Lead impeachment manager Jamie Raskin opened Thursday’s session by introducing Representative Diana DeGette of Colorado, who showed the Senate how the insurrectionists believed they were following Donald Trump’s orders when they invaded the Capitol on 6 January.

DeGette started by briefly referring to the disturbing visuals of rioters shown as part of presentations the day before, mentioning her own experience in the Capitol that day:

“I was one of the unlucky members who were stuck in the House gallery… as the House floor was cleared beneath us of members and staff, we could see the Capitol police officers inside the chamber pull their guns and point them at the intruders.”

DeGette said she was going to “look at January 6 from a totally different perspective. The perspective of the insurrectionists themselves.”

A video billboard calling for the impeachment of former president Donald Trump plays outside the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on Thursday. EPA-EFE/JIM LO SCALZO

Statements by some of the individuals during the attack on the first Wednesday of 2021 made it clear that “they truly believed that the whole intrusion was at the president’s order – we know that because they said so… the president told them to be there and so they actually believed they would face no punishment.”

DeGette said it was clear that Trump’s supporters believed they were acting on his instructions. This contradicts Trump’s defence, as his lawyers argued on Tuesday that “they did so of their own accord and for their own reasons and are being criminally prosecuted”. Which explains the surprise expressed by many who were arrested after the insurrection – including Jennifer Ryan who said she did not feel shame for what she did because “I thought I was following my president… I was doing what he asked us, to fly there, he asked us to be there”

DeGette and the impeachment managers believe they have proven that the rioters’ presence at the Capitol and their storming of it, was not their idea. The protesters could be heard in video of the riot making comments like: “Our president wants us here… We wait and take orders from our president… Trump sent us.” She said it was clear that Trump “invited them, with clear instructions for a specific time and place and with clear orders… to stop the certification in Congress by any means necessary.”

The impeachment managers had also shown the day before how the organisation that planned the Save America rally, had planned to hold it after the presidential inauguration and that Trump had got involved and then the date of the event changed. The argument is that Trump had, with forethought and deliberate intent, worked all the angles to make sure he had as many supporters as possible and as close as possible to the venue of the Electoral College vote count on the day of certification.

The Democrats also showed how supporters had announced on Parler that it was “Time to fight. Civil war is upon us” immediately after Trump told the crowd that morning “you’ll never take our country back with weakness”. Parler is a social media platform where people can say whatever they want without worrying that someone is going to call them out for spreading disinformation or “fake news”. It is known to be very popular with Trump supporters. The app has been banned by Apple, Google and Amazon. 

DeGette said when some Trump supporters realised they had no protection and their president was not going to help them, they expressed regret and disappointment. One of them is Jacob Chansley, the “QAnon Shaman” famous for being seen in the Senate Chamber wearing horns and face paint, who launched several “Jamiroquai” memes. Following his arrest he received more media attention when his mother petitioned for the 33-year-old to be fed organic food. He has since apologised for his actions and said Trump “let a lot of peaceful people down”. 

Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer speaks to the media after the third day of the second impeachment trial against Donald Trump at the Capitol in Washington, DC, on Thursday. EPA-EFE/JIM LO SCALZO

Raskin added that Trump had known he would get a violent outcome as he had “seen many of the exact same groups he was mobilising participate in extremist violence before. Moreover he’d seen clearly how his own incitement to violence and praise after the violence took place, galvanised, encouraged and electrified these extremist followers.”

Trump had a history of “encouraging violence against other public officials who he thought had crossed him [which] long predates his 2020 campaign”.

Raskin also spoke of Trump’s resistance to speaking out against extremist groups and showed video of the former president inciting his supporters to attack people at rallies – including one in 2015 where a man was punched and kicked and thrown out of the venue after Trump told supporters to “get him the hell outta here”. He also said an attack on a black man at one of his rallies was “very appropriate” and refused to speak out against groups and marchers espousing racism and anti-Semitism. 

Raskin gave the examples of the marches (twice) on the Michigan Capitol where Trump did not denounce the violence but tweeted that “these are very good people” and basically told the governor of Michigan that she should negotiate with them. Even after a conspiracy was uncovered to kidnap governor Gretchen Whitmer, Trump did not denounce the men involved.

He publicly denigrated her, on Twitter and at rallies, and even joked that his words had started the plot to kidnap her.

The Democrats’ Ted Lieu showed how a number of senior Republicans and former White House staff in the Trump administration had condemned the insurrections and Trump’s role in them. Many Republicans also resigned as a direct result of their feelings about the president’s conduct in inciting the riot. Lieu said jurors need to vote to convict Trump to “deter future presidents who do not like the outcome of a national election from believing they can follow in president Trump’s footsteps”.

DeGette also reminded people that thousands of National Guard troops had to be brought into the Capitol after the riot and thousands of troops are still here. She showed a presentation of the financial implications of this and other mobilisations of the National Guard in other states following threats of  violence. This expenditure came “at a time when state budgets are already suffering under the wave of the pandemic”.

The FBI had warned that extremist groups were emboldened by the “success” of 6 January, while membership of some of them had increased after the riot, DeGette said.

Representative David Cicilline was sombre: “The attack on January 6 was one of the bloodiest intrusions in the Capitol since the British invaded in the war of 1812 and burned it to the ground.”

He pointed out how rioters were intent on killing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Vice-President Mike Pence – having come prepared with a rope and building a gallows for Pence. Some in the mob talked about gassing the legislators.

He said that while a lot of attention had been on the legislators who were in danger, there were many other people who work in the legislative branch – junior and administrative staff , media and essential services staff – ordinary people, young people just trying to do their jobs.

Almost 200 National Guard troops had been diagnosed with Covid-19 since their deployment to the Capitol, and injured police officers were still recovering. One would lose an eye, while officers who had not been issued helmets had sustained brain damage.

Cicilline highlighted that the members of the media in the House that day were not safe – “they were in danger particularly after years of being derided by Trump as fake news”.

Representative Joe Neguse addressed the “notion that he can’t be held accountable for what happened on January 6 because his actions are somehow protected by the First Amendment”.

Neguse said the argument by Trump’s lawyers “is meant as a distraction” and that the defence has “an alternative set of facts where President Trump did nothing but deliver a controversial speech at a rally. Of course that’s not what we’ve charged in the article of impeachment. And that’s not what happened.”

Raskin followed with a scathing assessment of Trump’s legal position: “He’s been impeached for inciting violent insurrection against the government. Incitement to violent insurrection is not protected by free speech. There is no First Amendment defence to impeachment for high crimes and misdemeanours; the idea itself is absurd.”

Trump was known for “treating up as down and wrong as right; he tried to pull off the biggest election fraud in American history.”

Democratic Senator from Vermont Patrick Leahy arrives for the third day of the impeachment trial on Thursday. EPA-EFE/JIM LO SCALZO

Raskin reminded the Senate that an impeachment conviction did not come with jail time, but would preclude Trump from running for office again: “There are hundreds of millions of citizens who can be president. Donald Trump has disqualified himself and you must disqualify him too.”

In closing, Raskin said: “The only real question here is the factual one: did we prove that Donald Trump, while president of the United States, incited a violent insurrection against the government?”

Neguse told the Senate: “The evidence is clear… President Trump incited an insurrection… attacking his vice-president… We humbly, humbly ask you to convict President Trump for the crime for which he is overwhelmingly guilty of.”

Trump’s legal team will make its case when the trial resumes at noon EST (7pm South African time) on Friday. DM