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

David Schoen, a member of Trump's legal defense team, appeared on Fox News during the Senate trial. Schoen argued that it will not help healing to "show and reshow" the tragedy of the Jan. 6 riot.

"I have always said that this trial never should have happened, and if it happened, it should be as short as possible given the complete lack of evidence and the harm that this is causing to the American people," Schoen said.

As the House managers continue to lay out their allegations, Schoen offered an assessment of Trump's mood.

"The president is very upbeat, he has condemned the violence, and doesn't in any way want to be associated with what happened in this violent incident," Schoen said. "He has condemned the people involved and obviously quite offended at being tied into it."

Schoen told reporters that he thinks the House managers are "making a movie," saying they haven't "in any way" tied the riots to Trump.

-ABC News' Benjamin Siegel

Rep. David Cicilline, D-R.I., in focusing his arguments on the harm inflicted inside Capitol walls on Jan. 6, noted the terror aimed particularly toward people of color at the complex.

"For many of the Black and brown staff, the trauma was made worse by the many painful symbols of hate that were on full display that day. Insurrectionists waved Confederate flags and hurled the most disgusting racial slurs at dedicated Capitol workers," he said.

"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 continued.

He recalled how one member of the Capitol janitorial staff reflected on "how terrible he felt when he had to clean up feces that had been smeared on the wall, blood of a rioter who had died, broken glass, other objects, strewn all over the floor. He said, 'I felt bad. I felt degraded.'"

A mural paying tribute to civil rights icon, the late Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., was "shamefully destroyed," Cicilline said, and "only a broken piece of the memorial was found on the ground next to a trash can," he said.

Quoting an article from Buzzfeed, Cicilline recalled two Black police officers saying they were called racial slurs repeatedly as they fought off white nationalists on Jan. 6.

"Is this America? What is your answer to that question? Is this OK? If not, what are we going to do about it? These people matter. These people risked their lives for us. So I ask you respectfully to consider them -- the police officers, the staff of this building -- when you cast your vote," Cicilline said.

The Senate is taking a short break before continuing with arguments from the House impeachment managers.

Rep. David Cicilline, D-R.I., focused his arguments on the impact the Jan. 6 attack had on Capitol Hill lawmakers -- including the senators in the chamber who are acting as jurors in Trump's trial.

"I'd like to now turn to the harm that this has caused -- here in these walls as a result of the conduct on Jan. 6," Cicilline said. "Never did any of us imagine that we or our colleagues would face mortal peril by a mob riled up by the president of the United States -- the leader of the free world. But we did. All because Donald Trump could not accept his election defeat."

Cicilline played news reports of lawmakers describing the terror and trauma they suffered in the wake of the Jan. 6 attack -- and also quoted reporters, Capitol Hill staffers and employees who said they feared for their lives.

"Many members wondered if they'd see their family again. As the rioters reached the Capitol, they were outnumbered, trapped inside. They were calling loved ones to say good-bye," he said.

Cicilline also noted how the attack happened in the middle of a global pandemic but said social distancing was "impossible as we were hiding for our lives in cramped quarters for long periods of time."