Trump's second impeachment trial: Day 4

A group of key Republican senators, who have also been actively counseling the Trump legal team, huddled on the Senate floor during the break and could be heard talking about the “standard” of impeachment. 

Sens. Ted Cruz, from Texas, and Mike Lee from Utah, who were seen entering a room with the Trump legal team last night, had an animated conversation during the break. After talking for a period of time, Cruz and Lee were joined by Sens. Dan Sullivan, from Alaska, Mike Braun from Indiana, Todd Young also from Indiana, and Marsha Blackburn from Tennessee.

Cruz, who was maskless during the conversation, could be heard saying, “The House has their standard of impeachment, but standard is different on this side.”

Several of the senators nodded in agreement and then asked questions of Cruz and Lee. Eventually the senators went in separate directions.

Former President Trump's lawyer Michael van der Veen claimed that Washington officials other than former President Trump are the ones who used reckless and inflammatory rhetoric.

He claimed: “The entire Democratic Party and national news media spent the last four years repeating without any evidence that the 2016 election had been hacked.” 

Facts First: The Democratic National Committee and the Hillary Clinton campaign were indeed hacked during the 2016 election campaign; this is a fact, not a claim made “without any evidence.” The US intelligence community, special counsel Robert Mueller and the bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee all concluded that the Russian government was responsible for stealing and leaking internal documents and emails. 

If van der Veen was suggesting that the “entire Democratic Party and national media” spent four years falsely alleging that hackers altered actual votes or vote totals in the 2016 election, that would not be true either. We can’t speak for every word uttered by every Democrat or every journalist since 2016, but it is clearly inaccurate to say that the entire party or entire media spent four years pushing such a claim. The national discussion about hacking during the 2016 election focused on the actual, confirmed hacking that targeted the Democrats’ computer systems.

The House impeachment managers on Feb. 4 requested Donald Trump testify during the Senate impeachment trial, in a dramatic move to try to get the former President on the record about his conduct surrounding the Jan. 6 riots at the Capitol.

But Trump's legal team quickly responded by rejecting the invitation in a terse response to the House impeachment team, putting the decision back on the Democrats over whether to try to compel Trump's testimony with a subpoena or call other witnesses. 

Lead impeachment manager Rep. Jamie Raskin sent a letter to Trump's attorney Feb. 4 requesting that Trump testify before or during the upcoming impeachment trial arguing that his testimony was needed after he disputed the House's allegations that he incited the insurrection at the Capitol.

"The use of our Constitution to bring a purported impeachment proceeding is much too serious to try to play these games," wrote Trump's attorneys Bruce Castor and David Schoen.

Trump adviser Jason Miller confirmed that Trump was rejecting the request, telling CNN, "The President will not testify in an unconstitutional proceeding."

During his closing remarks last night, Raskin shared a series of questions that the impeachment lawyers would have asked Trump had he agreed to testify, including why Trump did not tell his supporters to stop the attack on the Capitol "as soon as he learned of it."

At the request of the managers, there will be an option to hold a debate and vote on calling witnesses. But that's only keeping open the possibility — it's not an indication on its own that the managers plan to do so.

The problem for the managers is it's unclear whom they could call as a witness voluntarily who could speak to Trump's mindset. Even if the Senate voted to subpoena a witness who was in the White House on Jan. 6, there could be a court fight over executive privilege that would delay the trial.

The Senate is back in session after taking a short break.

Former President Trump's defense team is making their case today.

Although they have up to 16 hours for arguments, Trump's attorneys have signaled they will keep it short and intend to conclude their case as soon as today.

During the break, Trump attorney David Schoen said he didn't expect their defense to last much longer.

Sen. Tim Kaine, a Democrat from Virginia, told CNN the video montage former President Trump's defense team showed amounted to a “bogus argument.”

Sen. Martin Heinrich, a Democrat from New Mexico, called it a “completely false equivalence. I don't remember any violent mobs after any of those comments, so it's just not the same thing.”

Sen. Chris Coons, a Democratic from Delaware, said, “Show me any time that the result was, our supporters pulled someone out of the crowd, beat the living crap out of them, and then we said, 'That's great, good for you, you're a patriot.'"

But some Republicans are praising the Trump team.

Sen. John Barrasso, a Republican from Wyoming, said it’s a “really well done defense” to start.

Sen. Ron Johnson, a Republican from Wisconsin, offered up a full-throated endorsement of the defense’s presentation, saying that “the President's lawyers blew the house managers' case out of the water.”

