Trump attorneys to lay out defense
Trump's second impeachment trial -- the first for a former president -- resumes Friday at noon with arguments from Trump's defense attorneys who are making their case that Trump is not guilty for incitement of insurrection.
The public should expect to see four attorneys on the Trump team: David Schoen, Bruce Castor, Michael van der Veen and Julieanne Bateman. They're expected to argue the trial is unconstitutional because Trump is no longer in office -- despite the Senate already voting to affirm it has the authority -- and that Trump's use of social media and comments made on Jan. 6 are protected by the First Amendment. They've also signaled they'll only use three or four hours of their allotted time.
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., who joined Democrats and five other Republicans in voting that the trial is constitutional -- changing his vote from an earlier motion on the issue -- said he hopes the defense team can explain the timeline of events and Trump's repeated assertions that the election was stolen.

House impeachment managers, over the past two days, 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, and that he showed a "lack of remorse."
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 -- reminding lawmakers of when many of them were fearing for their lives.

Democrats would need at least 17 Republicans to side with them in order to convict Trump and bar him from federal office, but the majority of Republicans have already signaled they will vote to acquit, despite evidence of the attack showing several of them may have also been targets.








