Trump signed a corresponding order in the White House in Washington just hours after his inauguration on Monday.

It was initially unclear how many people were affected and for which crimes those pardoned had been convicted.

Confidants close to Trump, including his Vice President JD Vance, had previously said that no one who had become violent would be pardoned.

READ ALSO: Tinubu’s quest to overcome the power sector gridlock

Trump, on the other hand, had not wanted to commit to any details before his inauguration.

According to US Department of Justice figures, more than 1,488 individuals have been charged for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol.

On January 6, 2021, supporters of Trump violently stormed the U.S. Congressional seat in Washington, where the Republican’s election defeat to Joe Biden was to be certified at the time.

A crowd incited by Trump, who held a rally to promote baseless claims of election fraud, violently entered the building, killing five people.

Source: DOA/NAN

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The Senate voted 56-44 to proceed to the first-ever trial of a former president, rejecting his defense lawyers’ argument that Trump was beyond the reach of the Senate after having left the White House on January 20.

Democrats hope to disqualify Trump from ever again holding public office, but Tuesday’s outcome suggested they face long odds.

Only six Republican senators joined Democrats to vote in favour of allowing the trial to take place, far short of the 17 needed to secure a conviction.

Convicting Trump would require a two-thirds majority in the 50-50 Senate.

The vote capped a dramatic day in the Senate chamber.

Democratic lawmakers serving as prosecutors opened the trial with a graphic video interspersing images of the January 6 Capitol violence with clips of Trump’s incendiary speech to a crowd of supporters moments earlier urging them to “fight like hell” to overturn his November 3 election defeat.

Senators, serving as jurors, watched as screens showed Trump’s followers throwing down barriers and hitting police officers at the Capitol.

The video included the moment when police guarding the House of Representatives chamber fatally shot protester Ashli Babbitt, one of five people including a police officer who died in the rampage.

The mob attacked police, sent lawmakers scrambling for safety and interrupted the formal congressional certification of President Joe Biden’s victory after Trump had spent two months challenging the election results based on false claims of widespread voting fraud.

“If that’s not an impeachment offence, then there is no such thing,” Democratic Representative Jamie Raskin, who led a team of nine House members prosecuting the case, told the assembled senators after showing the video.

He wept as he recounted how relatives he brought to the Capitol that day to witness the election certification had to shelter in an office near the House floor, saying: “They thought they were going to die.”

In contrast to the Democrats’ emotional presentation, Trump’s lawyers attacked the process, arguing that the proceeding was an unconstitutional, partisan effort to close off Trump’s political future even after he had already departed the White House.

“What they really want to accomplish here in the name of the Constitution is to bar Donald Trump from ever running for political office again, but this is an affront to the Constitution no matter who they target today,” David Schoen, one of Trump’s lawyers, told senators.

He denounced the “insatiable lust for impeachment” among Democrats before airing his own video, which stitched together clips of various Democratic lawmakers calling for Trump’s impeachment going back to 2017.

HOUSE MANAGERS’ CASE ‘COMPELLING, COGENT’

Trump, who was impeached by the Democratic-led House on January 13, is only the third president in U.S. history to be impeached, and the only one to be impeached twice.

His defence argued he was exercising his right to free speech under the Constitution’s First Amendment when he addressed supporters before the Capitol attack.

Bruce Castor, one of Trump’s lawyers, said the storming of the Capitol by hundreds of people “should be denounced in the most vigorous terms,” but argued that “a small group of criminals,” not Trump, were responsible for the violence.

Most legal experts have said it is constitutional to have an impeachment trial after an official has left office.

“Presidents can’t inflame insurrection in their final weeks and then walk away like nothing happened. And yet that is the rule that President Trump asks you to adopt,” Democratic Representative Joe Neguse told the senators.

Most of the senators at the trial were present in the Capitol on January 6, when many lawmakers said they feared for their own safety.

Several Republican senators said they found Trump’s defense, particularly Castor’s argument, disjointed and unclear.

“The House managers made a compelling, cogent case. And the president’s team did not,” said Republican Senator Bill Cassidy, who voted to advance the trial.

Cassidy had voted to block the trial on constitutional grounds last month, a Republican effort that failed 55-45. He was the only Republican to switch sides on Tuesday, a move that prompted the Republican Party in his home state, Louisiana, to issue a statement repudiating his decision.

Watching the proceedings on TV at his Florida resort, Trump was unhappy with Castor’s performance, said a person familiar with the situation.

