On july 30th, 2020 will be the most inaccurate and fraudulent election in history. Again, just big words. With nothing to prove them. But he wanted to make his supporters believe that an Election Victory would be stolen from him and from them. This was to rile up his base, to make them angry. Now, these were just a few of the many times President Trump tweeted about this. He did it in speeches, rallies and television, too. This is going to be the greatest election disaster in history. Because the only way were gonna lose this election is if the election is rigged. Remember that. The only way they can take this election away from us is if this is a rigged election. Were gonna win this election. With the rigged election, thats the only way were going to lose. This will be one of the greatest, most fraudulent elections ever. This is clearly a man who refuses to accept the possibility or the reality in our democracy of losing an election. There are a dozen more tweets and speeches of donald trump spreading his lie. But you get the point. His supporters got the point as well. They firmly believed that if he lost, it was because the election was rigged. Will you accept the results if joe biden wins . No. Under any circumstances . No. Why is that . Because its lies and deceit and corruption. Do you think that if we get through tonight or in the following days if biden winds up becoming the winner, do you think its rigged . Oh, yes. Very much so. Yes. If it shows up that joe biden win, would that be the only way trump could lose, it would be a rigged election . Absolutely. I agree with that. Theres no way our president is going to lose. Yes, it would be a rigged election, some type of cheating went on, what have you. I firmly believe that. Now, all of us in this room have run for election. Its no fun to lose. Im a texas democrat. Weve lost a few elections over the years. But can you imagine telling your supporters that the only way you could possibly lose is if an American Election was rigged and stolen from you . Ask yourself if you have ever seen anyone make the same claim about their own election. Thats exactly what President Trump did. He truly made his base believe that the only way he could lose was if the election was rigged. And, senators, all of us know and all of us understand how dangerous that is for our country. The most combustible thing you can do in a democracy is convince people that an election doesnt count, that their voice and their vote dont count and that its all been stolen. Especially if what youre saying are lies. Let us turn now to the election. As you know, the results were not fully reported on Election Night, which is not unusual in our nations history. But by november 7th, major news networks, including fox news, reported that once the remaining votes were counted, joe biden would be the likely victor. So President Trump began urging his supporters to stop the count. I would imagine that if we went around this room, there are folks sitting here that started down on Election Night and ended up coming back up and winning their races. Perhaps thats why some of you are seated in this room today. But imagine if you were behind and the results start coming in, and as you started pulling ahead, your opponent said, thats not fair, stop the count while im still ahead. Thats what donald trump did. But thats not how america works. Here every vote counts. You dont just stop counting when one person is ahead. We count every vote. So lets be clear. President trump new that you cant just stop Counting Votes, but he wanted to enflame his base. There was a purpose behind this. To truly make them believe that Counting Votes would result in a stolen, rigged election. He said at 12 49 a. M. On Election Night, quote, they are trying to steal the election. We will never let them do it. A little over an hour later, at roughly 2 30 a. M. , before all the votes were even close to being counted, he goes even further and actually declares victory. Take a look. This is a fraud on the american public. This is an embarrassment to our country. We were getting ready to win this election. Frankly, we did win this election. Frankly, we did win. Rather than calmly saying, lets count the vote, if theres legal issues, well go to court and well resolve them. Instead, he told his supporters that he won the election and the whole thing was a fraud. He said that On November 4th and he has never recounted that statement since. Despite President Trumps pressure at the time, Election Officials around the country continue to carry out their duty. And if votes were counted and as his loss became more certain, he riled up his base more. Take a look at these tweets. On november 5th, he tweeted, in all capital letters, as a shouting command, quote, stop the count. Stop the fraud. Senators, this is dangerous. I also want you to remember these tweets for another reason. Because thats what it looks like when donald trump wants people to stop doing something. And bear in mind this is not the president saying to his supporters that somebody stole your cup of coffee. This is the Commander In Chief telling his supporters your election is being stolen and you must stop the counting of american votes. It worked. His words became their actions. His commands led to their actions. Take a look at this. The same day as those tweets, the same day as those tweets, people showed up at rallies, some carrying rifles, trying to intimidate officials to stop the count just as President Trump commanded. Arizona Secretary Of State katie hobbs said protesters were, quote, causing delay and disruption and preventing those employees from doing their jobs. Call it what it was. We are facing a global pandemic. Workers were risking their health. Trump supporters were encircling them, trying to prevent them from doing their job. This was dangerous, it was scary and it was blatant act of political intimidation. In philadelphia, that same day, police investigated an alleged plot to attack the citys Pennsylvania Convention center where votes were being counted. Police took at least one man into custody who was carrying a weapon. This happened all over. In atlanta, in detroit, in milwaukee. Supporters used armed force to try to disrupt lawful counting of votes because they bought into trumps big lie that the election was stolen from them. President trumps months of enflaming and inciting his supporters had worked. They believed it was their duty to, quite literally, fight to stop the count so they showed up at Election Centers across the country to do just that. This is a fraud on the american public. This is an embarrassment to our country. We were getting ready to win this election. Frankly, we did win this election. Stop the count stop the count we are winning by a lot, then our numbers started getting whittled away in secret. And there it is. They bought into his lies. President trump told his supporters over and over again nearly every day, in dozens of tweets, speeches and rallies that their most precious right in our democracy, their voice, their vote, was being stripped away and they had to fight to stop that. They believed him, so they thought. You may say, well, he didnt know that theyd take up arms. But when he did know, when it was all over the news, President Trump didnt stop. As we will show, after donald trump lost, he became even more desperate and incited his base even further. He urged them again and again with increasingly forceful language to fight to stop the steal. Even if the certification got closer, he drew even more desperate, on how, where and when to fight to stop the steal. He told them to show up On January 6th and march to the u. S. Capitol to stop the certification of the Election Results. And he told them to come here and fight like hell. You will see clearly that this violent mob that showed up here january 6th didnt come out of thin air. President Donald John Trump incited this violence. Thats the truth. Mr. President , distinguished senators. I represent californias 15th Congressional District. Manager castro just told you about Donald Trumps lies and acts before the election. That wasnt the end of his efforts. That wasnt the beginning of the end. But perhaps it was the end of the beginning. Heres what i mean. You saw President Trump crying for months for his supporters to believe if the election was lost, it could have only been so because it was rigged. But that took time. Just like to build a fire, it doesnt just start with the flame, donald trump, for months and months, assembled the tinder, the kindling, threw on logs for fuel to have his supporters believe that the only way their victory would be lost would be is if it was stolen. So that way, President Trump was ready if he lost the election to light the match. On november 7th, after all the votes were counted, President Trump did lose by 7 million votes. But for donald trump, all is not lost. He had a backup plan. Instead of accepting the results or pursuing legitimate claims, he told his base more lies. He doused the flames with kerosine. And this wasnt just some random guy at the neighborhood bar blowing off steam. This was our Commander In Chief. Day after day he told his supporters, outlandish lies that the victory, that the election outcome was taken and it was rigged. That wasnt the point. He wanted to make this base angrier and angrier. On november 15th, he stated, i concede nothing. We have a long way to go. Rigged election. Doesnt say why the election was rigged. November 17th in a twitter statement, dead people voted. Thats it. No evidence. Just dead people voted. November 28, twitter statement. We have found many illegal votes. Stay tuned. This just wasnt true. He never found illegal votes. He didnt even try to pretend he had evidence of that. And stay tuned . Well, that was all about inciting his base, not about bringing legitimate claims. It was about dramatizing the election to anger his supporters. December 5, you see here, he goes after the governors of arizona and georgia, governors from his own party, claiming that they werent with him. You see senators saying in combat terms, either you are with him, making sure that he won the election, or youre fighting against him. These are just a few of