WASHINGTON (AP) – The words of Donald Trump supporters accused of participating in deadly Uprising at the Capitol could eventually be used against him in his impeachment trial by the Senate while accused of instigating a violent uprising.
At least five supporters facing federal charges have suggested they took orders from the then president when they marched on Capitol Hill on Jan. 6 to challenge the certification of Joe Biden’s election victory. But now those comments, captured in interviews with reporters and federal agents, will likely take center stage when the Democrats make their case. It is the first time that a former president has faced such charges after his departure.
“I feel like I actually followed my president. I followed what we were called to do. He asked us to fly there. He asked us to be there, ”Jenna Ryan, a Texas real estate agent who posted a photo on Twitter of herself with a peace sign next to a broken Capitol window, told a Dallas-Fort Worth television station.
Jacob Chansley, the Arizona man who was photographed on the podium in the Senate, who was shirtless and wearing face paint and a furry hat with horns, has similarly pointed his finger at Trump.
Chansley called the FBI the day after the uprising and told agents he was traveling “at the request of the president that all the ‘patriots’ come to Washington on January 6, 2021,” authorities wrote in court documents.
Chanley’s attorney lobbied unsuccessfully for a pardon for his client before Trump’s term expired, saying Chansley “felt he was responding to our president’s call.” Authorities say Chansley wrote a threatening note on the podium in the Senate Chamber to then Vice President Mike Pence who said, “It’s only a matter of time, justice is coming.”
Trump is the first president to be impeached twice and the first to face trial after taking office. The charge this time it is “inciting violence against the United States government.” His impeachment attorney, Butch Bowers, did not respond to the call for comment.
The opening arguments in the trial begin the week of February 8. House Democrats who voted last week to impeach Trump for instigating the storming of the Capitol say a full reckoning is needed before the country – and Congress – can move forward.
For weeks, Trump rallied his supporters against the election results, urging them to come to the Capitol on January 6 to be furious at Biden’s victory. Trump spoke to the crowd at the White House shortly before they marched down Pennsylvania Avenue to Capitol Hill.
“We will never give up. We will never give in. It’s not happening, ”Trump said. ‘You don’t give in when there is theft. Our country has had enough. We don’t take it anymore. ”
He later said, “If you don’t fight hard, you have no land.” He told supporters to walk to the Capitol and make your voices heard “peacefully and patriotic”.
Trump has not taken responsibility for his part in fueling the violence, saying days after the attack, “People thought what I said was absolutely right.”
Unlike a criminal trial, where there are strict rules about what is and is not evidence, the Senate can consider whatever it wants. And if they can show that Trump’s words really made an impact, all the better, and scientists expect that in the process.
“Putting in those people’s statements is part of the evidence that it would at least be reasonable for a rational person to expect that if you said and did the things Trump said and did, they would be understood exactly as these people understood them, ”said Frank Bowman, a constitutional law expert and professor of law at the University of Missouri.
A retired Pennsylvania firefighter told a friend that he had traveled to Washington with a group of people and that the group listened to Trump’s speech and then “followed the president’s instructions” and went to the Capitol, an agent wrote in court documents. . That man, Robert Sanford, is accused of throwing a fire extinguisher that hit three Capitol Police officers.
Another man, Robert Bauer from Kentucky, told FBI agents that “he marched to the Capitol because President Trump said he did,” authorities wrote. His cousin, Edward Hemenway, of Virginia, told the FBI that he and Bauer went to the Capitol after Trump said “something about taking Pennsylvania Avenue.”
More than 130 people faced federal charges on Friday; prosecutors have promised more cases – and more serious charges – to come.
Most of those arrested so far have been charged with crimes such as unlawful entry and disorderly conduct, but prosecutors this week filed conspiracy charges against three self-proclaimed members. from a paramilitary group that authorities say have plotted the attack. A special group of prosecutors are investigating whether rioters, with a 20-year prison sentence, can be brought against any of the rioters.
Two thirds of the senate is needed to convict. And while many Republicans – including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell from Kentucky – have condemned Trump’s words, it remains unclear how many votes would vote to condemn him.
“While those people’s statements support the house manager’s case a little, I think President Trump benefited from a Republican party that was unwilling to look at evidence,” said Michael Gerhardt, a professor at the University of North Carolina School. . of Law who testified before the House Judiciary Committee at Trump’s first hearings in 2019.
“They kept him up throughout the first impeachment procedure, assuming that the phone conversation with the President of Ukraine was perfect and I’m sure they’ll think that was a perfect speech too. There is nothing to suggest they would think otherwise, ”said Gerhardt.
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Richer reported from Boston.