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

Republican Sens. Ted Cruz, Lindsey Graham and Mike Lee -- under oath as impartial jurors in the Senate impeachment trial -- met with Trump's defense team after House managers wrapped their arguments on Thursday.

Cruz, asked about the purpose of the meeting with Trump's lawyers, pointed to the team preparing their arguments for Friday.

"We were discussing their legal strategy and sharing our thoughts," Cruz said.

He was then asked if he was comfortable with the strategy they were presenting.

"I think the end result of this impeachment trial is crystal clear to everybody," Cruz said. "And every person in the Senate chamber understands that there are not the votes to convict, nor should there be."

Democrats, too, flocked to House impeachment managers after the Senate recessed for the night "presumably to praise their performance," according to a reporter in the chamber at the time.

During the last impeachment trial, then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell made clear he was in "lockstep" with the White House. The Biden White House has also reportedly been working through back channels with Democrats.

-ABC News' Benjamin Siegel and Katherine Faulders

House impeachment managers finished presenting the opening arguments in their case charging Trump with "incitement of insurrection" on Thursday.

House managers worked to directly link Trump's rhetoric at a rally shortly before -- and in the months leading up -- to the attack on the Capitol, saying that in his speech he "lit the fuse" and directed the enraged crowd toward the Capitol. Managers pointed to past violence, like in Charlottesville, Virginia, and the attack on the Michigan state capitol, to assert that Trump knew the violence his supporters were capable of and the result of sending them to the U.S. Capitol.

They also honed in on Trump's actions during and after the riot, insisting that he showed no remorse for his role in the attack and refused to take action as the violence worsened. They argued that his lack of remorse and refusal to take accountability show that Trump would incite violence again.

As in the past two days, the managers relied on photos, videos and audio clips to lay out their case, forcing the senators to relive the day of the attack. Managers also were on an early defense, addressing attacks they expected would come from Trump's lawyers. For example, they said that the First Amendment did not protect the kind of speech Trump gave at the rally on Jan. 6 and his continued false claims of election fraud. Lead manager Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., said that the former president was not someone who yelled fire in a crowded theater, but rather as the "proverbial municipal fire chief who incites a mob to go set the theater on fire."

In the conclusion of their opening argument, they made a plea to the Senate to hold Trump "accountable" and insisted that it would do a great deal of damage if he's given another chance at power. Raskin ended by asking senators to exercise their "common sense," a nod to Thomas Paine, in deliberations about whether Trump incited insurrection.

On Friday at noon, Trump's legal defense team will lay out their case. They are expected to argue that Trump's speech is protected by the First Amendment and that there's no evidence that Trump incited the mob.

Sen. Bill Cassidy, D-La., was the lone Republican to switch positions this week, after previously voting Trump's Senate trial was not constitutional -- joining five other Republicans who voted with Democrats to affirm the Senate's authority to put a former president on trial.

Cassidy was asked on Thursday evening what he hopes to hear from the president's defense team when they take the Senate floor at noon on Friday and he pointed to the timeline managers crafted which showed Trump waited to take action to stop the Capitol violence.

"What I hope the defense does is explain that. If one of the charges was that you should have called out people you didn't, even though it was clear that the police officers were under assault, please explain that," Cassidy said.

He said he also wanted Trump's attorneys to answer for his continued false claims of election fraud.

"The point was made people felt as if they had no recourse because their vote was being stolen. The president built that story. So how do you defend that, how you describe that," Cassidy said.

He said he would listen to the defense before signaling whether he's leaning toward conviction. In Trump's last Senate impeachment trial, only one Republican, Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah, joined Democrats in voting to remove the president from office.

-ABC News' Allison Pecorin

As Trump continues to face an unprecedented second impeachment trial, here's how the impeachment process works.

2:30

How the impeachment process works What does it take to remove a president from office?

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