the hundreds of twitter statements that President Trump sent. It wasnt just twitter statements. He was dialling into meetings, holding rallies, appearing on television, continuing to spread the big lie that his Election Victory was stolen. People who were dead were signing up for ballots. Not only were they putting in a ballot, but dead people were requesting ballots. They had been dead for years and they were requesting ballots. Dead people voting all over the place. The biden margin of victory is accounted for by extraordinarily large midnight vote dumps. You saw that. Massive midnight vote dumps, dead people voting all over the place. He said there were votes going up to the sky. This was never about pursuing legitimate claims. He was saying anything he could to trigger and anger his base so that they would fight like hell to overturn a legitimate election. And it worked. Just as master castro showed you, President Trump supporters were taking up arms to stop the vote. His term fight like hell was having real consequences. In michigan, youll recall President Trump was attacking that state and its officials. He continued these attacks even after michigan certified its votes. Take a look at michigan. Take a look at what they did with respect to counting. Then you get to detroit and its like more votes than people . Dead people voting all over the place. I won almost every county in michigan, almost every district. We should have won that state very easily. We have a similar type of governor, i think. Ill let you know in about a week. Hes literally telling them that there were more votes in detroit than people. About 260,000 people voted in detroit. There are roughly 500,000 registered voters in detroit. There are approximately 670,000 People Living in the city. So, again, not true. But he need to make these outlandish claims to truly make his supporters believe that their victory was stolen from them. And it was working. A few days after the claims on december 5, his supporters surrounded the michigan Secretary Of States home. Secretary of states house. Stop the steal stop the steal stop the steal stop the steal youre a threat to democracy youre a threat to free and honest elections 9 00 p. M. At night secretarys familys inside, protesters have surrounded her home and theyre chanting that shes a felon. We saw when armed protesters showed up to follow President Trumps direction to stop the steal, this was not the first time that President Trump supporters used threats and intimidation. President trump cannot say i didnt know what i was inciting. From what manager castro showed and what i just showed, there was plenty of evidence that his words had consequences. And if he wanted to stop it, he could stop it. You saw mr. Castro read statement after statement from our Commander In Chief saying, stop the count, stop the steal. President trump was never shy about using his platforms to try and stop something. He could have very easily told his supporters, stop threatening officials. Stop going to their homes. Stop it with the threats. But each time he didnt. Instead, in the face of escalating violence, Reincited Them further. The certification on december 14 of the Electoral College votes. The night before, President Trump personally issued 14 twitter statements with more false claims about the election being stolen and directing his supporters to make sure that, vote, they cannot be certified. He states here, the rhinos that run the State Voting Apparatus have caused us the problem of allowing the democrats to so blatantly cheat in an attempt to steal the election, which we won overwhelmingly. We will never give up. In the face of threats to elected officials, this is his message. He calls them rinos. And tells them to never give up. President trump, to him, it was his supporters against anyone that would not overturn the Election Results so he could win. Despite all of his efforts to stop, the electors cast their votes according to the will of the American People and joe biden was certified as having won 306 Electoral College votes. The day after this occurred, Leader Mcconnell recognized this, stating, many of us hope that the president ial election would yield a different result but our system of government has processes to determine who will be sworn in on january 20. The Electoral College has spoken. Manager castro said, no one here, no one among us wants to lose an election. Sometimes theres a reason to dispute an election. Sometimes the count is close. Sometimes we ask for a recount or we go to court. Thats entirely appropriate. But what President Trump did was different. What President Trump trump did was the Polar Opposite of what any of us would do if we lost an election. One thing is clear, we concede, we recognize the will of the American People, because we let the people decide. That put all of the courts, the Justice Department and the 50 states that had counted the votes, they said it was time for a peaceful transition of power because thats what our constitution and rule of law demands. Except President Trump. He directed all of the rage that he had incited to january 6th. That was his last chance to stop the peaceful transition of power. That brings us to the attack. Manager castro told you the power of the lie, especially when the lie comes from the most powerful person in the world, the Commander In Chief. Also helps if you spend millions of dollars to amplify that lie. Youll see here in mid december, President Trump announced the release of ads including ones entitled the evidence is overwhelming. Fraud, stop the steal. He spent 50 million from his Legal Defense fund on these ads to stop the steal and amplify the message. They were released nationally, played in video ads, Online Advertising and targeted text messages. They used the same words and phrases that President Trump had been spreading for months, that the election was full of fraud, to stop the steal. But now they had a specific purpose. How do we know that purpose . These ads were designed to run all the way up to january 5. And then they stopped. This was purposeful and deliberate planning to target his base to rally around that day. It wasnt just his acts. He continued to use his own platform. He told his supporters who truly believed victory had been stolen and who were ready to fight when, where and how to stop what he believes was a steal. Donald trump would issue a deliberate Call To Action and just like that, that was action centered around january 6th. On december 19 at 1 42 a. M. In the morning our Commander In Chief tweeted. It wasnt random. It was his last chance to stop a peaceful transition of power. He gave his supporters plenty of time to plan. This was the save the date. Sent out 18 days before the events On January 6th. It wasnt a casual one off reference or a single invitation. For the next 18 days donald trump would make sure to remind them over and over and over to show up On January 6th. He would tell them exactly what he wanted to do. If a candidate had an election rigged and stolen with proof of such acts as a level never stolen before, the democrat senators would consider it an act of war and would fight to the death. Mitch and the republicans do nothing. Just want to let it pass. No fight. Hes saying the republicans are doing nothing and have no fight because you are doing your job taking on the constitutional process of certifying the Electoral College results. He also suggests President Trump that if this was the if they lost, it would be an act of war, an act of war. Thats how donald trump prepared his supporters for january 6th. He even stated again 14 minutes later to make sure his supporters understood, vote, the Justice Department and the fbi have done nothing about the 2020 president ial Election Voter fraud, the biggest scam, all caps, in our nations history despite overwhelming evidence. They should be ashamed. Then he adds, history will remember never give up, see everyone in d. C. On january 6th. That phrase, history will remember was the only time, the first time, donald trump had used it in his presidency. He spent this to 70 plus million twitter followers the day they needed to show up and be ready to fight. On december 27th, he reminds them again, dont miss it. Information to follow. A few days later, december 30, all caps, see you in d. C. This continues up to january 6th. On january 1, he states the big Protest Rally in washington will take place at 11 00 a. M. Locational details to follow. Stop the steal. Youll see that an hour later, President Trump retweeted one of his twitter followers. That follower was kiley kremer executive director of women first, the Group Organizing the January 6ally and the creator of the Facebook Group stop the steal. Kremer tweeted, quote, the cavalry is coming, mr. President , referring to the cavalry showing up On January 6th. She all added a website for supporters to rsvp and made clear what the message was. Hash tag, stop the steal. And what did President Trump say in response to hearing the cavalry was coming . A great honor, he wrote back. This wasnt just a single tweet. He and his organizers would do this over and over repeatedly. On january 3, another supporter tweets, we have been marching all around the country for you, mr. President. Now we will bring it to d. C. On january 6th and proudly stand beside you. Thank you for fighting for us. When President Trump reposted her tweet she wrote back, best day ever. Thank you for the retweet. It has been an honor to stand up and fight for you in our nation. We will be standing strong in d. C. With you. We are bringing the cavalry, mr. President. We are bringing the cavalry. That was the consistent message. This was not just any old protest. President trump was inciting something historic. The cavalry was coming. And he was organized. And her post, Miss Lawrence tagged kiley kremer, the organizer whose post we just saw President Trump retweet. Again you see this is all connected. I wont show you all of the twitter statements. Heres one more. President trump retweeted another of miss kremers post which had all the details of january 6 with the same hash tag. March for President Trump, do not certify, stop the steal. In response, President Trump