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

David Schoen, a member of Trump's legal team, asserted that there was not enough evidence about the events of Jan. 6 for the trial to give necessary due process to the former president. Schoen included a video of Democratic House managers saying "reportedly" multiple times in their argument.

"'Reportedly' is not the standard in any American setting in which any semblance of due process is afforded an accused. 'Reportedly' isn't even 'here is some circumstantial evidence.' It is exactly as reliable 'as I googled this for you.' And if you are worried that you might ever be tried based on this type of evidence, don't be" Schoen said. "You get more due process than this when you fight a parking ticket. "

Schoen also accused House managers of having inaccurate information in their exhibits and evidence.

"Let me say this clearly: We have reason to believe the House managers manipulated evidence and selectively edited footage. If they did, and this were a court of law, they would face sanctions from the judge. I don't raise this issue lightly. Rather, it is a product of what we have found in just the limited time we have had since we first saw the evidence here, with you, this week," Schoen said. "We have reason to believe that the House managers created false representations of tweets and the lack of due process means there was no opportunity to review or verify the accuracy."

Trump defense attorney Michael van der Veen argued that if the Capitol attack was premeditated as some criminal complaints are alleging, Trump couldn't have incited it.

"The fact that the attacks were apparently premeditated, as alleged by the House managers, demonstrates the ludicrousness of the incitement allegation against the president," van der Veen said. "You can't incite what was already going to happen."

However, House impeachment managers argued Trump primed his supporters for violence for months with false claims of election fraud. They also argued Trump was aware of the violence underway at the Capitol while safe at the White House but was intentionally slow in his response.

Trump defense attorney Michael van der Veen opened arguments for the defense by calling the article of impeachment before the Senate an "unjust and blatantly unconstitutional act of political vengeance" and went on to play a montage of videos of Democrats in an effort to suggest their past rhetoric is not so different than that of the former president.

"This appalling abuse of the Constitution only further divides our nation when we should be trying to come together around shared priorities," he said.

However, the Senate on Tuesday voted 55-45 to move forward with the impeachment proceedings, affirming they are constitutional.

Van der Veen went on to say Democrats' suggestion that Trump's speech led to violence is "patently absurd on its face" and that "no thinking person" should believe that.

"Nothing in the text could ever be construed as encouraging, condoning or enticing unlawful activity of any kind. Far from promoting insurrection against the United States, the president's remarks explicitly encouraged those in attendance to exercise their rights, peacefully and patriotically," he said.

In one of the videos van der Veen played, a few House Democrats -- including lead House impeachment manager Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md. -- objected to Trump's victory on the Electoral College certification following the 2016 election, as GOP lawmakers did to President Joe Biden's victory ahead of and after the Jan. 6 attack.

In another, he played clips of Trump praising "law and order" inter-spliced with Democratic leadership speaking in support of protests over the summer in the wake of the death of George Floyd in police custody.

Michael van der Veen, a member of Trump's legal team, pointed the finger at President Joe Biden and Democratic lawmakers for what he called "inflammatory language." He said that Trump's words were "ordinary political rhetoric" and likened to Biden's campaign slogan, "Battle for the Soul of America."

"Consider the language that the House impeachment article alleges to constitute incitement: 'If you don't fight like hell, you are not going to have a country anymore.' This is ordinary political rhetoric that is virtually indistinguishable from the language that has been used by people across the political spectrum for hundreds of years. Countless politicians have spoken of fighting for our principles. Joe Biden's campaign slogan was 'battle for the soul of America,'" van der Veen said. "No human being seriously believes that the use of such metaphorical terminology is incitement to political violence."

Castor also pointed the finger at Democratic lawmakers, citing Democratic support for Black Lives Matter peaceful protesters over the summer, saying that the proceedings were political.

"In short, this unprecedented effort is not about Democrats opposing political violence. It is about Democrats trying to disqualify their political opposition," Castor said. "It is constitutional cancel-culture."