(CNN) – Prosecutors of the house’s allegations showed senators videos of their colleagues fleeing a pro-Trump mob, who raided the Capitol, shouting “stop the robbery.” They showed the rioters searching for then Vice President Mike Pence and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and rummaging through senators’ desks on the chamber floor.
Some of Trump’s supporters were dressed in tactical gear armed with zip ties. Others held up Trump 2020 flags, smashed windows with stilts and hung a gallows for Pence, who was constitutionally obliged to oversee the certification of the 2020 presidential election and the peaceful transfer of power to the Democrats.
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But even after witnessing the deadly violence firsthand and recalling it again at the crime scene, many Republican senators on Wednesday seemed no closer to sentencing former President Donald Trump on charges of “inciting insurgency.”
Although impressed with the prosecutors’ presentation of the impeachment, these Republicans said House Democrats could not demonstrate that Trump’s words led to the violent actions. They compared the January 6 riot to last summer’s protests against racial justice and criticized the way the trial is being handled.
Senator Lindsey Graham said he couldn’t believe “we could lose the Capitol this way,” but added that he did not change his mind about whether or not to acquit Trump in the process. “I think there will be more votes for acquittal after today than yesterday,” said the South Carolina Republican.
Senator Mike Braun called the prosecutors’ visual presentation “fascinating,” adding, “It’s just as difficult to see now as it was then.” But when asked if he had changed his mind, the Indiana Republican said, “If you think the process is flawed in the first place, I think it will be different to come to a conclusion about the facts and the earnings themselves. “
And Senator Ted Cruz said a direct Trump link to the pro-Trump riot was “conspicuously absent.” The Texas Republican said “there is no political candidate in the country,” including “every Democratic senator,” who has not used the same language as Trump, who told his followers “to fight like him. Hell.”
“They have spent a lot of time focusing on the horrific acts of violence committed by criminals, but the president’s language is nowhere near the legal norm for incitement,” Cruz said of the prosecutors’ presentation.
The comments are the latest hint of the major hurdles Democrats face in getting the 67 votes needed to condemn Trump, and they’ll need 17 Republicans to break the ranks if all 50 Democrats vote for the former president. to condemn and then deny him again.
“I think there are six Republicans at best, probably five and maybe six,” Republican Senator Tim Scott told CNN when asked if the video and images had changed his mind about Trump’s conviction. When asked if an impartial jury is eligible, the South Carolina Republican said, “I think I’m just as impartial as the other 99.”
The six Republicans could be Lisa Murkowski from Alaska, Susan Collins from Maine, Pat Toomey from Pennsylvania, Ben Sasse from Nebraska, Mitt Romney from Utah and Bill Cassidy from Louisiana, the six Republicans who broke with their party on Tuesday to vote whether the deposition was constitutional.
Cassidy, who was among the local Republicans before that vote, rejected the idea that complaints from the GOP could affect her vote, saying, “My first allegiance is to the Constitution.” He added that it has not yet been decided to vote to condemn Trump.
“I am angry, angry,” Murkowski said of the video. “The evidence presented is pretty damning.”
Speaking to the uproar on Capitol Hill, Trump urged his supporters to “make their voices heard in a peaceful and patriotic way,” as well as “fight like hell,” “never give up,” and “never give up.” to admit”. A few days earlier, he tweeted that “The Surrender Party Assembly” will be disgraced within the Republican Party as our nation’s weak and ineffective “guards” willing to accept the certification of fraudulent presidential numbers. He repeatedly told his followers to “stop the robbery!”
During the riot, Trump attempted to call Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville to delay certification of his loss, saying that Pence “lacked the courage to do what should have been done to protect our country and our constitution.”
Several Republicans seemed impressed by accusation prosecutors after harshly criticizing the president’s defense team on Tuesday for not having a coherent response.
South Dakota Senator John Thune, a minority spokesman and member of the Republican leadership, said House prosecutors have done “effective work”, “connecting the dots” between Trump’s words and the uprising.