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.
Top headlines:
- Biden praises police officers, calls charge 'not in dispute' in 1st comments
- Pelosi blasts McConnell, others who voted to acquit as 'cowardly group of Republicans'
- Managers highlight McConnell's agreement that they proved case
- McConnell says Trump solely to blame for attack after voting to acquit
- Schumer speaks on Senate floor
- Senate votes to acquit Trump: 57-43
Senate reconvenes for Trump's second trial
The Senate has reconvened for Trump's second impeachment trial which could wrap up as early as Saturday.
Senate Chaplain Barry Black first led the chamber in a prayer and invoked Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman by name in his prayer, speaking to bravery.
"Fill our senators with a spirit that combines common sense with commitment, conscience and courage," he said.
Presiding officer Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., then led the group through the Pledge of Allegiance, followed by the traditional "Hear ye! Hear ye! Hear ye!" proclamation from the sergeant-at-arms.
There will be an opportunity on Saturday to motion for witnesses, prompting two hours of debate -- potentially, kicking off a behind-closed-doors deposition process and extending the trial's timeline.
Democratic Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I. and Jeff Merkely, D-Ore., have expressed a willingness to entertain the idea, as has Republican Sen. Mitt Romney, despite leadership from both parties previously signaling wanting a speedy trial. The debate comes as new details emerge of a phone call between Trump and House Minority Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
But with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell telling colleagues he will vote to acquit, it's all but certain Trump will not face conviction.
-ABC News' Trish Turner
McConnell tells colleagues he'll vote to acquit
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has told colleagues in an email he will vote to acquit Trump for "incitement of insurrection."
McConnell said, "While it was a close call" he believes impeachment is "primarily a tool of removal" and that the Senate now lacks jurisdiction with Trump out of office.
"The Constitution makes perfectly clear that Presidential misconduct while in office can be prosecuted after the President has left office, which in my view alleviates the otherwise troubling 'January exception' argument raised by the House," McConnell said in an email.
McConnell, on the Senate floor last month, criticized Trump for his behavior surrounding the attack on the Capitol.
"The mob was fed lies. They were provoked by the President and other powerful people, and they tried to use fear and violence to stop a specific proceeding of the first branch of the Federal Government which they did not like," McConnell said at the time.
-ABC News' Trish Turner
Senate to determine whether to call witnesses
House impeachment managers and Trump's defense team on Saturday are expected to deliver closing arguments, for which they each have two hours, followed by a final vote on whether Trump is guilty of "incitement of insurrection" -- but an 11th-hour push for witnesses may shift the trial's timeline.
Among other motions that may be called Saturday, there will be an opportunity to motion for witnesses, prompting two hours of debate -- and potentially, kicking off a behind-closed-doors deposition process.
Democratic Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I. and Jeff Merkely, D-Ore., are two senators now expressing a willingness to entertain the idea, despite leadership from both parties previously signaling wanting a speedy trial. The debate comes as new details emerge of a phone call between Trump and House Minority Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Wash., one of ten House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump, in a statement overnight said that McCarthy spoke to Trump as violent protesters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, but the then-sitting president refused to stop them.
"To the patriots who were standing next to the former president as these conversations were happening, or even to the former vice president: if you have something to add here, now would be the time," she said in a statement.
The Senate will reconvene at 10 a.m.
-ABC News' Trish Turner
GOP Rep. Herrera Beutler recounts details of Trump-McCarthy call in statement
Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler tweeted out a statement Friday reiterating comments she made about a talk she had with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy regarding former President Donald Trump's involvement in the Capitol siege.
The congresswoman from Washington's 3rd Congressional District is one of the 10 Republicans in the House voting for Trump's second impeachment.
In the statement, Herrera Beutler reiterated her claims (which she made earlier to Washington newspaper The Daily News) that McCarthy spoke to Trump as violent protesters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, but the then-sitting president refused to stop them.
"When McCarthy finally reached the president on January 6 and asked him to publicly and forcefully call off the riot, the president initially repeated the falsehood that it was antifa that had breached the Capitol," she wrote. "McCarthy refuted that and told the president that these were Trump supporters. That's when, according to McCarthy, the president said: 'Well, Kevin, I guess these people are more upset about the election than you are.'"
Herrera Beutler said she's shared these details in conversation with various colleagues ever since she decided to vote for Trump's impeachment.
She ended her statement by challenging those with firsthand knowledge of Trump's actions during the Capitol siege -- including former Vice President Mike Pence -- to come forward.
"To the patriots who were standing next to the former president as these conversations were happening, or even to the former vice president: if you have something to add here, now would be the time," she wrote.
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."