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Impeachment Prosecutor: Trump Was 'Inciter in Chief'

Ken Bredemeier

   WASHINGTON - Prosecutors at former U.S. President Donald Trump's Senate
   impeachment trial began to lay out their case against him on Wednesday,
   saying he was "no innocent bystander" to the violence that erupted at
   the U.S. Capitol last month as lawmakers certified Democrat Joe Biden's
   victory in the November election.

   Congressman Jamie Raskin, the lead impeachment manager, and other
   Democratic lawmakers said Trump laid the groundwork for the storming of
   the Capitol over a period of weeks leading up to the election with
   dozens of unfounded claims that the only way he could lose was if the
   election was rigged against him.

   Raskin contended that Trump, by urging hundreds of his supporters to
   "fight like hell" in confronting lawmakers at the Capitol on January 6,
   ignited the mayhem that left five people dead, including a Capitol
   Police officer.

   "He incited this attack," Raskin told the 100-member Senate that will
   decide whether Trump should be convicted of a single article of
   impeachment brought by the House of Representatives. It accuses him of
   "incitement of insurrection."
   WATCH TRIAL LIVE

            IFRAME: [1]https://www.youtube.com/embed/6uBSR_BiHeE

   "He clearly surrendered his role as commander in chief and became the
   inciter in chief," Raskin argued. He contended that Trump, now out of
   office after his four-year term ended and Biden was inaugurated January
   20, "was singularly responsible" in exhorting his supporters to try to
   upend Biden's victory.

   Hundreds of his supporters -- perhaps about 800, according to law
   enforcement authorities -- rampaged through the Capitol, breaking
   windows, bashing doors, ransacking some congressional offices and
   scuffling with police. Dozens of the rioters, many of whom bragged on
   social media about storming into the two chambers of Congress, have
   been charged with criminal offenses as the investigation of the chaos
   continues.

   The House impeachment managers showed dozens of Twitter comments and
   video clips in which Trump claimed election fraud and urged his
   supporters to show up in Washington January 6 as Congress met to
   certify the 306-232 Electoral College vote favoring Biden.

   "Will be wild!" Trump tweeted.

   After nearly four hours of mayhem, lawmakers certified the Biden
   victory in the middle of the night early on January 7, making Trump the
   fifth U.S. president in the country's history to be defeated after a
   single term in office.

References

   1. https://www.youtube.com/embed/6uBSR_BiHeE

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