Donald Trump faces a second impeachment trial
Credit: AFP
Donald Trump’s tweets will be used as evidence against him at his impeachment trial as Democrats launch a glossy made-for-TV production setting out their case.
The former president’s social media posts calling the election "rigged," claiming he really won, and vowing to "stop the steal," will be spliced with video of him speaking at rallies, and scenes of chaos and violence engulfing the US Capitol on Jan 6.
Democrat prosecutors will attempt to link the tweets on election fraud directly to the deadly mob attack on the seat of US democracy.
On Monday night, Mr Trump’s lawyers filed a 78-page response accusing Democrats of "political theatre," calling his trial unconstitutional, and saying he was not responsible for the actions of a "small group of criminals".
They said he had been exercising his First Amendment right to free speech by raising "electoral integrity issues essential to his career".
A Gallup poll showed a narrow majority of the American public — 52 per cent — believed Mr Trump should be convicted at the trial, which was set to begin on Tuesday.
But Republican senators rallied around Mr Trump calling the trial unnecessary, and making clear it would end in acquittal.
The trial was expected to last only days, perhaps less than a week, as both sides wanted it over quickly.
A two-thirds majority in the Senate would be needed to convict Mr Trump on a single charge of inciting insurrection.
The Senate is currently split 50-50, meaning 17 Republicans would have to join Democrats to convict, and there appeared no possibility of that.
Five people died when supporters of President Trump stormed the Capitol
Credit: Getty
In addition to arguing he was not responsible for the riot, Mr Trump’s legal team was expected to focus on constitutional objections to the trial.
That would allow Republican senators to publicly condemn the former president’s actions while also acquitting him.
In their eve-of-trial argument Mr Trump’s lawyers accused Democrat prosecutors of trying to "exploit" the situation to "silence a political opponent".
They claimed prosecutors had displayed "intellectual dishonesty and factual vacuity" and made "patently absurd" arguments.
Read more: Donald Trump impeachment: what you need to know about the Senate trial
Mr Trump’s legal team acknowledged that he told supporters to "fight like hell" hours before violence erupted, but said he had meant it in a "figurative sense".
They wrote: "This [trial] was only ever a selfish attempt by Democrat leadership to prey upon the feelings of horror and confusion that fell upon all Americans across the entire political spectrum.
"Indulging Democrats’ hunger for this political theatre is a danger to our Republic. The Senate must summarily reject this brazen political act."
With the result of the trial in no doubt the primary audience for Democrat prosecutors will be not the jury of senators, but the public.
They hoped their visually-based case, featuring Mr Trump’s tweets, would resonate with TV viewers.
Particularly, they hoped it would "horrify" Republican voters across the country, thereby lessening the chance of Mr Trump being able to re-enter politics in the future.
Prosecutors believed that was a better strategy than calling a parade of live witnesses.
The video footage, put together by an outside production company, will be played on screens in the Senate chamber and broadcast on television.
Mr Trump’s lawyers also planned to use video in their presentation, showing Democrat politicians making incendiary speeches, along with images of mob violence in Democrat areas of the country last summer.
The Gallup poll showing 52 per cent wanted Mr Trump convicted was highly divided along party lines.
Some 89 per cent of Democrats said he should be convicted, while 88 per cent of Republicans said he should not.
A similar Gallup poll taken in 2019 just before Mr Trump’s first impeachment trial showed less support for conviction, with 46 per cent believing he should be.
The new trial was expected to begin with a debate over the constitutionality of trying an ex-president, followed by a vote Democrats were expected to win.
That was to be followed by the prosecution and defence each being given up to 16 hours to put their case. It was expected few, or no, witnesses would be called.
Mr Trump’s legal team added: "The people who criminally breached the Capitol did so of their own accord and for their own reasons."
In a final legal submission on Monday prosecutors said: "The evidence of President Trump’s conduct is overwhelming. It is the most grievous constitutional crime ever committed by a president."
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