writes back, i will be there. Historic day. Before congress, i prosecuted Violent Crimes in california as a deputy district attorney. When you investigate and prosecute violent crime, you have to distinguish, was it a heat of passion crime or was it something more deliberate, planned, premeditated . The evidence here on this count is overwhelming. President trumps conduct leading up to january 6th was deliberate, planned and premeditated. This was not one speech. Not one tweet. It was dozens and rapid succession with specific details. He was acting as part of the host committee. In fact, when he assembled his mob in d. C. , he warned us that he knew what was coming. This was President Trumps statement the night before the attack. I should say this is one of his dozens of statements on twitter in the hours leading up to the attack. I hope the democrats, more importantly, the weak and ineffective Rinos Section of the Republican Party are looking at the thousands of people pouring into d. C. They wont stand for a Landslide Victory to be stolen. Senate Majority leader, john cornyn, senator john thune. Its all right there. And he tagged senators to pressure you to stop this. And he warned all of us that his thousands of supporters who you will see that the fbi warned were armed and targeting the capitol wont stand for us certifying the results of the election. This was never about one speech. He built this mob over many months with repeated messaging until they believed they had been robbed of their vote and would do anything to stop the certification. He made them believe their victory was stolen and incited them so he could use them to steal the election for himself. This election was rigged. We are not standing for it any more. If we dont root out the fraud, the tremendous and horrible fraud thats taken place in our 2020 election, we dont have a country anymore. The left, they lie, they cheat, they steal, theyre hell bent on getting power and control by any means necessary. Cant let it happen. Cant let it happen. Stop the steal stop the steal the democrats are trying to steal the white house. You cannot let them. Cant let it happen. Never concede. He told them speech after speech. These crowds were ready to fight. He swore what was coming. He deliberately led that to our door step january 6th. I want to be clear. During this trial, when we talk about the violent mob during the attack, we do not mean every american who showed up at President Trumps rally. Certain americans came to protest peacefully, as is their right. This is what makes our country so great, to debate freely, openly and peacefully our differences. Just like all of you are attempting to do in this very room On January 6th. But what President Trump did, what different he didnt tell supporters to fight or be strong in a casual reference. He repeatedly told them to fight, their victory was stolen, their patriotic duty was to stop the steal. He repeated this messaging even after he saw the violence it was inciting. When they were primed and angry and ready to fight, he escalated and channelled their rage with a call to arms. Show up On January 6th at the exact time the votes of the American People were being counted and certified and then march to the capitol and fight like hell. He told this to thousands of people who were armed to the teeth, targeting us and determined to stop the Electoral College count. What our Commander In Chief did was wildly different from what anyone here in this room did to raise election concerns. Deliberate, premeditated incitement to his base to attack our capitol while the counting was going on. It was foreseeable. Especially to President Trump, who warned us he knew what was coming. This is what the evidence has overwhelmingly shown and will show in this trial. Its also the truth. John youre watching the House Managers in the trial of President Trump in the Senate Making their case, saying that the president , their contention is that he incited the mob to attack the capitol. You heard Eric Swalwell saying that. John roberts in washington as we continue to watch this. Hi, sandra. Sandra im sandra smith. Joining us live from capitol hill, chad, i know you are basically describing this as broken down in three different parts on the part of the Impeachment Managers. The provocation, the attack and Eric Swalwell. What more are you seeing and hearing as far as day 2 of this senate trial . Reporter we heard from three of the house Impeachment Managers so far, jamie raskin and swalwell. They have taken the first of three breaks. This probably 10, 15 minutes. Another one later in the afternoon. Then a dinner break at the 6 p. M. Hour or so. House Impeachment Managers have up to 16 hours spread out for two days to make their case. Democratic Impeachment Managers today argue President Trump engineered a campaign well ahead of the election. They claim this culminated in the chaos to hit the capitol january 6th. They said President Trump didnt just soak the embers on the 6th of january, but for months, saying he could only lose the election if it was stolen. He called that a no lose scenario. Democrats plan to rely on more reels of video, stuff we havent seen. But mr. Trumps attorneys argue that that will come later this week. Sandra. Sandra chad, thank you. John . John chad, thank you very much. For more lets bring in jason miller. Jason, we look at the president s brief that was filed the day before the trial got under way on monday. A lot of the Defense Centers around what the president said On January 6th. But now the House Managers, prosecutors, say, wait. This isnt just about january 6th. This isnt just about the post election period. This is about the months leading up to the election, the weeks after that and then culminating On January 6th. So how will the president s attorneys counter that argument . I think very similar to the first impeachment. We saw the democrats fired off everything good they had during the first day and then their arguments really fell apart in the second and third days of the trial. When you bring up the point about our defense, the democrats cant use it both ways. They cant say singularly responsible regarding a speech from january 6th but try to make it about the months beforehand. We saw yesterday them say this is about the future. This is really about trying to impact President Trump in case he wants to run again in 2024. John, sandra, one Critical Point i have got to mention here. The hypocrisy we see coming from democrats today. Look at jamie raskin on his own Campaign Website summoned his legion of liberals urging them to wake up every day. Jamie raskin, the leader of the house Impeachment Effort has on his own website. How does he criticize President Trump for that . Sandra when was the last time you spoke to the president . Im sorry. What was that . Sandra when was the last time you spoke with the former President Trump . About five minutes ago. The president agrees with my position that the democrats, everything they are saying today is very easily rebutted. Theres a critical detail here, sandra. Thats the fact that democrats arent using the entire speech. Everything is selective. Not only regarding his speech, but regarding the constitution, words law professor Jonathan Turley said. They havent played the clips of President Trump saying be peaceful, patriotic. Now democrats are setting it up, we can come back when we get the floor, show the entire speech, or at least the important parts of it, and point out just how hypocritical theyre being. John jason, when it comes to what the president side will present, the president was apparently not happy with the initial presentation yesterday. Castro told us in interviews, quote, we will argue the entire proceeding is unconstitutional, Bad Public Policynd is setting a bad precedent to the nation. He doesnt need to convince democrats of that argument. He just needs to convince nine more republicans that that is not that this is unconstitutional and not to vote for conviction. He may lose five, maybe six republicans when it comes to the final vote. Can you hang on to the remaining nine . Oh, absolutely. I think were in position to get some of those republicans back. The fact of the matter is democrats really havent presented a strong case. As i said yesterday they had their opening video, but as senator scott from South Carolina said, the fundamental equation here, you have 45 republicans say this effort is unconstitutional and 44 voted in a similar manner yesterday. At this point, now its going into recycled clips, recycled argument, even less compelling speakers. Eric swalwell, hes not going to bring much to the democrats. I think tomorrow will probably be all easily rebutted. We look forward to putting on our case. Sandra Lindsey Graham was asked today and said, i think that his legal team, President Trumps legal team, could be better. They can do much better. He said schoen did a pretty good job. What did he say in his own words . The president Thinks David Schoen did a very excellent job. There were good points bruce caster made. Now as the opportunity comes back to us. We can start showing you democrats in their own words. Sandra, this will be very compelling. It shows how hypocritical they are with this effort. Democrats cannot go and try to impeach a private citizen like this and try to make the case this is an urgent effort that has to be done. Everybody realizes again, just like it was said yesterday, this is about 2024. Everyone can see right through it. John before we let you go, you said you just talked to the president. Whats his State Of Mind . President was in a great mood. First of all, hes in palm beach which is warmer than it is in washington or up in new york. So im a little jealous from that. Otherwise, it was a quick conversation. Of course, i had to join fox news here. John thanks, jason miller. Sandra thank you for your time. Martha joining us. Here we are day two. Your thoughts so far . Martha interesting to watch this play out. Number of good points has been made. I do think this is about 2024. And even 2022, as we look ahead. It is very unlikely based on the numbers were hearing that theres going to be a lot of movement. It appears that the president