Senators Pay Somber Attention To Insurrection Tales

IMPEACHMENT OF FORMER PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP

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FELICIA SONMEZ AND PAUL KANE The Washington Post

WASHINGTON - House impeachment managers Wednesday led a rapt U.S. Senate on a harrowing retelling of the terror that engulfed the U.S. Capitol last month, sharing shocking new audio and video recordings of rioters declaring their intent to harm Vice President Mike Pence and other top officials - and showing how close they came to doing so.

The House Democrats, led by lead manager Jamie Raskin, D-Md., spent the second day of former president Donald Trump's impeachment trial displaying violent video scenes of the Jan. 6 attack and the rioters' relentlessly raw language, including chants to "hang" Pence and a sinister clip of a man looking for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi asking, "Naaaancy? Where aaaare you, Nancy?"

All of it, the impeachment managers said, was a direct result of the president's monthslong effort to persuade his supporters of the "big lie" that the election had been stolen.

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After he had exhausted all other options to overturn President Joe Biden's victory, they said - including dozens of lawsuits and a sustained campaign to pressure state election officials - Trump turned his sights to Jan. 6, the day Congress was scheduled formalize Biden's electoral college victory.

His supporters, the managers said, were heeding his calls with their violent plans to stop the vote count and even harm lawmakers.

"President Trump put a target on their backs," said Stacey Plaskett, a Democratic House delegate from the Virgin Islands, describing the threat to lawmakers and Pence. "And his mob broke into the Capitol to hunt them down."

Republican and Democratic senators alike sat in silent and somber attention as the managers played never-before- heard recordings of overwhelmed police officers desperately calling for backup- "We lost the line!" one officer repeatedly shouts - and Capitol security camera footage showing lawmakers being hustled to safety just paces from the rioters.

It was unclear whether the dramatic new evidence would change the minds of Republicans, most of whom have indicated their intent to acquit the former president on charges that he incited the insurrection. A conviction would require the support of two-thirds of senators in the evenly divided chamber.

"They spent a great deal of time focusing on the horrific acts of violence that were played out by the criminals, but the language from the president doesn't come close to meeting the legal standard for incitement," said Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas.

Still, some GOP senators appeared shaken by the graphic video presentation, which included wrenching footage of an officer howling in pain as the mob crushed him in a doorway.

As the Senate recessed for dinner, Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., appeared to grow emotional at his desk, bending his head down. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., who sits next to him, put his hand on Lankford's arm, as if to comfort him.

"The evidence that has been presented so far is pretty damning," said Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, who has indicated that she is open to conviction.

Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., called the case laid out by the House "gut-wrenching," adding: "I just hope that our Republican colleagues have an open mind."

'IS THIS AMERICA?'

Over and over again, the impeachment managers implored the senators to consider the message they wanted to send to Americans about the character of our country.

"That's the question before all of you in this trial: Is this America?" Raskin said. "Can our country and our democracy ever be the same if we don't hold accountable the person responsible for inciting the violent attack against our country?"

The House Democrats were expected to continue making their case today, with Trump's lawyers expected to mount their defense Friday and Saturday. The Senate is not expected to vote on whether to allow witness testimony until after that, though Republicans and Democrats have said they want the trial to move at a swift pace.

Democrats are eager to turn their attention back to Biden's Cabinet appointees and a coronavirus relief bill, while Republicans simply want to turn the page on the former president's role in the insurrection.

In their presentations, the House managers revealed several gripping new details about the events that unfolded Jan. 6 - including new surveillance footage showing Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, running down a hallway at a police officer's instruction seconds before rioters breached windows nearby.

The officer, Eugene Goodman, already had been commended for leading rioters away from the Senate chamber as it was being evacuated, an act of heroism documented on a reporter's cellphone and widely circulated. The new scene with Romney took place just before then, the House managers said.

During a break in the trial, Romney told reporters he had no idea how close he had been to harm's way, nor that Goodman was the officer who had helped him.

"I look forward to thanking him when I next see him," he said, adding: "It was obviously very troubling to see the great violence that our Capitol Police and others were subjected to. It tears at your heart and brings tears to your eyes. That was overwhelmingly distressing and emotional."

SEARCHING FOR PENCE

The managers also showed just how intent some of the rioters were on doing harm to elected leaders, actively searching for Pence at the same time he was being evacuated from a room off the Senate floor.

As Goodman led the mob up the stairs, the rioters were, at one moment, within 100 feet of the small room where the vice president was sheltering with his family, according to Plaskett. Goodman led the mob away from where Pence was hiding.

