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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Castro asserts baseless election fraud claims provoked riots

Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, one of the House impeachment managers, asserted that Trump's baseless claims of election fraud well before and after the election provoked his base and led to the riots on Jan 6.

"In tweet after tweet, he made sweeping allegations about election fraud that couldn't possibly be true. But that was the point. He didn't care if the claims were true," Castro said. "He wanted to make sure that his supporters were angry, like the election was being ripped away from them."

Castro argued that the president's "big lie" about election fraud fanned the flames of anger in his base, leading to the riots.

"There's a saying that a lie can travel halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to put on its shoes. And that was before the internet," Castro said. "The point of that saying is that a lie can do incredible damage and destruction, and that's especially true when that lie is told by the most powerful person on earth, our commander-in-chief, the president of the United States."


House manager calls Trump's speech a 'call to arms'

House manager Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Colo., presented three categories in his remarks to illustrate the impeachment managers' case that Trump "planted the seeds" in the lead up to the insurrection and used the Jan. 6 rally as a final "call to arms."

"He didn't condemn the violence," Neguse said of Trump. "He incited it further. And he got more specific. He didn't just tell them to 'fight like hell.' He told them how, where and when. He made sure they had advance notice -- 18 days advance notice. He sent his save the date for Jan. 6. He told them to march to the Capitol and fight like hell."

"He incited it. It was foreseeable. And again, you don't have to take my word for it," Neguse said, before playing a CNN clip of Trump's former chief of staff John Kelly saying it's "no surprise" the attack happened after Trump's actions.

Neguse reminded that five people died from the attack, dozens were injured but more harm was hoped to be inflicted on some, according to disturbing criminal complaints in the aftermath.

"We learn that members of this group said, I'm going to, quote -- they would've killed Mike Pence if given the chance. In another, we learn of a tweet in real time while they were in the building stating, we broke into the Capitol," Neguse said.

On Trump repeating at his Jan. 6 rally to "stop the steal," Neguse said to the senators, "Of course, each of you heard those words before. So had the crowd. The president had spent months telling his supporters that the election had been stolen. And he used his speech to incite them further, to inflame them, to 'stop the steal,' to stop the certification of the election results."

Of the mob, Neguse said, "They did it all in plain sight -- proudly, openly and loudly. Because they believed, they truly believed, that they were doing this for him."

Neguse went on to ask what would have happened if Trump had said "stop the attack" with "even half as much force as he said 'stop the steal.'"

"How many lives would we have saved?" Neguse said.


Neguse cites Trump's false claims of election fraud as incitement

House manager Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Colo., discussed Trump's speech ahead of the Jan 6 riot as one of the moments of inciting the mob, though he said that false claims about election fraud the president made long before contributed to the riots.

"Now, some have said that president Trump's remarks, his speech on Jan. 6th, was just a speech. Well, let me ask you this. When in our history has a speech led thousands of people to storm our nation's capital with weapons, to scale the walls, break windows, kill a Capitol Police officer? This was not just a speech," Neguse said. "It didn't just happen."

The House managers showed video exhibits predating the election and predating the riots on Jan. 6 in which Trump asserted to his base, false claims that the election would be stolen from him.

"He was telling Americans that their vote had been stolen, and in America our vote is our voice," Neguse said. "So his false claims about election fraud, that was the drumbeat being used to inspire, instigate and ignite them -- to anger them."

The House managers argued that Trump's remarks were an incitement to violence on Jan 6.

"He didn't condemn the violence. He incited it further. And he got more specific. He didn't just tell them to fight like hell. He told them how, where and when. He made sure they had advanced notice -- 18 days advance notice. He sent his save the date for Jan. 6," Neguse said. "He told them to march to the Capitol and fight like hell."


Raskin blasts portrayal of Trump by defense team

Lead impeachment manager Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., opening arguments on Wednesday, projected confidence in the House managers' case which he said should compel the Senate to convict the former president and ensure he cannot run for federal office again.

"We believe that the managers' comprehensive and meticulous presentation will lead to one powerful and irresistible conclusion: Donald Trump committed a massive crime against our Constitution and our people, and the worst violation of the presidential oath of office in the history of the United States of America," Raskin sad. "For this, he was impeached by the House of Representatives and he must be convicted by the United States Senate."

Striking back against arguments raised by the defense team Tuesday, Raskin blasted Trump's attorneys for suggesting Trump cannot be convicted or disqualified from office after leaving -- noting a president's oath of office goes through noon on Jan. 20 and that there is no "January exception."

"Portraying Trump as a guy on the street being punished for his ideas is a false description of his actions, his intent, and the role that he played on Jan. 6 when he willfully incited an insurrection -- an insurrectionary mob to riot at the Capitol," Raskin said.

Raskin said the political leanings of the group have "nothing to do with" why they impeached the president but warned if Trump, as the "singular" person responsible, is not held accountable, then it could happen again.

"It makes no difference what the ideological content of the mob was," Raskin said. "If we license and forgive incitement to violent insurrection by militant Trump followers this week, you can be sure there will be a whole bunch of new ideological flavors coming soon."


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."