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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, 12:57 PM EST

DeGette cites analysis that found 'civil war' mentions quadrupled on Parler

House impeachment manager Rep. Diana DeGette cited an analysis that found mentions of "civil war" quadrupled on Parler in the hour after Donald Trump said "show strength."

"We also have another perspective from this moment: online extremist chatter. At the same time as the people in the crowd shouted, 'Take the Capitol building,' as President Trump said, 'show strength,' a person posted to Parler saying, 'time to fight, civil war is upon us,'" Degette said. "Another user said, 'we're going to have the civil war. Get ready.'" An analysis found members of civil war crime quadrupled on Parler in the hour after Donald Trump said, 'show strength.' When insurrectionists got to the Capitol, they continued those rally cries."

Feb 11, 2021, 12:48 PM EST

Rioter left threatening note for Pence: 'Justice is coming'

House impeachment manager Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., also disclosed that one notable protester, Jacob Anthony Angeli Chansley, who stormed the Capitol while donning face paint, no shirt and a furry hat with horns, left a threatening note to Vice President Mike Pence.

"Chansley left a threatening note for Vice President Pence right there on the Senate dais. It read, quote, 'it's only a matter of time. Justice is coming,'" DeGette said.

Managers on Wednesday used never-before-seen Capitol security footage to show Pence and his family fleeing the Senate chamber at 2:26 p.m. on Jan. 6. Trump, meanwhile at the White House, posted an attack on Pence to Twitter just two minutes earlier at 2:24 p.m.

President Donald Trump's tweet attacking Mike Pence was referenced during Impeachment hearings in Washington, Feb. 10, 2021.
Twitter

They also presented video of Chansley telling a reporter it was time to go home from the Capitol only once Trump put out a pre-recorded video asking them to -- over three-and-a-half hours after the attack began.

"Have you noticed throughout this presentation the uncanny similarity over and over and over again of what all these people are saying?" DeGette asked the chamber. "They said what Donald Trump said, and that echoed each other. 'Stand back and standby.' 'Stop the steal.' 'Fight like hell.' 'Trump sent us.' 'We are listening to Trump.'"

Feb 11, 2021, 12:46 PM EST

Raskin says Jan. 6 riots were 'culmination' of Trump's incitement of violence

Lead House manager, Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., said that the violent riot on Jan. 6 was a "culmination" of incitement to violence from Trump. He played a series of video clips from over several years, which Raskin said showed Trump urging violence.

"This pro-Trump insurrection did not spring into life out of thin air. We saw how Trump spent months cultivating America's most dangerous extremist groups," Raskin said. "We saw how he riled them up with corrosive lies and violent rhetoric, so much so that they were ready and eager for their most dangerous mission, invalidating the will of the people to keep Donald Trump in office."

Raskin cited the increase in hate groups and heightened threat from domestic terror, saying that Trump incited the anger of these groups for "his own political gain." The House managers also played footage from the Charlottesville, Virginia, "Unite the Right" rally which led to the death of one woman.

"These tactics were road tested. January 6th was a culmination of the president's actions, not an aberration from them," Raskin said. "The insurrection was the most violent and dangerous episode so far in Donald Trump's continuing pattern and practice of inciting violence -- but I emphasize 'so far.'"

Feb 11, 2021, 12:30 PM EST

DeGette argues rioters believed they were 'invited by the president'

House impeachment manager Rep. Diana DeGette continued to lay out the case against Trump on Thursday and argued how the insurrectionists themselves believed that they were following the president's marching orders.

"They truly believed that the whole intrusion was at the president's orders -- and we know that because they said so," DeGette said. "Many of them actually posed for pictures, bragging about it on social media, and they tagged Mr. Trump in tweets. Folks, this was not a hidden crime. The president told them to be there, and so they actually believed they would face no punishment."

Her main message is that rioters were there, solely, "because the president told them to be."

"The crowd at Donald Trump's speech echoed and chanted his words, and when people in the crowd followed his direction and marched to the Capitol, they chanted the same words as they breached this building," she said. "More and more insurrectionists are admitting that they came at Trump's direction."

DeGette went on to show news reports and video clips of rioters during and following the Jan. 6 attack saying they believed they were acting lawfully and as Trump had requested.

She said rioters would not have been in Washington had they not been invited by the president to falsely "stop the steal" -- and they would not have stormed the Capitol if Trump didn't embolden them to do so.

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