is likely to be acquitted on these charges. So you ask yourself, why is this all playing out . Hes had a dramatic presentation by the democrats, jamie raskin, and again today as said the democrat from colorado. It does become not about what the president did but what hes going to do in the future. Thats something that i think is really on the table here. It is very unlikely that they will be able to prevent him from running again. So you look at this as a way to divide republicans over the issue of President Trump. Just one other thing i would mention, Senate Minority leader now Mitch Mcconnell has been very quiet on all of this. So watch what Mitch Mcconnell does. There is some reporting that hes told people vote your conscious. You can divide your vote and you could vote against the president if you believe the evidence is there. Thats what we saw from louisianas senator yesterday. He felt that. Watch all of these individuals very closely as they take a very tough vote over the coming days as this plays out. John martha, there are two audiences for this impeachment, prosecution that the House Manager is reporting on. Theres what they think might be Stock Republicans who may vote to convict. Then theres the court of public opinion. What they rf presenting in terms of these tweets from people like kylie kreme, daughter of amy kremer, about this idea the cavalry is coming and we have to fight. That could be seen as being volatile, potentially violent language. It could also be seen as typical political rhetoric because there are plenty of democrats who have used the words, we have to fight. I remember following al gore back in the 2000 campaign when his slogan was, i will fight for you. Martha we live in a moment of intensely partisan rhetoric. Think about what Maxine Waters has said, cory booker has said, get up in their face, fight. What makes this a different situation is what ended up happening On January 6th which was a moment it was gut wrenching for all americans as they watched what happened. There is hypocrisy here when you look at the things that happened over the summer. Business owners we interviewed whose windows were smashed, whose lives were threatened, who were dragged out of their stores and beaten. That same Deep Dissatisfaction and pain that was felt by what happened in the capitol was not necessarily felt then by some of these same players. It takes a bigger person on both sides to say look at all of this as what it is, which is violence. It will be very difficult to convict the president in a legal sense as this moves forward. John all right. Bret is here with us. They played video outside an elected officials House Chanting stop the steal. What happened On January 6th at the capitol should never happen in a civilized democracy like the United States. There were plenty of occasions, as martha eluded to a moment ago of democratic and liberal protesters getting in the face of republicans, getting in the face of democratic lawmakers last summer during that whole season of unrest. Bret sure. You just heard from jason miller that that will be part of the defense. It will be much more made for tv. That is one thing the House Managers are doing well here. They are chronologically, this part going back before january 6th to statements the president made at various rallies that they say built up this mob event On January 6th. They decided thats their argument. Theyre building it up chronologically. This was before january 6th. Tomorrow they will go into the day itself using video along the way. It is made for tv. The Trump Legal Team was not made for tv yesterday. Likely the defense will be more structured that way listening to jason miller. Sandra bret, what more are you hearing on what martha eluded to, people behind the scenes, Mitch Mcconnell saying to his own party, vote your conscious. Bret i have heard that as well. I have heard they dont believe up on the hill just counting heads now that theyre going to lose many more. If you lost louisiana Senator Cassidy Yesterday on the constitutional vote. They all say theyre acting like jurors. For the most part they think the vote will come down like weve seen it. Theyre going to listen to the evidence and go forward. I think theyre going to give the Trump Legal Team leeway to get over the bar that the House Managers have to get to to conviction. John Senator Cassidy Yesterday said he thought the house made a much better presentation on the constitutional argument than the president s team did. Well see what comes down to the culpability aspect. Thanks. Sandra Chris Wallace joining us now. I mentioned Lindsey Graham made some comments before all of this today. He said he thinks the Trump Legal Team can do better. He said he reinforced to the president himself that this case is over, it is just a matter of getting the final verdict now. Your thoughts so far on the day . Chris well, i think thats right. We knew how this trial was going to begin. We know how its going to end. I think the key vote will come over the weekend or early next week after the prosecution, the Impeachment Managers have had their 16 hours and the defense has had their 16 hours. The senate is going to vote as to whether or not to hear from witnesses, whether or not the house people come either in person into the well of the senate, which would be extraordinary, or to do taped interviews that would be played. Now remember, back in the first trump Impeachment Trial last year, you had all of the democrats vote to call witnesses. They even got two of the republicans, Susan Collins and mitt romney but lost 5149. If all the republicans if all the democrats were to vote against witnesses and you have a tie break from kamala harris, then they could call witnesses. One would think if they were going to try to win this trial, they would call witnesses. There are a lot of democrats in the senate and the white house, in the biden white house, who really want to see this trial end. You start calling witnesses, have preparations for that, depositions, and if you call them on the prosecution side, you have to call them on the defense side. Thats going to make this trial go much longer. Everybody, at least in the senate maybe not the Impeachment Managers, but everybody else wants to see this trial over by early next week. John on the democratic side they want to see this trial over quickly. Maybe they dont call witnesses and really dont examine the depth and breadth of the fact, whats this week all about . Chris well, you know, i think a couple of things, john. One, january 6th. It happened. This is not some political construct. It was a sad day in american history. It was a fearing day for members of the senate and the house. In this case, the jury, the 100 senators, who were fleeing for their lives. They saw their colleagues in the senate staff and capitol staff and the Capitol Police fight off these attackers. Some of them grievously wounded, one died and two committed suicide. This is very deeply personal. I think to a certain degree there is also this feeling of, we need to mark this. We need to say, at least to our point of view, maybe not the 67 votes the founders are demanding, but that it was wrong and they believe what the president did was wrong. I want to say that i agree with you, john. The most important thing, the most interesting thing the Impeachment Managers did today was to not make this just about the president s speech On January 6th but to go all the way back into last summer and to say there was a steady campaign to say the only way donald trump saying the only way i can lose this election is if its stolen from me and a campaign to build that up and then after the election to say it was stolen and that there were a number of foreseeable points along the way where he was summoning his crowd and encouraging his crowd and there were much more minor acts of violence like surrounding the home of the Secretary Of State of michigan and that at any Point Donald Trump could have stopped this and he didnt. Sandra as you are saying this, a twitter Spokes Person is confirming to fox news this is cfo of twitter that the trump ban on twitter is permanent even if he runs again. That just in. Chris wallace, thank you. John Shannon Bream is our fox news at night anchor. Lets chew over that a little bit more. There is a legal component to that, shannon. This is mostly a political exercise. There is no political remedy at the end of the tunnel here, if President Trump does get acquitted and can run for office again in 2024, is this process just about inflicting as much political damage against him as possible, not trying to keep him from running. Shannon the democrats know they wont get to 67. They cant bar him from running for office. If does run, especially in the gop where they are having to make a decision about whether he is the future or past of the party and making People Choose sides. Democrats also have to be aware of the facts that they can coalesce people around President Trump, who has got tens of millions of supporters who voted for him, who say they would vote for him again. The gop could come together on Something Like this. You tend to make President Trump a more empathetic figure if you go after him with a second impeachment knowing it wont be successful when it comes to getting conviction. Republicans going into 2022 are going to be able to argue this was all about a political play. It was just about muddying the water. You heard the president s attorney yesterday talk about the fact that this wasnt just about going after President Trump. He said this is also going after those 74 million plus people who voted for him. They want to expand this to make a big section of america feel like they are being wronged by this Impeachment Trial. I know congressman swalwell touched on this and was very careful to say this isnt about the people who showed up to peacefully protest. They are different from the people at the capitol. I think democrats know there is a fine line here between insulting 74 million plus people and going after the president direction. Sandra the senators are taking a quick break. We expect them to be back in the room shortly as we see the process beginning here with Mitch Mcconnell. Shannon, as far