The House of Representatives members prosecuting former President Donald Trump at his impeachment trial released their written brief Tuesday, offering the first glimpse of their formal arguments that called his crimes “a betrayal of historic proportions.”
The House article of impeachment charged that Trump incited the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol January 6 with a fiery speech before a violent mob invaded the Capitol and left multiple dead. The riot came after Trump spent months questioning the legitimacy of the election and pleaded with Georgia officials to “find” votes to allow him to win that state, the article charged.
“The only honorable path at that point was for President Trump to accept the results and concede his electoral defeat,” the 80-page brief said. “Instead, he summoned a mob to Washington, exhorted them into a frenzy, and aimed them like a loaded cannon down Pennsylvania Avenue.”
The brief outlined the violence that occurred.
“In a grievous betrayal of his Oath of Office, President Trump incited a violent mob to attack the United States Capitol during the Joint Session, thus impeding Congress’s confirmation of Joseph R. Biden, Jr. as the winner of the presidential election,” the brief said. “As it stormed the Capitol, the mob yelled out ‘President Trump Sent Us,’ ‘Hang Mike Pence,’ and ‘Traitor Traitor Traitor.’”
The brief quoted Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., who is the third-ranking Republican in the House:
“None of this would have happened without the President,” she said in supporting impeachment. “The President could have immediately and forcefully intervened to stop the violence. He did not. There has never been a greater betrayal by a President of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution.’
Trump’s defense team is scheduled to file their first formal reply Tuesday to the House’s article of impeachment. The defense team has a deadline Monday to file a formal response to the brief from House prosecutors, who are called managers. Oral arguments are set to start February 9.
Trump and his defenders have argued that the case is unconstitutional because he has already left office. The Senate has voted to reject that argument, but the 45 Republicans supporting the argument suggested there will be more than the 34 votes Trump needs for acquittal.
The nine House managers issued a joint statement with the brief saying that Trump must be convicted in order to bar him from holding future office.
“There is no ‘January exception’ to the Constitution that allows a President to organize a coup or incite an armed insurrection in his final weeks in office,” the lawmakers said. “The Senate must convict President Trump, who has already been impeached by the House of Representatives, and disqualify him from ever holding federal office again.”
USA TODAY