Democrats’ push to disqualify Trump is ‘constitutional cancel culture,’ defense attorney states
Defense attorney Michael van der Veen stated that the push by Democrats to not just found guilty Trump however disqualify him from running for federal workplace once again is an effort to “disqualify their competition.”
“It is constitutional cancel culture,” van der Veen stated in the Senate trial.
The power to disqualify following impeachment is preserved in the Constitution itself: “Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States.”
But van der Veen stated the “plainly unconstitutional” trial versus Trump, who is no longer president, would “transform” impeachment into “a mechanism for asserting government control over which private citizens are and are not allowed to run for president.”
— Kevin Breuninger
Cruz, Graham, Lee talked about method with Trump defense group
From left, Senator Mike Lee, a Republican from Utah, Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Senator Ted Cruz, a Republican from Texas, wear protective masks while talking throughout a break of a verification hearing in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2020.
Stefani Reynolds | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Republican Senators Lindsey Graham, Ted Cruz and Mike Lee talked about “strategy” and rebuttal suggestions with previous president Donald Trump’s legal group quickly after House Democrat impeachment supervisors rested their case Thursday, according to NBC News.
Graham, Cruz and Lee are all senators who will be voting on whether to found guilty previous President Trump.
After the conference Cruz briefly consulted with press reporters where he highlighted that the conference in between both celebrations included conversations on legal method and believed sharing.
David Schoen, a member of Trump’s legal defense group, stated “there’s nothing about this thing that has any semblance of due process whatsoever,” and included they were “just talking about procedure, making sure we’re familiar with the procedure.”
—Christian Nunley
Trump’s group begins impeachment defense, implicates Democrats of looking for ‘political revenge’
In this screenshot drawn from a congress.gov webcast, previous President Donald Trump’s defense lawyer Michael van der Veen speaks on the 4th day of previous President Donald Trump’s 2nd impeachment trial at the U.S. Capitol on February 12, 2021 in Washington, DC.
Congress.gov | Getty Images
A member of previous President Donald Trump’s defense group started his argument for acquittal by knocking the trial as an “unjust and blatantly unconstitutional act of political vengeance” by Democrats.
“This appalling abuse of the Constitution only further divides our nation when we should be trying to come together around shared priorities,” lawyer Michael van der Veen stated on the Senate flooring.
“Like every other politically motivated witch hunt the left has engaged in over the past four years, this impeachment is completely divorced from the facts, the evidence and the interests of the American people,” van der Veen stated.
“The Senate should promptly and decisively vote to reject it.” — Kevin Breuninger
Biden: I’m ‘nervous’ to see if Republicans ‘stand’ in impeachment trial
President Joe Biden stated he is “anxious” to see if Republicans will decide in previous President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial.
“I’m anxious to see what my Republicans friends do. Will they stand up,” Biden informed press reporters on the White House North Lawn. The president’s remark came quickly prior to Trump’s defense group started their arguments for his acquittal.
Biden, who is promoting legislators of both celebrations to back his huge coronavirus relief strategy, has actually mostly avoided talking about Trump’s 2nd impeachment trial.
“I’m focused on my job,” the president informed press reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday. But he included that he had actually seen news protection of House Democrats’ discussion in the trial, stating, “my guess is some minds may be changed.”
— Kevin Breuninger
What to get out of Trump’s legal defense group
Bruce Castor (L) and David Schoen, Trump’s defense attorney, get here for the 2nd day of previous U.S. President Donald Trump’s 2nd impeachment trial, at the Capitol Hill, in Washington, February 10, 2021.
Tom Brenner | Reuters
Lawyers for previous President Donald Trump are set to react to Democratic district attorneys’ arguments that Trump prompted the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol.
The defense group, set up to take the Senate flooring at midday, is anticipated to make the case that the mob alone is accountable for storming the structure, which Trump’s incendiary words at a pre-riot rally are secured speech under the First Amendment.
The defense group is anticipated to restrict their discussion to one day, according to Trump consultant Jason Miller. Trump attorney David Schoen has stated the group’s discussion might take just 3 to 4 hours.
House supervisors, on the other hand, invested the lion’s share of 2 days providing their discussion, which was filled with video footage of the attack and examined months of Trump’s declarations.
Whether or not the defense group makes a more persuading case, they have numbers on their side. Convicting Trump needs two-thirds of the Senate, which implies 17 Republicans would need to sign up with all 50 Democrats. The bulk of GOP senators previously today voted that the trial was not constitutional.
— Christian Nunley
Trump ‘let us down,’ previous UN ambassador Nikki Haley states
Nikki Haley, previous ambassador to the United Nations, speaks at a project rally for Senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler in Cumming, Georgia, U.S., on Sunday, Dec. 20, 2020.
Elijah Nouvelage | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Days after the mob stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, previous United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley tore into previous President Donald Trump for his post-election conduct and his pre-riot rally speech.
“We need to acknowledge he let us down,” stated Haley in a Politico interview performed on Jan. 12 that was released Friday early morning. Haley, who served in the Trump administration, in the past has actually made sure not to slam him.
“He went down a path he shouldn’t have, and we shouldn’t have followed him, and we shouldn’t have listened to him. And we can’t let that ever happen again,” Haley stated.
In the interview, Haley stated she was “disgusted” by Trump’s attacks on his vice president, Mike Pence, who had “been nothing but loyal to that man.”
“I am so dissatisfied in the reality that [despite] the commitment and relationship he had with Mike Pence, that he would do that to him,” she stated of Trump heaping pressure on Pence to turn down Electoral College results. Legal specialists state Pence had no power to do so under the law, and the then-vice president declined to abide by Trump’s need.
Despite her condemnation, Haley informed Politico that she believed impeaching Trump over the intrusion of the Capitol was “a waste of time.” Asked how Trump ought to be held responsible missing impeachment, she stated, “I think he’s going to find himself further and further isolated.”
Haley, who is extensively reported to be thinking about a run for the presidency, had actually prevented slamming Trump after he spread out a range of voter-fraud conspiracy theories following his election loss to President Joe Biden.
Asked in mid-December if it threatened for Trump to openly firmly insist that he was cheated out of reelection, Haley informed Politico, “He believes it.” Asked if Trump was being accountable with his bully pulpit, Haley duplicated: “He believes it.”
But the following month, in the wake of the fatal attack on the Capitol, Haley stated, “At the time, I didn’t think that was dangerous.”
“Since the election … I mean, I’m deeply disturbed by what’s happened to him,” she stated.
Pressed on whether she was truly amazed at Trump’s post-election conduct — and if so, how she might have so severely misread his character — Haley stated, “My leadership stands on its own grounds. … I’m not going to apologize.”
“That’s not poor leadership. That’s sitting there looking at someone knowing the relationship that you had, knowing the good that he had, and watching someone fall apart, in awe, going, ‘How did this happen?'” she stated.
— Kevin Breuninger