as the Trump Legal Team is concerned, after what we saw yesterday and getting written up as not prepared to respond to the strong case that democrats made on that floor. What are you thinking. These are jurors who lived through those moments. The facts of the case, players in the case. The guys and gals know everything. They lived through it. They are putting together the videos. Lawmakers called and officials said, you got to think theyll put together those videos if democrats have done it. John shannon, this will be a trial on an accelerated schedule. Stay with us. Thanks for joining us at this point. Sandra thank you. Former Deputy Independent Counsel and Fox News Contributor joining us. This probably will resume a short time from now. What are your thoughts so far . I thought the House Managers particularly Congress Want swalwell did a very good job of showing the progression of the president s statements over a period of months particularly november, december and january. The effect of those statements on some of his supporters and the fact that the president could obviously see that effect. I thought it was great the examples they gave of surrounding the michigan Secretary Of States house and the other efforts that literally stopped counting as it was going on, electoral count. All of that to show that the president , whos a very smart guy, knows the effect hes having. So the ultimate question is, did you incite this activity . Was it reasonable for you to think your followers would go off the deep end and do Something Like attack the capitol . I think they did a very good job of showing that. John when it comes down to what the upshot of this is, as were speaking with sandra not sandra, sorry, Shannon Bream, about whether or not this is meant to, as impeachment is meant to, remove dangerous operator or Civil Servant from office or whether this is meant to punish President Trump. His legal team makes the case they say the intellectual dishonesty put forward by the House Managers and memorandum only serve to punctuate the proceeding was never about seeking justice, its only to punish President Trump. Is that what impeachment should be used for . I dont really understand that argument. Hes already been removed by the voters. So the only reason for really doing this at this point in time is to the provision in the constitution that would arguably keep him from ever running again. Thats just a given. On the other hand, are you supposed to just look at evidence and actions like this, which are clearly, clearly impeachable and do something about it because its the end of the president s term . Thats a policy question. But missing the argument is a pretty weak one on that point. Sandra sol, thank you for joining us. John a former doj prosecutor, jim, what do you make of what you heard so far by the prosecution and House Managers . I think we saw jamie raskin pull a clever move by saying essentially, by polarizing the choice. By saying you have to believe the president committed a crime or he was an innocent bystander. Essentially polarized the choice. Theres a lot of gray in between. You can come to a result where youre saying i wish the president did more. I wish he hadnt said these words, but he didnt break any laws. Theres a lot of degrees of culpability that you can come up with. What raskin was doing was trying to polarize if you dont agree with the criminal Incitement Charge that you are an enabler, you think everything was perfect in terms of how the House Manager held himself. I do think this Slick Video Presentation is problematic. If we want to have something that clings to the idea of due process, it should be based on complete actual evidence not hollywood produced slick videos that give part of the story, not the whole story. I fear thats where were drifting. It is a witness free existence. Sandra jim trusty, thank you. My colleagues will now detail former President Trumps increasingly desperate attempts to stop the steal. Esteemed members of the senate, it is my solemn honor to be before you today. I am Congress Woman from the 4th Congressional District of pennsylvania. Im a lawyer. Im a former professor of writing. Im a sister. Im a wife. Im a mother. Im a grandmother to three with a fourth on her way. Im a person of faith. Im an american. Along with manager lou, i will present the actions of a desperate president. We will present evidence today of a class of Public Servants standing up to enormous pressure from the president of the United States did the right thing and upheld their oath. My colleagues just presented evidence of President Trumps month long efforts to incite his base, leading them to believe the election was stolen. That they needed to fight like hell to stop the steal On January 6th. These werent President Trumps only efforts to overturn the results. Manager lou and i will present evidence of President Trumps relentless escalating campaign to fabricate Election Victory by ignoring adverse court rulings, pressuring and threatening Election Officials, attacking senators and members of congress. Pressuring the Justice Department and finally bullying his own Vice President. President trump and his allies filed 62 separate lawsuits in Federal Court across half dozen states and the district of columbia, including pennsylvania, My Home State, as well as arizona, georgia, michigan, minnesota, nevada and wisconsin. Of the 62 post election legal challenges, he lost 61. Only one was successful. That involved ballot procuring in pennsylvania and had no impact on President Biden 85555 vote victory in our commonwealth. To be clear not a single court, not a single judge agreed that the Election Results were invalid or should be invalidated. Based on nothing but speculation and flat out wrong. The judiciary resoundingly rejected trumps Fraud Allegation and upheld the Election Results. It was more than that. Court said these teachings were different. They were dangerous to our democracy. For example, a judge from pennsylvania, he said, and i quote, this court has been presented with strange legal arguments without merit and speculative accusations. In the kwraoupbd of america, this cannot justify the disenfranchisement of a single voter, let alone all the voters of its sixth most populated state. Our people, laws and institutions demand more. But a this court has no authority to take away the rights of a single person, let alone millions of citizens, it cannot grant plaintiffs requested relief. The campaigns claims have no merit. The number of ballots it specifically challenges is far smaller than the roughly 81,000 vote margin of victory. It never claimed fraud or that any of the votes were cast by illegal voters. Plus, dropping millions of mail in ballots would be drastic disenfranchising a huge swath of the electorate and upsetting all down ballot races. As judge linda parker of the Eastern District of michigan framed it, stunning in its scope and breathtaking in its reach, if granted the relief would disenfranchise the votes of more than 5. 5 million michigan citizens who, with dignity and help and a promise of a vote participated in the 2020 general election. Donald trump told his supporters they are stealing the election. They took away your vote. Its rigged. That was not true. The truth was exactly the opposite. Trump was not suing to ensure election integrity, he was pursuing lawsuits that would strip away american votes so that he could win. In order, donald trump was asking the judiciary to take away votes from americans so that he could steal the election for himself. After losing in all the courts, trump turned to another tactic, pressuring elected officials. You saw what happened in michigan after trump attacked the state and its Election Officials. His supporters surrounded the Secretary Of States home as you saw in the earlier slide, chanting, calling her a felon. On november 17th, the board of canvassers for wayne county, michigan, home to detroit, unanimously certified the Election Results. That same night, after their vote to certify the results, the two republican members of that board trump called, pressuring them to change their mind. The call worked. The next day both Monica Palmer and william hartman, republican board members, attempted to rescind their voted to certify michigans Election Results. They simply couldnt. President trump didnt stop there. He then contacted Majority Leader of the Michigan Senate mike sherky and the Michigan House to lobby them to overturn michigans results. Trump invited them to washington to meet with him at the white house where the president lobbied them further. Lets be clear. Donald trump was calling officials, hosting them at the white house, urging them to defy the voters in their state and instead award votes to trump. The officials held strong, and so trump moved on to a different state, My Home State of pennsylvania. I am certain my senators casey and toomey remember what happened there. In early december, as he did in michigan, he began calling Election Officials, including my former colleagues in the Pennsylvania Legislature, republicans, Majority Leader kim ward and speaker of the house, brian cutler. Majority leader ward said the president called her to, quote, declare there was a fraud in the voting, end quote. Then on november 25th, President Trump phoned into a Republican State SenatePolicy Hearing trying to convince the republican legislators, senators and House Members there had been a fraud in the vote. He even had his lawyer hold a phone up to the microphone so the committee could hear him. Heres what he said. We cant let that happen. We cant let it happen for our country. This election has to be turned around because we won pennsylvania by a lot and we won all of these swing states by a lot. This was a gathering, i have attended many as a former state legislator. That was likely the first time a president of the United States of america called in to a state legislative Policy Hearing. And remember, here is the president saying he won pennsylvania. And pennsylvania had been certified that biden had won by more than 80,000 votes. Less than a week after calling into that meeting, he invited multiple republicans, members of the Pennsylvania Legislature to the