Surveillance video then shows Pence, along with his security detail and members of his family and staff, being evacuated down a Capitol stairway to a secure location away from the building. The evacuation took place at 2:26 p.m., 14 minutes after rioters had entered the building.

On the other side of the building, the pro-Trump mob was banging on locked doors in search of Pelosi. House managers zoomed in on a widely circulated photo of a man sitting in a chair in Pelosi's office to reveal that he was wearing a stun gun on his belt.

As the House team walked senators through a timeline of the day's events, the managers used a diagram of the building to show where the rioters were in relation to elected officials, and how close they came to confrontation.

In another newly released bit of footage, Schumer can be seen being ushered along a basement hallway, disappearing, and then hastily changing direction with his security team after they encountered rioters blocking their planned route.

Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., had the full attention of the Senate chamber with a 30-minute presentation designed to show them the events of Jan. 6 they were less familiar with: what happened on the House side and how police confronted the mob on the West Front of the Capitol.

He also played a chilling video of House members instructing one another to take off their identifying lapel pins.

Not until 2:30 p.m., 15 minutes after the Senate had stopped its proceedings and secured its doors, did the House fully implement internal security measures.

PAYING CLOSE ATTENTION

Republicans and Democrats intently watched every video Swalwell played, building to the confrontation just a few feet from the floor of the House chamber where a police officer shot and killed a rioter trying to enter the chamber.

Swalwell paused, and the Senate was silent as the sound of the gunshot resonated from the video. He then turned to footage of the rioters' attacks on police, again leaving the Senate in stunned silence.

When the impeachment managers began their presentation, which showed how the rioters flooded through the halls of the Capitol, many senators strained in their seats to get a better view of the video monitor.

In the back row on the Democratic side, Sens. Mark Warner of Virginia and Michael Bennet of Colorado took to their feet to watch. Bennet eventually sat down, but Warner paced behind his seat for several minutes before sitting back down.

On the Republican side, senators showed little emotion, but all paid close attention, most turning their heads away only occasionally to take notes.

As Plaskett played audio of police officers urgently summoning help, Senate Minority Leader Mitch Mc-Connell appeared very focused, leaning over to watch the screen on the GOP side. GOP Sen. Mike Lee of Utah took furious notes as he watched.

Trump apparently is aware of the emotional punch of the Democratic case. According to one adviser, he has pushed his team to produce its own videos to counters those of their opponents, including shots of Democratic lawmakers making controversial statements over the years.

The former president has talked to a number of advisers in the past 24 hours about the trial, including Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., his former chief of staff Mark Meadows, adviser Jason Miller and his lawyers, according to people familiar with the discussions.

Trump was displeased with the meandering presentation Tuesday by his lawyer Bruce Castor, but his team has persuaded him for now to stick with Castor and promised that the weekend would bring more prepared presentations.

'FIGHT LIKE HELL'

The House managers began the day with a meticulous presentation documenting how Trump provoked the riot for weeks, beginning with his refusal to commit to a peaceful transfer of power before Election Day and his preemptive assertion that his defeat would mean the election had been rigged.

Senators heard him exhort his supporters in combat terms that "the election was stolen," to "stop the steal" and "to fight like hell." The impeachment managers described how Trump lost legal challenge after legal challenge, yet continued to claim he actually had won the election. They documented how he pressured state officials in key battleground states to overturn the results.

And when all of those efforts failed, he set his sights on Jan. 6, the day Congress was scheduled to certify Biden's Electoral College victory, because he "ran out of nonviolent options to maintain power," said Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif.

Trump even sent what the House managers described as a "save the date" message to his supporters more than two weeks ahead of Jan. 6, tweeting, "Be there, will be wild!"

Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, one of the impeachment managers, told senators that Trump's goal all along was "to make sure that his supporters were angry, like the election was being ripped away from them." And he showed how the resentment that Trump cultivated built up, playing footage of CNN interviews with Trump supporters who said they believed a Biden win would not be legitimate.

"Now, all of us in this room have run for election - and it's no fun to lose," Castro said. "I'm a Texas Democrat. We've 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? ... But, that's exactly what President Trump did."

"His words," Castro added, "became their actions."

Above: Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, one of the impeachment managers in the trial of former President Donald Trump, told senators Wednesday in Washington that Trump's goal all along was "to make sure that his supporters were angry, like the election was being ripped away from them." Below: Supporters of Trump chant "Fight for Trump!" during the insurrection at the Capitol in Washington on Jan. 6. Video of the assault was played during the trial. PHOTOS FROM SENATE TELEVISION VIA THE ASSOCIATED PRESS