Sen. Ron Johnson, a Republican from Wisconsin, offered up a full-throated endorsement of the defense’s presentation, saying that “the President's lawyers blew the house managers' case out of the water.”

“They just legally eviscerated what the House managers put in front. I mean, the fact of the doctored and falsified facts, starting out with that. But again the video is just powerful I mean we all know that,” he said.

Johnson also charged that incitement began four years ago, and came from Democrats against the former President.

“Again what I was saying going in here that the incitement, if there's incitement involved here it started four years ago, it's been relentless," he said.

Read more about the Democrats' charge against Trump here.

As former President Trump's lawyers presented their arguments, only three GOP seats were empty.

Yesterday, CNN's Manu Raju reported that at one point during the Democrats' presentation, he saw 15 empty GOP seats.

Today, almost all senators were paying close attention inside the chamber. Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy took many notes.

Republicans appeared much more alert today. Many were taking notes and GOP Sen. Rand Paul was particularly attentive today. He’s chuckled several times, including when footage played showing Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters challenging Electoral College results.

He was smiling and nodding as video footage showed protests over the summer and Michael van der Veen, a defense attorney fo Trump, noted the Democratic responses.

On the other side of the chamber, some Democrats could been seen shaking their heads and whispering at times in the presentation.

During the protest footage, Sen. Brian Schatz shook his head several times and leaned in to whisper to Sen. Richard Blumenthal. Sen. Bernie Sanders was fidgeting with his wrist and the cuff of his shirt when he was mentioned with the 2017 shooting involving Rep. Steve Scalise. He was leaned back in his chair, not taking notes. 

When Republican Sen. Susan Collins was cited on the Rep. Eric Swalwell tweet about the threats against her after the Justice Brett Kavanaugh vote, Collins didn’t have much of a response. She remained leaning over her desk. She was looking up then jotted down some notes on a white legal pad.

When Trump's other attorney David Schoen brought up what he alleged was manipulation by House managers, lead House impeachment manager Rep. Jamie Raskin began scribbling in his notepad furiously.

When Schoen mentioned Trump representing Christ's calvary, Democrats in the room were aghast. Democratic Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse, Mazie Hirono, Kirsten Gillibrand and Joe Manchin all began talking, with Whitehouse saying incredulously, "Oh my God." 

During a number of Sen. Elizabeth Warren clips at the top, the Massachusetts lawmaker sat fidgeting with her pen, her chair turned toward the screen. She nodded slightly as more clips played.

As more Warren clips played, Sen. Ed Markey said something quite loud to Schatz a row away. 

When an ad featuring Sen. Jon Tester played, with him saying “damn right,” quite a few Democrats started giggling. Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Sen. Chris Coons started to whisper back and forth, something they continued throughout the rest of the montage. 

Gillibrand appeared to giggle when she appeared in the montage. She was leaned over talking with Schatz when her clip played.

Sen. Sherrod Brown patted Sen. Bob Casey on the shoulder after a clip played showing Casey. 

As a montage of Hillary Clinton remarks played, Sen. Alex Padilla showed Warren several notes he’d written. She nodded. 

Sen. Patty Murray passed a note to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who sat directly in front of her, toward the end of the montage. Schumer nodded several times before turning around and passing it back to her. 

At the end, there was a lot of murmurs in the chamber, particularly from the Democratic side of the chamber. Klobuchar raised her hands slightly and said “Aw” as though she was saying “is it already over.” 

The Senate is taking a short break – the first break of the day.

Former President Trump's defense team have been making their case today.

Trump's attorneys opened their presentation at the Senate impeachment trial arguing that Trump's language on Jan. 6 telling his supporters to "fight like hell" was merely "ordinary political rhetoric," and that the House impeachment managers ignored Trump's comments in his speech for protesters to remain peaceful.

Trump's lawyers also went after House Democrats, accusing them of carrying out political retribution by impeaching the former president a second time after going after him throughout his time in office. They accused the managers of selectively editing footage of Trump's speeches.

Read more about how today's events have played out so far here.

Trump's defense lawyer Michael van der Veen claimed during today's presentation that “the first two messages the President sent via Twitter once the incursion of the Capitol began” on Jan. 6 urged people to “stay peaceful” and called for “no violence.”

Facts First: This is not true.

Trump’s “stay peaceful” tweet at 2:38 p.m. ET and “no violence” tweet at 3:13 p.m. ET were his second and third tweeted messages after the Capitol was breached, not his first.

Trump’s first tweet was at 2:24 p.m. ET: “Mike Pence didn't have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution, giving States a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certify. USA demands the truth!”  

Rioters had already entered the US Capitol building by the time of the Trump tweet about Pence.