white house. The same scheme he had used on the michigan legislators. It didnt work with those Public Servants either. Think about it. The president of the United States was calling Public Officials, calling from the white house, inviting them into the oval office, telling them to disenfranchise voters of their state, telling them to overturn the will of the American People. All so he could take the election for himself. Then in georgia, a state trump counted on for victory, his conduct was perhaps the most egregious. On november 11, republican Secretary Of State confirmed that he believed ballots were accurately counted for biden. Trump went on a relentless attack. Here are just a few examples in all trump tweeted to him 17 times in the coming week. Heres just a few. Calling him a disaster, not having a clue, being a fool, all because he was doing his job. These attacks had consequences. He and his family received Death Threats. Quote, your husband deserves to face a firing squad. You better not botch this recount, your life depends upon it. That rathensberger should be put on trial for treason. After these Death Threats he wrote an op ed where he said, my family voted for trump, donated to him, and are now being thrown under the bus by him. They also noted elections are the bedrock of our democracy. They need to pwf run facial and, more importantly, impartially. Its important to remember this wasnt just a random attack. Trump wasnt just criticizing a politician over policy. Were saying he didnt agree. Donald trump was savagely attacking a Secretary Of State because the official did his job and certified the state according to how the people in that state voted. Donald trump was trying to under mind our elections by taking votes away from the American People so that he could remain president. He was willing to blame and betray anyone, anyone, even his own supporters if they got in the way. Remember, senators, those threats were to mr. Raffenbergers family. Some might say trump didnt know his attacks against mr. Raffenberger would result in Death Threats, except all of this was very public. The secretary published his op ed in usa today. Major networks including fox covered the threats against the raffenbergers. What did trump do . Did he stop . Did he say, no, that isnt what i meant . No. He doubled down. Lets see the evidence. This was a massive fraud. It should never take place in this country. Were like a third world country. I understand Secretary Of State, who is really hes an enemy of the people. The Secretary Of State. Whether hes republican or not, this man, what hes done. This character in georgia, whos a disaster. Let that sink in. A republican Public Servant doing his job whose family has just received Death Threats and the president labeled him an enemy of the people. Thats why this is different. This was not just one attack or one comment. This was attack after attack in the face of clear threats of violence. On december 1st, another official, sterling, a republican who voted for trump, made this point and appealed directly to our president to stop his dangerous conduct. Mr. President , it looks like theres always the possibility. I get it. You have the right to go to the court. What you dont have the ability to do is stop inspiring people to commit potential acts of violence. Someone is gonna get hurt. Someones gonna get shot. Someones gonna get killed. Mr. Sterling put this perfectly. In this country, we can appropriately challenge a close count. Or go to the courts. Or disagree with others. Or make bold statements. But what trump was saying was different. Someones going to get hurt. Someones going to get shot. Someones going to get killed. Mr. Sterling saw what trumps conduct was fomenting. He warned him that violence was happening and that more violence was foreseeable and unevidentable. Sterlings pleas were played over and over on every network. Rather than heed that warning, trump escalated again. In early december trump called brian kemp, the governor of georgia, and pressured him to hold a special session of the State Legislature to overturn the Election Results and to appoint electors who would vote for trump. A few weeks later on december 23rd, trump called the Chief Investigator for the Georgia Bureau of investigation who was conducting an audit. An audit of the signature matching procedures for absentee ballots. Trump urged him. Find the fraud and claims the official would be a National Hero if he did. Lets call this what it is. He was asking the official to say there was evidence of fraud when there wasnt any. The official refused and the investigation was completed and, on december 29th, raffenberger announced that the audit found, quote, no fraudulent absentee ballot with a 99 confidence level. On january 3rd, trump tweeted about a call he had with georgia Election Officials the day before. He said, and i quote, i spoke with Secretary Of StateBrad Raffenberger and fraud in georgia, he was unwilling to answer questions such as the ballots under the table scam, ballot destruction, out of state voters, dead voters and more. He has no clue. January 5th, Washington Post released a recording of that call which had occurred on january 2nd. Remember four days before the attack on the capitol. Here is what President Trump said. Its more illegal for you than it is for them because you know what they did and youre not reporting it. Thats a criminal offense. And you cant let that happen. Thats a big risk to you and to ryan, your lawyer. Thats a big risk. Lets be clear. This is the president of the United States telling a Secretary Of State that if he does not find votes he will face criminal penalties. Not just any number of votes. Donald trump was asking the Secretary Of State to somehow find the exact number of votes donald trump lost the state by. Remember, President Biden won georgia by 11,779 votes. In his own words, trump said, all i want to do this. I just want to find 11,780 votes. He wanted the Secretary Of State to find the precise number, plus one, so that he could win. Heres what he said. Look. All i want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes which is one more than we have. He says it right there. The president of the United States telling a public official to manufacture the exact votes needed so he can win. Senators, we must not become numb to this. Trump did this across state after state, so often, so loudly, so publicly. Public officials like you and me received Death Threats and calls of threatening criminal penalty all because trump wanted to remain in power. These Public Officials exercised great political and personal courage in the face of unprecedented pressure from the president of the United States. Senators, art is a dialogue with history, a conversation with the past, with the hope for the future. Senators, i thank you today for your kind attention. Good afternoon. My colleague Congress Woman dean went through President Trumps efforts to overturn the election through the courts. Once that started failing his deeply disturbing attacks on state and local officials. Im going to walk through President Trumps extraordinary efforts remaining until january 6th. I first want to highlight the question to you today. Is this america . Like all of you, i love this country. I am an immigrant. My parents came to ohio and we started off living in the basement of a persons home. We were poor. They went to flea markets to sell gifts. They opened sick gift stores and achieved the american dream. Thats one reason i joined the air force on active duty. I believe america is an exceptional country. I was trained as a prosecutor at National Air Force base in alabama and i remain in the reserves because we are the greatest country in the world. But how did our exceptional country get to the point where a violent mob attacked our capitol, murdering a police officer, assaulting over 140 other officers . How did we get to the point where rioters desecrated, defiled and dishonored your Senate Chamber . The very place in which you sit, became a crime scene, and where National Guard troops still patrol outside wearing body armor. Ill show you how we got here. President donald j. Trump ran out of nonviolent options to maintain power. After his efforts in the courts and threatening officials failed, he turned to privately and publicly attacking members of his own party in the house and in the senate. He would publicly bait senators, naming them in social media. On december 18th, President Trump named telling them they have to get tougher or they wont have a Republican Party anymore. We won the president ial election by a lot. Fight for it. Dont let them take it away. President trump was suggesting to members of this senate if they didnt help him try to overturn the election, there would be consequences. On december 24th, President Trump wrote, i say eight republican senators, i saved them including mitch from losing the past election. Now they almost all sit back and watch me fight against a crooked and vicious foe, the radical left democrats. I will, in all capital letters, never forget, exclamation point. President trump was telling you that you owe him. If you dont help him fight to overturn the results, he will never forget. These are threats like the threats he made to state and local officials. And it continues. On december 29th, President Trump tweeted, can you imagine the republicans stealing an election from democrats . All hell would break out. Our leaders, not me of course, are pathetic. They only know how to lose. P. S. , i have got many senators and congress men and Congress Women elected. I do believe they forgot. President trump targeted senators on social media calling them pathetic for letting the election get, quote, stolen from them. On january 4th, two days before the attack, President Trump tweeted, the caucus within the Republican Party will go down in infamy as weak who are willing to accept fraudulent president ial numbers. Now hes mocking the republican parties of the surrender caucus, calling them weak guardians of our nation because they would not pretend that he had won when, in fact, he had not. The very day before the attack, his tweets were even more violent. We have shown you this