After the Senate adjourned for the day, Castor told reporters: “I thought we had a good day,” and said he did not anticipate making any adjustments to his planned defence in response to the criticism.

The trial could provide clues on the Republican Party’s direction following Trump’s tumultuous four-year presidency.

Sharp divisions have emerged between Trump loyalists and those hoping to move the party in a new direction.

Democrats for their part are concerned the trial could impede Biden’s ability to swiftly advance an ambitious legislative agenda.

But few Republican senators appear willing to break with Trump.

Senator Josh Hawley, who helped lead the opposition in the Senate to the presidential election results, predicted that Tuesday’s vote would ultimately reflect the chamber’s final decision.

“That’s probably going to be the outcome, right there,” Hawley told reporters.

One year ago, the then-Republican-controlled Senate acquitted Trump on charges of obstructing Congress and abuse of power for pressuring Ukraine to launch an investigation into Biden and his son Hunter in 2019.

Source: Reuters

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The former president is charged with “inciting insurrection” in a speech to supporters ahead of the deadly riot at the US Capitol on 6 January.

Democrats say they have “overwhelming” evidence of his guilt while his defence team claim rioters acted independently.

The defence call the trial “absurd and unconstitutional” and its legality of it will be a focus on Tuesday.

Mr Trump is the only US president in history to have been impeached twice and one of only three to have been impeached at all.

If convicted, he could be barred from holding office again.

But a two-thirds of the 100-seat senate is required to convict – Democrats hold 50 seats and there is little sign enough Republicans will join them.

In a pre-trial statement released on Monday, Mr Trump’s lawyers argued the trial is unconstitutional because Mr Trump has left office and is now a private citizen.

The nine “impeachment managers” – Democrats from the House of Representatives who will lay out the case for prosecution – dispute this, saying he should be accountable for actions as president.

Both sides will have four hours to tackle this constitutional question on Tuesday, with a vote expected at the end of the day on whether to proceed.

How will the trial play out?

Senate leaders agreed a framework for the trial on Monday.

“All parties have agreed to a structure that will ensure a fair and honest Senate impeachment trial of the former president,” US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said.

If Tuesday’s constitutional vote passes – and it is expected to – opening arguments will begin on Wednesday afternoon with both sides allowed up to 16 hours each for presentations.

These arguments are expected to run through until the weekend when senators will get a chance to ask both sides questions.

It is unclear if the impeachment managers will then extend the timetable by requesting witnesses be called or subpoenaed – though Mr Trump has already declined to voluntarily testify.

Lawmakers on both sides are said to favour a quick trial, amid an ongoing effort to have President Joe Biden’s coronavirus relief package approved.

With the speedy timetable, it is thought a Senate vote on whether to convict Mr Trump or not could come as early as Monday.

What is the argument for and against impeachment?

Democrats say Mr Trump’s repeated refusal to concede last November’s presidential election to Joe Biden – as well as the fiery rhetoric he used addressing supporters – encouraged the riot on 6 January where five people died.

They have called for Mr Trump to be disqualified from ever running for office again.

“His incitement of insurrection against the United States government – which disrupted the peaceful transfer of power – is the most grievous constitutional crime ever committed by a president,” they said on Monday.

House managers are expected to use Mr Trump’s words and footage from the day to show that “the furious crowd” was “primed” for violence.

Mr Trump’s legal team argue Mr Trump was simply exercising his First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and have described the trial as “political theatre” and a “brazen political act”.

They also argued in their pre-trial brief that FBI documents had shown that the riot was planned days in advance therefore Mr Trump’s words cannot have incited it.

Source: BBC

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Jackson, awaiting trial in federal court on assault charges, is now adopting a novel legal defense: seeking to pin the blame on Donald Trump, citing the former president’s remarks at a “Stop the Steal” rally shortly before the Capitol siege.

Trump told the crowd to “fight like hell,” said “we will not take it anymore” and repeated his false claims that the election was stolen from him through widespread voting fraud. Trump exhorted his followers to go to the Capitol. The ensuing rampage interrupted the congressional certification of President Joe Biden’s election victory, sent lawmakers into hiding and left five people dead including a police officer.

Jackson’s lawyer, Brandi Harden, wrote in a January 22 court filing that “the nature and circumstances of this offense must be viewed through the lens of an event inspired by the President of the United States.”

The Capitol siege, Harden added, “appears to have been spontaneous and sparked by the statements made during the ‘Stop the Steal’ rally.” Harden argued that Jackson should be released while awaiting trial.

