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.

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.


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House manager appears to signal no witnesses will be called

Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-Pa., was asked Thursday evening if the House impeachment managers need to call witnesses or if they feel they’ve made their case.

"I think we've made our case," she said.

"I'm so contented that we put forward the very best case. It's up to the American people," Dean said in an exchange with another reporter. "The American people witnessed this, the senators witnessed this."

In Trump's 2019 Senate impeachment trial, Democrats requested to call witnesses, but Republicans blocked the move.

-ABC News' Trish Turner


Raskin asks senators to practice 'common sense'

After roughly 10 hours of arguments, lead House impeachment manager Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., wrapped opening arguments for the group acting as prosecutors in the Senate trial against Trump.

"Mr. President, members of the Senate, first of all, thank you for your close attention and seriousness of purpose that you've demonstrated over the last few days. Thank you, also, for your courtesy to the House managers as we've come over here -- strangers in a strange land -- to make our case before this distinguished body," Raskin said with a light smile.

He reminded senators of their oaths to render impartial justice and walked them through their constitutional duties. He also reminded them that the Senate has already voted that the trial is constitutional, so their final votes on conviction should be based on the facts his team presented, not on whether they agree with the trial.

"Senators, I've talked a lot about common sense in this trial, because I think, I believe that's all you need to arrive at the right answer here," Raskin said. "When Tom Payne wrote 'Common Sense,' the pamphlet that launched the American Revolution, he said that common sense really meant two different things."

"One, common sense is the understanding that we all have, without advanced learning and education, common sense is the sense accessible to everybody. But common sense is also the sense that we all have in common -- as a community. Senators, America, we need to exercise our common sense about what happened," Raskin said, reaching out to Republicans in a divided Washington.

"Let's not get caught up in a lot of outlandish lawyers' theories here. Exercise your common sense about what just took place in our country," he said.

Raskin closed by telling the chamber, "Good luck in your deliberations."


Senate adjourns as House managers conclude opening arguments

The House managers have finished laying out their case against Trump and the Senate has adjourned for the day.

The trial will resume at noon on Friday, when Trump's legal team will deliver their argument.


Raskin closing out House managers' opening arguments

Lead House manager Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., said the managers are wrapping up their opening arguments in Trump's second impeachment trial.

"We think we have been able to tell you everything we need to say," Raskin said, noting that the managers are 5-6 hours under the time allotted to them.

-ABC News' Katherine Faulders and Benjamin Siegel


House manager Raskin begins to lay out closing arguments

After the Senate decided it will not call any witnesses, lead House manager Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., was the first to speak during closing arguments. He reiterated the prosecution's case, calling for the conviction of Trump.

"It was suggested by defense counsel that Donald Trump's conduct during the attack, as described in Congresswoman Beutler's statement, is somehow not part of the Constitutional offense for which former President Trump has been charged," Raskin began. "I want to reject that falsehood and that fallacy immediately. After he knew that violence was underway at the Capitol, President Trump took actions that further incited the insurgents to be more inflamed and to take even more extreme, selective, and focused action against Vice President Mike Pence."

Raskin went on to use his time to describe Trump's months-long campaign to discredit the 2020 election results by spreading misinformation, which he argued laid the groundwork for deadly events of Jan. 6. He went on to claim that the former president assembled the mob, incited it and then sent it off to the Capitol during his speech. At every point, Trump sided with the insurrectionists rather than the Congress, Raskin said.

Once when the violence began, Raskin declared that Trump ignored the violence and further incited it by aiming the attacks on his own vice president.

"There has never been a greater betrayal by the president of the United States of his office, and of his oath to the Constitution."

Raskin then took a moment to suggest the GOP used "cancel culture" against one of its leaders, Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., who voted to impeach Trump in the House.

"Liz Cheney is a hero for standing up for the truth, and resisting this retaliatory cancel culture that she was subjected to."

Raskin emphasized his gratitude toward the Capitol Police, and finished his argument by saying convicting Trump is a vote for the "security of our democracy."

"They attacked this building, they disrupted the peaceful transfer of power, they injured and killed people, convinced that they were acting on his instructions, and with his approval, and protection," Raskin finished. "And while that happened, he further incited them, while failing to defend us. If that's not ground for conviction, if that's not a high crime and misdemeanor against the republic in the United States of America then nothing is. President Trump must be convicted for the safety and security of our democracy and our people."