tweet before but i want to draw your attention to how the president was not just inciting his base, but how he was also calling out specific Senate Republicans at the end of this tweet. This is a specific warning to anyone who wont help him overturn the results, anyone who was against the president became an enemy. Let me be very clear. The president wasnt just coming for one or two people or democrats like me. He was coming for you, for democratic and republican senators. He was coming for all of us. Sandra you continue to watch day 2 of the Impeachment Trial of donald trump. The house Impeachment Managers continue to make their case one by one. Madeline dean played that video from december of the Georgia Election official, remember seeing so much of him, sterling, pleading with the former president at that Press Conference to stop the election live. Someone was going to get hurt, shot, killed. Someone stressing at one point saying the incitement did not just begin with the president s speech On January 6th. Thats a point many of the Impeachment Managers have been making one by one, as we listen. Im sandra smith. Welcome to our continuing coverage. John im john roberts in washington, d. C. That is the case the democrats are trying to make. This timeline goes back far beyond january 6th. It goes back to the late summer. Chad has an update on where we are and where were going from here. Chad . Reporter good afternoon. House Impeachment Managers making the case that President Trump triggered the January 6th Riot at the capitol not just with his speech on that day but before democrats argued the president began stoking the embers of what he said was Election Fraud months before the election. What weve heard in the past hour is democratic pennsylvania representative madeline dean. She made the case that the former president tried to Pressure GeorgiaElection Officials. Ted leiu said President Trump ran out of making nonviolent threats to try to switch votes. He said he tried to bait senators by name n to support h. Lindsey graham the republican senator from South Carolina, spoke to the form president about the trial. He said that he reminded the president that he just wants him to get through the trial. They dont have the votes to convict him. Sandra chad, thank you. Bring in Steve Scalise joins us now. Appreciate your time. What are your thoughts so far as you listen to the case that the Impeachment Managers are making one by one . Well, sandra and john, good to be with you. If you go back yesterday, as well as today. It started with this hollywood production that was very sliced. Very selective in showing different things. At the end of the day, the question is, as people came into the capitol On January 6th, which we all decry, whos held accountable . What i would suggest, its the people who violated the law, broke into the capitol, beat police up, murdered a police officer, over 120 of them had been arrested and should be. The question is, what is the standard . How many times have we seen democratic officials saying things that incited things . Not one of them is being impeached. Many were inciting actual violence against other people that was carried out. The question goes back to this. Donald trump gone from office, theyre impeaching him from what . Hes already gone. This is clearly something to continue the impeachment drum beat that happened before he took the oath of office. Remember, in his first week after walking into the oval office in 2017 they already had articles of impeachment filed. Then the russia hoax which turned out all of the things that didnt happen, they impeached him for that. Now theyre still infatuated with impeachment. Why isnt the senate trying to help businesses get back on their feet, help schools reopen with all the science that says not only you can open schools, but it is ruining these kids futures not to have them back in the classrooms. I was in South Louisiana last few days meeting with some of the workers whose jobs and careers are being decimated by the Biden Administration policies on energy. Theyre not watching this trial. Theyre trying to fight for this future. They dont have a job to go to. Their careers, many cases, third generation, is being eviscerated by bidens policies. But they want to strap you with yet another impeachment. John the president no longer is president , no longer in office, but he does still hold a lot of sway in the Republican Party. He still remains a popular figure. Senators on the republican side who will not vote to convict will vote nay when it comes to the floor. Are they doing that, do you believe, because its the right thing to do or do they fear political repercussions of the vote . The evidence is not laid out that this is trump who should be the one held accountable for breaking into the capitol. The people who have been arrested. Go through the summer where they were literally burning down cities, murdering police officers, murdering innocent civilians. You had democratic elected officials offering to bail them out of jail, encouraging them to keep doing it. Sandra weve got to get back into the trial. Just real quickly though. I know your love of the Capitol Police. I know you have tweeted about that. You have all along supported them. Those Impeachment Managers have made the case that donald trump that day could have done more to stop those people from invading the capitol. Do you believe he could have said something . Done something to have limited what happened that day . All of us said back On January 6th we wished more was done to stop it across the board. Again, we decry the loss of officer sicknick. I went to his service. Where were these democratic officials yelling and screaming today . Where were they when cops were being murdered in cities across america . Lets call it out everywhere it happens. Theres no place for Political Violence whether it comes from the left or right. Sandra theyre talking about the incitement of violence against mike pence as well. Were going to go back in. Congressman, thank you. President trump again threatened pence. You can either go down in history as a patriotic, mr. Trump told him, or you can go down in history as a pussy. As a veteran, i find it deeply dishonorable to our former president and Commander In Chief equated patriotism with violating the constitution and overturning the election. You will see and hear the consequences of President Trumps repeated attacks on the Vice President , chants of traitor and chants of hang mike pence. Thankfully Vice President pence stood his ground. He refused the president and fulfilled his duty on january 6 even after the capitol was attacked. Even after he was targeted. Even after his family was targeted. Vice president pence stood strong and certified the election. Vice president pence showed us what it means to be an american, what it means to show courage. He put his country, his oath, his values and morals above the will of one man. The president tried everything in his power to seize power from the rightful victor of the election. President trumps extraordinary action grew increasingly more desperate. You saw him from pursuing claims in court to threatening state and local election official, to then attacking members of congress in the senate, compromising our Justice Department and then to attacking the republican Vice President. These Public Servants were being pressured to overturn results. Some of them and their families got Death Threats. Thankfully, at every turn our democratic processes prevailed and the rule of law prevailed. Its only because all these people stayed strong, refused President Trump that our republic held fast and the will of the electorate was seen through. At this point, president donald j. Trump ran out of nonviolent options to maintain power. I began today by raising the question of how we got here. What you saw was a man so desperate to cling to power that he tried everything he could to keep it. When he ran out of nonviolent measures, he turned to the violent mob that attacked your Senate ChamberOn January 6th. As you cast your vote after this trial, i hope each of you will think of the bravery of all these people who said no to President Trump because they knew that this was not right, that this was not america. Next, representative from the Virgin Islands will show, in quite chilling detail, how President Trump was well aware of the threat of violence On January 6th and how he welcomed and amplified his supporters plans for insurrection against the union. I should say as lead manager this is a moment of special pride for me. He is not the first delegate to be on a team of Impeachment Managers, but she was also my law student at american universitys Washington College of law. I hope im not violating any federal educational records laws when i say she was an a student then and shes an a senator now. Thank you very much. Hi. Mr. President , distinguished senators, i represent the people of the Virgin Islands of the United States. Over this past weekend, my 11yearold daughter, i overheard her telling one of my sons, mommy doesnt seem nervous about the Impeachment Trial to which that son, sounding like an older brother said, talia, youll learn that most of the time mommy really seems to have it under control. Now we know as parents thats not always the case. But i have learned throughout my life that preparation and truth can carry you far. Can allow you to speak truth to power. I have learned as a young black girl growing up in the projects in brooklyn housing community, sent to the most unlikeliest of settings and now as an adult woman representing an island territory speaking to the u. S. Senate. And because of truth, i am confident today speaking before you because truth and facts are overwhelming that our president , president of the United States, incited a mob, stormed the capitol to attempt to stop the certification of a president ial election. My fellow managers have shown and will continue to show clear evidence that president incited a violent mob to storm our capitol when he ran out of nonviolent means to stop the election. Once assembled, that mob, at the president s direction, erupted into the bloodiest attack on the capitol since 1814. Some of