A judge on January 22 denied the request.

At least six of the 170 people charged in connection with the Capitol siege have tried to shift at least some of the blame onto Trump as they defend themselves in court or in the court of public opinion.

Other defendants to take this route include Jacob Chansley, who donned a horned headdress and face paint during the attack, and Dominic Pezzola, a member of the Proud Boys right-wing extremist group who is accused of shattering a window in the Capitol with a stolen police shield so rioters could enter.

“The boss of the country said, ‘People of the country, come on down, let people know what you think,’” Pezzola’s defense lawyer, Michael Scibetta, told Reuters. “The logical thinking was, ‘He invited us down.’”

Lawyers have not yet sought dismissal of charges or acquittal during a trial based on the idea that Trump incited their clients, instead making the claim as part of efforts to spare them from pretrial detention.

No defendant will be able to avoid criminal culpability by saying they were incited by Trump, said Jay Town, who served as the top federal prosecutor in Birmingham, Alabama, during the Trump administration.

“If anything, it is an admission to criminal conduct,” said Town, now the general counsel of cybersecurity firm Gray Analytics. “While this ineffective tactic may help with headlines, it will not help the fate of any defendant.”

Trump took to a stage near the White House and exhorted supporters to “fight” – using the word more than 20 times.

Trump told the crowd that “everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol.” About 50 minutes into the speech, many of them did.

Trump adviser Jason Miller did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the legal strategy of blaming the former president. Trump has called his speech “totally appropriate.”

IMPEACHMENT TRIAL

The Democratic-led House of Representatives voted to impeach Trump on a charge of “incitement of insurrection” stemming from his Jan. 6 speech. He faces an impeachment trial next week in the Senate.

Enough of his fellow Republicans in the Senate have signaled opposition to impeachment to indicate that the chamber almost certainly will fall short of the two-thirds majority needed to convict him. Democrats hope to use the trial to disqualify him from future public office.

Lori Ulrich, a defense lawyer in Pennsylvania, said that her client Riley June Williams was motivated by Trump’s remarks.

Williams, 22, is accused of stealing a laptop from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office during the siege.

It is “regrettable that Ms. Williams took the president’s bait and went inside the Capitol,” Ulrich told a judge at a January 21 court hearing as she argued against Williams being detained while her case proceeds.

The judge released Williams to home confinement.

Some legal experts said the “blame Trump” defense could complicate matters for defendants if they eventually plead guilty in hopes of getting a lesser sentence.

Town noted that federal judges require defendants who plead guilty to accept full responsibility for their conduct.

Scibetta acknowledged the limits of the effectiveness of blaming Trump.

“It would be reckless to put all your eggs in that basket,” Scibetta said.

But Scibetta said Trump’s speech helps explain how people got swept away in the riot.

“These were people acting in a way they have never acted before,” Scibetta said, “and it begs the question, ‘Who lit the fuse?”

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The defence will be led by David Schoen and Bruce Castor, Trump’s office said late on Sunday.

Broadcaster CNN had reported earlier that Trump’s initial defence team of five lawyers would not be representing the Republican after all, citing differences over his legal strategy.

CNN cited sources as saying Trump wanted the attorneys to pursue unsubstantiated allegations of electoral fraud instead of questioning the legitimacy of impeachment proceedings against a president who has already left office.

The attorneys had so far not received any advance payments, and no letter of intent was ever signed, according to CNN.

The announcement from Trump’s office said that Schoen and Castor agree that the trial against Trump is unconstitutional.

A large majority of Republicans in the Senate also recently took this view.

Trump is facing an unprecedented second impeachment trial over the deadly storming of the Capitol building on January 6.

Lawmakers have accused Trump of inciting an insurrection after a violent mob of his supporters attacked the Congress building following one of his rallies, leading to the deaths of five people.

The trial, which is similar to a court proceeding with the senators functioning as jurors, is set to begin during the week of February 8.

A two-thirds majority is needed to obtain a conviction in the Senate and subsequently bar Trump from running for office again.

Source: dpa/NAN

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Nine House Democrats who will serve as prosecutors in Trump’s trial, accompanied by the clerk of the House and the acting sergeant at arms, carried the charge against Trump to the Senate in a solemn procession across the Capitol.

Wearing masks to protect against COVID-19, they filed through the ornate Capitol Rotunda and into the Senate chamber, following the path that a mob of Trump supporters took on January 6 as they clashed with police.

