Trump's second impeachment trial: Day 4

A Washington Post photographer captured what appeared to be prepared remarks by GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy. He is seen holding a typed memo that has a few lines at the top crossed out by pen marks. 

The typed copy reads, “The House Managers did not connect the dots to show President Trump knew that the attack on the Capitol was going to be violent and result in the loss of life." 

Cassidy’s communications director Ty Bofferding responded shortly afterwards in a tweet saying that Cassidy is still weighing both sides. 

"@SenBillCassidy is still weighing both sets of arguments and is reviewing memos from both points of view as part of his thought process before coming to a conclusion," he tweeted. 

More context: Six Republicans joined all of their Democratic colleagues on Tuesday to vote that the impeachment trial against former President Trump is constitutional, with Cassidy emerging as the sole Republican to switch his vote after an initial vote on constitutionality last month.

Cassidy told CNN Tuesday after the House managers' presentation that it was a "very good opening" and they made strong arguments. During their presentation, House impeachment managers showed how rioters violently breached the US Capitol and attacked police officers, invoking Trump's name as they tried to disrupt the certification of the November election.

Sen. Mitt Romney, a Republican from Utah, submitted a question asking just how much former President Trump knew about the safety of then Vice President Pence as rioters stormed the Capitol. 

Trump's tweet at the time disparaged Pence and falsely suggested that he had betrayed the US Constitution. His tweet said:

"Mike Pence didn't have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution," a 2:24 p.m. tweet read.

Impeachment manager Rep. Joaquin Castro was the first to answer the question, arguing in detail that there was no reasonable way Trump could not have been aware of the threat to Pence, given the saturation of news coverage on Jan 6.

"There were hours of chaos and carnage and mayhem, and the Vice President and his family were still in danger at that point," Castro said. "Our commander-in-chief did nothing." 

But Trump's defense counsel, Michael van der Veen, demurred saying that Democrats had constructed a flimsy case agains the former President and not included proof that Trump was aware of the threat to Pence.

"The answer is no," he said. "At no point was the President informed that the Vice President was in any danger."

"There is nothing at all in the record on this point because the House failed to do even a minimum amount of due diligence," he added.

Sen. Tommy Tuberville, a Republican from Alabama, told reporters this week that he spoke to Trump shortly after 2 p.m. on Jan. 6 and told him that Pence had just been rushed away from the rioters by US Secret Service. That was before Trump tweeted about Pence at 2:24 p.m. ET.

Trump lawyer Michael van der Veen highlighted comments from Democrats that he suggested had promoted or defended violence.

Trump, he argued, is different than these Democrats. “Contrast the President’s repeated condemnations of violence with the rhetoric from his opponents,” van der Veen said. He then played a video that juxtaposed clips of Trump condemning violence, and calling himself an “ally of all peaceful protesters,” with some selectively edited clips of Democrats. 

Facts First: This argument and video were misleading by omission. Trump has indeed condemned violence and called for peaceful protest, but he has also repeatedly applauded or defended violence and aggressive behavior. 

Among other things, Trump has done the following since he launched his presidential campaign in 2015:

GOP Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri said he sees no issue with former President Trump's defense and doesn't offer any criticism of Trump's actions.

"I thought they did a good job and didn't take much time to do it," Blunt said.

Asked by CNN's Manu Raju whether he thought it was a false equivalence to compare Democrats saying fight repeatedly to what Trump said on Jan. 6, Blunt said:

Pressed on whether he faults Trump, Blunt said, "I made comments on the 6th and the 7th about his actions that I haven't changed." 

As a sign Republicans have heard enough and are happy that the Trump legal team has rested its case, newly elected Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall said he has seen enough and is ready to vote to acquit former President Trump.

Marshall said he has seen enough and is ready to vote. 

“I think the trial is basically over with, I'm ready to vote and and get on with life. It’s time for us to get back to the work of the people working getting vaccinations in people's arms and getting the economy open again.”

The four-hour question period has just begun in the Senate.

Sen. Patrick Leahy, a longtime Vermont Democrat who is presiding over the trial, asked the clerk to read the first question submitted by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Dianne Feinstein directed to the House impeachment managers.

House impeachment manager Rep. Joaquin Castro answered the question, pointing to some of the arguments he and his colleagues raised during their presentations earlier this week.

"To answer your question very directly, Donald Trump summoned the mob, assembled the mob. Although he could have forcefully intervened to stop the violence, he never did. In other words, this violent, bloody insurrection that occurred January 6th would not have occurred but for President Trump," Castro said.

More on this portion of the trial: Each party is limited to up to 5 minutes to answer each question. If questions are directed to both parties, the time will be equally divided. 

Watch the moment:

As the Senate begins the question-and-answer portion of the impeachment trial, former President Trump's attorneys have voiced concern about a few questions they could field from senators – namely ones about whether or not the election was stolen – and others related to Trump's false voter fraud claims. 

Attorney Bruce Castor happily waded into those claims a few moments ago, but Trump advisers have been concerned it could throw off their appeal to moderate Republicans when it comes to the constitutionality argument.

Former President Trump was happier today with today's presentation by his defense team than he was after their first presentation earlier in the week, a source on the impeachment team confirmed to CNN. 

Tuesday's rambling argument from Trump attorney Bruce Castor was panned by Republican senators and allegedly angered Trump.

The Senate is back in session after taking their second break of the day.

The defense team concluded their arguments before the break – taking under four hours to present their case that former President Trump did not incite violence.

They are now expected to start a question and answer session that could take up to four hours. It’s not clear if they will use the full four hours, but that will likely be the last thing they do today.