The architect of Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial has blamed the “explosive and deranged” tactics of the former president’s lawyers for covering up the strength of the House Democrats case.
But chief impeachment manager, Jamie Raskin, said the Democrats’ case nonetheless seemed to convince even Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell of Trump’s guilt in instigating the Capitol riot.
Two days after Trump escaped conviction, and while his supporters enjoyed the prospect of his return to frontline politics, Raskin also told the Washington Post it was both “ good and terrible to look at McConnell’s post-verdict speech, ” which he denounced Trump – but said he voted for acquittal because the trial was unconstitutional.
Tellingly, Raskin said, many of the 43 Republicans who voted for acquittal “felt the need to hang their hats” on that argument, which was rejected by constitutional scientists and twice by the Senate itself.
Even Trump’s lawyers were not trying to defend what Democrats characterized as Trump’s “ big lie ”: that he won an election that he actually lost by more than 7 million popular votes and 74 electoral votes.
Likewise, Trump’s legal team, led by a personal injury attorney and a former prosecutor who declined to file charges against Bill Cosby, failed to free Trump from the blame for the attack on the Capitol, judging by the Republican speeches. senators.
Instead, Trump’s lawyers denied a comprehensive and unambiguous account of what the former president said and did, drawing false parallels between routine political speeches and Trump’s attempted coup.
In the final impeachment vote, seven Republicans voted with the Democrats to condemn Trump – a total of 53 votes 10 less than the required total.
As an indication of how the Republican Party has deviated from popular will, nearly six in ten Americans – 58% – believe Trump should have been convicted, according to a new ABC News-Ipsos poll.
Raskin and his fellow house managers have been critically acclaimed for their work. Their case made extensive use of video of events at the Capitol on Jan. 6, when supporters told by Trump to “fight like hell” to undo his election defeat raided some chasing lawmakers to kidnap or to kill. Five people died as a direct result of the riot.
Raskin took the lead, despite his son’s suicide in December. He told the Post that he had “told managers we would go to court but not censor the emotion.”
There has been criticism among Democrats after the managers persuaded the Senate to vote to call for witnesses, but then they agreed to avoid that move, which could have prolonged the process. On Sunday, Raskin said witnesses would not have changed their mind.
“These Republicans voted for acquittal in the face of this mountain of uncontested evidence,” he told NBC. “There is no reasoning with people who are actually acting like members of a religious sect.”
Virgin Islands Deputy Stacey Plaskett, who was also widely praised for her role in the trial, told CNN, “We didn’t need more witnesses, we needed more senators with spines.”
Further evidence of Trump’s alleged misconduct may be found. Members of Congress from both parties have called for a 9/11 style bipartisan committee to investigate why government officials and law enforcement officials have been unable to stop the attack on the Capitol.
Trump attorneys Michael van der Veen, Bruce Castor and David Schoen celebrated their client’s acquittal, but were widely ridiculed for a case based on bland arguments about freedom of speech and scattershot whataboutism about democratic attitudes towards protests against racism and police brutality.
“They couldn’t get a summer internship at My Cousin Vinny,” Raskin told The Post, perhaps an intentional reference to a bizarre and famously sweaty press conference held in November by another Trump attorney, Rudy Giuliani, amid the failed attempts. of the former president to prove mass fraud in his election defeat against Joe Biden.
My Cousin Vinny is a 1992 Oscar-winning comedy about an unlucky lawyer, played by Joe Pesci. Giuliani said his was “one of my favorite lawyer movies because he’s from Brooklyn.”
Trump, who is from Queens, declined to testify in defense. Raskin called him “a profile of absolute cowardice” and said, “He betrayed the constitution, the country and his people.
“Trump’s followers must understand that he has no loyalty to them … Donald Trump is the past. We must deal with the future.”