On arrival in the Senate, the lead House impeachment manager, Representative Jamie Raskin, read out the charge.

“Donald John Trump engaged in high crimes and misdemeanours by inciting violence against the government of the United States,” he said.

Ten House Republicans joined Democrats in voting to impeach Trump on January 13.

But Senate Democrats will need the support of 17 Republicans to convict him in the evenly divided chamber, a steep climb given the continued allegiance to Trump among the Republican Party’s conservative base of voters.

President Joe Biden said on Monday he did not believe there would be enough votes to convict Trump, according to CNN, citing a brief interview with Trump’s Democratic successor.

Over 30 Democrats were present to hear Raskin’s remarks, but just three Republicans: Senate party leader Mitch McConnell, Senator Mitt Romney and Senator Roger Marshall, who was just elected in November.

Capitol Police were scattered along the lawmakers’ route from the House to the Senate, and security around the Capitol remained tight, with roads closed off and barbed wire-topped fencing. Many of the National Guard troops deployed after Jan. 6 had been sent home, but thousands remained.

FEB. 9 START DATE

Trump, a Republican, is the only U.S. president to have been impeached by the House twice and is set to become the first to face trial after leaving office.

His term ended last Wednesday.

The Senate is expected to start a trial on Feb. 9 on the article of impeachment against Trump.

The 100 senators are due to serve as jurors in proceedings that could result in Trump’s disqualification from ever again serving as president.

Democrat Patrick Leahy, the Senate’s longest-serving member, said on Monday he would preside over the trial.

Although the Constitution calls on the U.S. chief justice to preside over presidential impeachments, a senator presides when the impeached is not the current president, a Senate source said.

First elected to the chamber in 1974, Leahy, 80, holds the title of Senate president pro tempore.

Chief Justice John Roberts presided over the impeachment trial when the Senate, then controlled by Trump’s fellow Republicans, acquitted Trump in February 2020 on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress arising from his request that Ukraine investigate Biden and his son.

Leahy will still be able to vote in the trial, an aide said, noting that senators still vote on all matters when presiding over the chamber.

A number of Republican lawmakers have objected to the impeachment, some arguing that it would be a violation of the Constitution to hold a trial now because Trump no longer serves as president.

“I still have concerns about the constitutionality of this, and then the precedent it sets in trying to convict a private citizen,” Republican Senator Joni Ernst told reporters. “So in the future, can this be used against (former) President (Barack) Obama?” she asked.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, rejected that argument on Monday.

“The theory that the Senate can’t try former officials would amount to a constitutional get-out-of-jail-free card for any president,” Schumer told the Senate.

A DIVIDED SENATE

The Senate is divided 50-50, with Democrats holding a majority because of the tie-breaking vote of Vice President Kamala Harris.

Senate leaders agreed on Friday to put off the trial for two weeks to give Trump more time to prepare a defense and let the chamber focus on Biden’s early priorities, including Cabinet appointments.

The impeachment focuses on Trump’s speech to supporters on a grassy expanse near the White House shortly before a mob stormed the Capitol, disrupted the formal certification of Biden’s victory over Trump in the Nov. 3 election, sent lawmakers into hiding and left five people dead, including a police officer.

During his speech, Trump repeated his false claims that the election was rigged against him with widespread voting fraud and irregularities.

He exhorted his supporters to march on the Capitol, telling them to “stop the steal,” “show strength,” “fight much harder” and use “very different rules.”

McConnell and other Republican lawmakers have condemned the violence and some have accused Trump of inciting it.

Romney told CNN on Sunday that the trial was necessitated by Trump’s inflammatory call to his supporters.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll on Friday found that 51% of Americans thought the Senate should convict Trump, breaking down largely along party lines.

Source: Reuters

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Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, said the trial was set to begin during the week of Monday February 8, an arrangement praised by the chamber’s top Republican, Mitch McConnell.

The House of Representatives is due to formally deliver to the Senate on Monday the impeachment charge accusing Trump of inciting an insurrection, a move that ordinarily would have triggered the beginning of the trial within a day.

The charge stems from Trump’s incendiary speech to supporters before they stormed the Capitol on January 6 in a rampage that delayed the formal congressional certification of Biden’s election victory and left five people dead, including a police officer.

Schumer said the new timeline will allow the Senate to move quickly on key Biden appointees and other tasks while giving House lawmakers who will prosecute the case and Trump’s team more time to prepare for the trial.

