Capitol security footage of senators, House members and former Vice President Mike Pence fleeing the chambers during the riot to transport lawmakers back to that moment when many of them were fearing for their lives.

PHOTO: House impeachment manager Rep. Diana DeGette speaks with fellow managers and staff on the second day of the second Senate impeachment trial for former President Donald Trump at the Capitol in Washington on Feb. 10, 2021.
House impeachment manager Rep. Diana DeGette speaks with fellow managers and staff on the second day of the second Senate impeachment trial for former President Donald Trump at the Capitol in Washington on Feb. 10, 2021. From left: Rep. David Cicilline, Rep. Eric Swalwell, Rep. Joaquin Castro, Rep Raskin's chief of staff Julie Tagen and Lead Impeachment Manager Rep. Jamie Raskin.
Erin Schaff/The New York Times/Redux Pictures
Lead House impeachment manager Jamie Raskin, right, hugs House impeachment manager Rep. Madeleine Dean after she spoke during the second day of the second impeachment trial for former President Donald Trump at the Capitol in Washington on Feb. 10, 2021.
Lead House impeachment manager Jamie Raskin, right, hugs House impeachment manager Rep. Madeleine Dean after she spoke during the second day of the second Senate impeachment trial for former President Donald Trump at the Capitol in Washington on Feb. 10, 2021.
Erin Schaff/The New York Times/Redux Pictures

Trump's team will then present their defense of the former president. They are also expected to receive up to 16 hours over two days.

-ABC News' Trish Turner

Feb 11, 2021, 12:02 PM EST

Impeachment trial forcing ultimate Trump loyalty test for GOP

For as bad it as it was, it came close to being immeasurably and incalculably worse.

It's clear from the harrowing and intense presentation of the House managers that for all the talk of impeachment as a partisan exercise, the insurrectionists who invaded the Capitol didn't think along purely party lines.

If anything, prominent Republicans -- former Vice President Mike Pence and Sen. Mitt Romney among them -- were those who may have come closest to being attacked or even killed. Trump's own actions as documented in real time show him to be at best indifferent, and at worst directly culpable, for what happened Jan. 6.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell walks on Capitol Hill, Feb. 10, 2021, as he heads to the second day of the second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump.
Susan Walsh/AP

With Democrats now midway through making their deadly serious case, the Senate trial is serving as a visceral reminder that the loyalties Republicans have shown to Trump really never were returned by Trump or many of his most fervent followers. "Destroy the GOP," one group of MAGA rally-goers chanted in video replayed at the trial Wednesday.

That probably shouldn't matter to senators as they convene as an impeachment jury. But with most national and state-level Republicans continuing their solid backing of the former president -- and those who side against him facing severe political backlash -- revisiting the horrors serve a broader purpose.

While predictions of final Senate votes are still premature, Trump may yet be saved from conviction by partisan loyalties wrapped in procedural niceties. Yet House managers are making the case that the party and the institutions that might protect him have never enjoyed Trump's respect.

-ABC News Political Director Rick Klein

Feb 11, 2021, 11:51 AM EST

Photos of the Capitol attack

The historic second impeachment of Trump -- the first trial of a former a president -- and one in which the lawmakers are themselves witnesses to the alleged crime of "incitement of insurrection" continues.

Here are photos of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

Jacob Anthony Angeli Chansley, known as the QAnon Shaman, is seen outside the Capital building on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. On Jan. 9, Chansley was arrested on federal charges including violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.
Brent Stirton/Getty Images
PHOTO: Trump supporters clash with police and security forces as people try to storm the US Capitol Building in Washington, on Jan. 6, 2021.
Trump supporters clash with police and security forces as people try to storm the US Capitol Building in Washington, on Jan. 6, 2021. Demonstrators breeched security and entered the Capitol as Congress convened to certify the 2020 presidential election.
Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images, FILE
U.S. Capitol Police detain rioters outside of the House Chamber during a joint session of Congress to ratify Electoral College results on Jan. 06, 2021, in Washington.
Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Violent insurrectionists loyal to President Donald Trump try to break through a police barrier at the Capitol in Washington, Jan. 6, 2021.
John Minchillo/AP, FILE

Feb 11, 2021, 11:46 AM EST

House managers to wrap opening arguments

Trump's second impeachment trial -- the first for a former president -- resumes Thursday at noon with a second and final day of opening arguments from House impeachment managers who are making their case that Trump incited an insurrection.

House impeachment managers will provide "additional evidence" of Trump's role in the Capitol riot and his "lack of remorse" on the Senate floor Thursday, aides to the managers' team said on an earlier background call.

"We definitely have the goods and we’ll be bringing them home today," one aide told reporters. 

PHOTO:House impeachment manager Rep. Eric Swalwell  delivers part of the impeachment managers opening argument in the impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump, on charges of inciting the deadly attack on the Capitol, Feb. 10., 2021.
House impeachment manager Rep. Eric Swalwell delivers part of the impeachment managers opening argument in the impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump, on charges of inciting the deadly attack on the Capitol, Feb. 10., 2021.
U.S. Senate TV via Reuters

Managers on Wednesday argued that Trump spent months priming supporters to storm the Capitol on Jan. 6, in a last-ditch effort to overturn the election results after failed attempts to compel local, state and federal law enforcement and election officials to do so.

They also used never-before-seen Capitol security footage of senators, House members and former Vice President Mike Pence fleeing the chambers during the riot to transport lawmakers back to that moment when many of them were fearing for their lives.

After the first day's arguments on Tuesday, in an unexpected move, Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., joined Democrats and five other Republicans in voting that the trial is constitutional, changing his vote from an earlier motion on the issue, citing the Democrats' "compelling argument."

Democrats would need at least 17 Republicans to side with them in order to convict and potentially bar Trump from running for federal office again, but the majority of Republicans have already signaled they will not vote to convict.

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