Former President Donald Trump’s impeachment defense team will display photos and graphics during his Senate trial as evidence, attempting to prove he did not incite the insurrection during the Capitol siege on Jan. 6, according to a spokesman.
Jason Miller, who was a senior adviser to the president’s reelection campaign, talked strategy during an interview Thursday on Newsmax.
“We’ll be putting up images where you can see the attack on the Capitol was already starting before President Trump even started his speech,” he said.
Miller said Trump’s speech at a “Stop the Steal” rally encouraged the thousands of supporters who came to Washington, D.C., to support him to protest peacefully and verbally. “You would have to be so thick in the head to have watched President Trump over the last five years and not realize that he is the most pro-law and order president ever and that he deplores any sort of mob violence,” he argued.
With 10 Republicans joining Democrats, the House voted on Jan. 13 to impeach Trump on a charge of incitement of insurrection. Democrats who brought the article of impeachment argue Trump’s rally at the Ellipse prompted an angry mob to storm the Capitol and endanger the lives of lawmakers who were voting to certify results of the 2020 election. Five people, including a U.S. Capitol Police officer, died amid the chaos.
But Miller argued a timeline of events from that day would disprove any assertion Trump is responsible for the actions of the mob. “We’ve seen public reports from the police and FBI and all sorts of other outlets that much of this planning was done well in advance,” he said.
The adviser added Trump’s defense team would display a timeline from the New York Times as evidence to disprove the charges the former president faces in his upcoming Senate impeachment trial slated to begin Tuesday, Feb. 9.
It would not be the first time Trump and his allies will rely on visual aids during an impeachment inquiry. GOP members of the House Intelligence Committee displayed posters as part of the Ukraine-focused proceedings in which Trump was impeached on two articles but later acquitted by the Senate.
The Senate would require a two-thirds vote from members in order to obtain a conviction of Trump for his charges. Trump’s legal defense team argues the trial is unconstitutional because he holds no public office from which he can be removed.
Sen. Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican, affirmed this week that Trump’s impeachment is “dead on arrival” after 45 Republicans voted in January against holding the trial.