“During that period, the Senate will continue to do other business for the American people, such as Cabinet nominations and the COVID relief bill which would provide relief for millions of Americans who are suffering during this pandemic,” Schumer said on the Senate floor.

The timeline was a compromise after McConnell had asked the Democratic-led House to delay sending the charge until next Thursday, and called on Schumer to postpone the trial until mid-February to give Trump more time to prepare a defense.

Doug Andres, a spokesman for McConnell, said the senator was pleased Democrats had given Trump’s defense more time, and laid out a timeline that could have the trial begin as soon as February 9.

“This is a win for due process and fairness,” Andres said.

Under the timeline, House impeachment managers will file their pre-trial brief and Trump’s defense team will file an answer to the impeachment charge on February 2, and each side will respond to those filings on February 8.

Trump on January 13 became the first U.S. president to have been impeached twice.

The Senate acquitted him last year in the previous trial focused on Trump’s request that Ukraine investigate Biden and his son.

Trump’s presidential term ended on Wednesday.

Conviction in the Senate would require a two-thirds vote – meaning 17 of Trump’s fellow Republicans would have to vote against him.

A conviction would clear the way for a second vote, requiring a simple majority, to bar Trump from holding office again.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Friday found a slim majority of Americans believe Trump should be convicted and barred from holding public office.

The responses were almost entirely along party lines, with nine out of 10 Democrats wanting Trump convicted and less than two in 10 Republicans agreeing.

Trump has said he may seek the presidency again in 2024.

His fate could depend on McConnell, whose position is likely to influence other Republicans.

McConnell said this week that the mob that attacked the Capitol was “fed lies” and “provoked by the president and other powerful people.”

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With tensions still high in the wake of the January 6 pro-Trump attack on the Capitol, security officers rapidly whisked away the participants, including members of a military band, as a plume of smoke was seen shooting up in the air a few blocks away around 10:30 am local time.

But the blaze apparently was not connected to the inaugural preparations, and the city’s fire department said no injuries were reported.

Law enforcement officials said the fire likely started in a homeless encampment under a highway overpass about five blocks away from the Capitol.

Neither Biden nor vice president-elect Kamala Harris were on site.

The U.S. Secret Service, which is leading security operations for Biden’s Wednesday inauguration, said it ordered the fire-related evacuation “out of an abundance of caution” and that people on the Capitol grounds were told to shelter in place.

“There is no threat to the public,” the agency said in a statement.

The cause of the fire that disrupted the rehearsal was not immediately known.

The precautionary shutdown comes at a tumultuous time in the nation’s capital.

Tens of thousands of National Guard troops have been dispatched to the city ahead of Biden’s inauguration amid warnings from the FBI that armed far-right groups may attempt to pull off another attack on the Capitol.

The National Mall, usually a place for supporters of the new president to gather during the inauguration, has been completely sealed off at least through Thursday, and security personnel erected large steel barriers around Capitol Hill over the weekend, making Washington look like a city at war.

President Donald Trump, who will not attend Biden’s inauguration, has been impeached for inciting the January 6 attack, in which five people died, by telling thousands of supporters to “fight” to stop lawmakers from certifying the 2020 election results during a joint session of Congress at the Capitol.

Source: dpa/NAN

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“I just received a positive COVID-19 test result after being locked down in a secured room at the Capitol where several Republicans not only cruelly refused to wear a mask but recklessly mocked colleagues and staff who offered them one,” Jayapal said in a post on her official Twitter account.

Earlier on Monday, U.S. Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman said she also contracted COVID-19 following possible exposure during the lockdown in the Capitol on January 6.

Jayapal, who is a member of the Democratic Party, accused the Republican lawmakers of causing a COVID-19 super spreader event and called for punishment against them.

“Any member who refuses to wear a mask should be fully held accountable for endangering our lives because of their selfish idiocy.

“I’m calling for every single member who refuses to wear a mask in the Capitol to be fined and removed from the floor by the Sergeant at Arms,” she said in a post on Twitter.

It is unclear if the two congresswomen were in the same room during the lockdown in the Capitol.

Jayapal decried U.S. President Donald Trump’s failure to contain the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S. and vowed to do everything in her power to remove him from office.

Source: Sputnik/NAN

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Pittman took over the leadership from Steven Sund after he stepped down amid criticism of the force’s handling of rioters who breached the Capitol building last week.

She said law enforcement from the federal, state and local levels were working together and comprehensive, coordinated plans were in place to ensure safety.

Several police officers have been suspended as investigations into the January 6 riot continue, she said.

Source: dpa/NAN

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