you have said theres no way the president could have known how violent the mob would be. That is false. Because the violence, it was foreseeable. I want to show you why the violence was foreseeable and why donald trump was different than any politician telling their supporters to fight for something. The violence that occurred On January 6th, like the attack itself, did not just appear. Youll see that donald trump knew the people he was inciting. He saw the violence that they were capable of and he had a pattern and practice of praising and encouraging that violence never, ever condemning it. Youll see that this violent attack was not planned in secret. The eur is your insurgents said it loudly, proudly. Blue print of how the attack would be made. Law enforcement saw these postings and reported that these insurgents would violently attack the capitol itself. This was not just comment by officials to fight for a cause. This was months of cultivating a base of people who were violent, praising that violence and then leading that violence straight at our doors. The point is this. By the time he called the cavalry of his thousands of supporters On January 6th, at an event he had invited them to, he had every reason to know that they were armed, that they were violent and that they would actually fight. He knew who he was calling and the violence they were capable of. He still gave that march orders to go to the capitol and, quote, fight like hell and stop the steal. Make no mistake the violence was not on foreseeable, the violence is what he deliberately encouraged. As early as september, trump set the precedent that when asked to denounce violence, he would do the opposite and encourage it. If the president had only said something once about fighting to stop the steal and violence erupted, there would be no way to know he intended to incite it or saw it coming. Just as the president spent months spreading his fake lies about the election, he all spent months cultivating groups of people who, following his command, repeatedly engaged in real, dangerous, violence. And when they did, when the violence erupted as a response to his calls to fight against the stolen election, he did not walk it back. He did not tell them no. He did the opposite. The opposite. He praised and encouraged the violence so that it would continue. He fanned the flame of violence and it worked. Youll see this over time. These very groups and individuals whose violence the president praised, helped lead the attack On January 6th. And thats how we know clearly that President Trump deliberately incited this, and how we know he saw it coming. There are many examples where the president engaged in this pattern. Im just gonna walk you through a few of them. Lets start with President Trumps incitement of the proud boys. Many of you have heard of this group, which in 2018 has been classified by the fbi as an extremist organization. Since that classification, the group has repeatedly engaged in serious acts of violence, including at pro trump rallies. One such act, september 7th, the proud boys attacked a man with a baseball bat and then punched him while he was down on the ground. On september 29th, during a president ial debate, President Trump was asked specifically if he was willing to condemn White Supremacy and militia groups, if he was willing to tell them to stand down and stop the violence. Lets watch. But are you willing tonight to condemn White Supremacists and militia groups and to say that they need to stand down and not add to the volence in a number of these cities as weve seen in kenosha or portland . Lets hear now the president s response. Do it, sir. Say it. You want to call them give me a name. White supremacists. The proud boys. The proud boys. Stand back and stand by when asked to condemn the proud boys and White Supremacists, what did our president say . He said, stand back and stand by. His message was heard loud and clear. The Group Adopted that phrase, stand back and stand by as their official slogan. They created merchandise with their new slogan, which they wore proudly across their backs at trumps rallies. They followed the president s orders. Youll see more about this later in the trial. Youll see if these photos, to the left, Dominic Disola and to the right, william depeppe. Heading to the capitol january 6th. They were later charged with working together to obstruct law enforcement. As we go through this evidence, i want you to keep in mind words by President Trump when asked to condemn violence. Stand back and stand by. See example after example of the kind of people, like the proud boys, who he had standing by On January 6th. By october, as my colleagues, mr. Castro showed you, donald trump was escalating his big lie, that the only way he could lose the election was if it was rigged. So, as election day neared, his supporters were frustrated and they were angry. They were prepared to ensure his victory by any means necessary. One of the violent acts was on october 30th. Sometime after 12 30 p. M. , a caravan of more than 50 trucks covered in pro Trump Campaign gear confronted and surrounded cars carrying Biden Harris Campaign workers and a Biden Harris Campaign bus as they were traveling down Interstate 35 from san antonio to austin. According to witnesses, they tried to force the bus to slow down in the middle of the highway and then to run it off the road. What that video does not show is that the bus they tried to run off the road was filled with Young Campaign staff, volunteers, supporters, people. As the Trump Supporters closed in on the bus, a large black pickup truck, adorned with trump flags, suddenly and intentionally swerved and crashed into a car driven by a biden harris volunteer. News of the event went viral on social media. The president of the United States, in a campaign, saw his own supporters trying to run a bus carrying his opponents Campaign Workers off the highway. To physically intimidate people in this country campaigning. Here was his response the next day. Three, two, one, go welcome to the kingdom yeah kingdom president of the United States tweeted a video of his supporters trying to drive a bus off the road. Youll recall in that first video that i showed you, there was no sound. The one that he tweeted had a Fight Theme Song placed to it that the president , the president , put that music to that video. He added at the top, i love texas. By the next evening, that tweet that he did had been viewed 12. 6 million times. It wasnt just a tweet. On november 1st, at a michigan rally with a sea of supporters, the president talked about that incident again. Here it is. You see the way our people, they were protecting this bus yesterday. Hundreds of cars, trump, trump. Trump and the american flag. You see trump and the american flag. President made a public joke of violence against campaigners in an American Election. He made light of it. This was not a joke. It was so violent, it put so many people in harms way that the fbi investigated the incident and the criminal responsibility of those who attacked these Campaign Workers. Our president could have said, this was very violent. Please stop. But he didnt. He saw the investigation and made a statement in defense of his supporters attack on the bus writing, quote, in my opinion, these patriots did nothing wrong. Engaging in violence for him, made them patriots to donald trump. For anyone who said he didnt know the violence he was inciting, his supporters tried to drive a bus off the road to intimidate his opponents. His response was to tweet the video with fight music, joke about it and call those individuals in that incident patriots. Donald trump praised words to incite them further. They remained ready to fight. Ready to stand back and stand by. This is not hypothetical. Just like we saw with the proud boys showing up in full force On January 6th, donald trump encouragement of this attack made sure his supporters were ready for the next one. The caravan bus attack had been organized by trump supporter. Leading up to the attack on our capitol On January 6th, mr. Lee teamed up with other supporters to fund raise to help to bring people to washington, d. C. For that day. The morning of the attack, he showed footage of the capital, addressed his supporters saying, quote, as soon as you all get done, you all get to the capitol. We need to surround this place. During the attack, he used a bull horn to call out for the mob to rush him. Later went to the rotunda himself and then back outside to urge the crowd to come inside. These are the people that President Trump cultivated who were standing by. Id like to look at another example. After the election Trump Supporters gathered to protest the stolen election in d. C. It was billed by his loyalists as the second million maga march. The rally was organized by women for america first. Same group that youll see later secures the permit for the january 6th rally. And who else was there, the proud boys, standing by. Donald trump did not attend that rally, but he made sure to make it clear to his supporters throughout the day how he felt about the event. At 8 47 a. M. , he sent out a tweet. We have just begun to fight. And then the rally began. And Donald Trumps allies, who spoke at the rally, carried along the message at the rally and the importance of fighting to stop the steal. A commentator who was organized a stop the steal rally in michigan with Trump Supporters. They would do everything in their power that we would destroy [ inaudible ] if we go to were going to destroy the gop [chanting]. Those words, that was trumps message. Destroy anyone that wont listen, that wont help them take the election for trump. As youll see, this is just a preview for fuentes, who like the proud boys and the trump caravan organizers would heeds the president s call and come to washington and be there on january 6. Later in the rally, a former Trump Campaign spokesperson Katrina Pearson speak. During her speech, she stated this isnt over. This is just beginning. Referring to the fight to stop the steal. Then she added, we knew both republican and democrats were against we people, we the people. We are the cavalry. No one is coming for us. Its clear that trump andis