UPDATE: House Managers Respond to Trump

[Gothmog]

This looks like a great brief https://www.democracydocket.com/2021/02/house-responds-to-trump/

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The House Impeachment Mangers filed their response to former President Trump’s answer to the Article of Impeachment one day before trial is set to start in the Senate. The House Managers denied “each and every allegation in the Answer that denies the acts, knowledge, intent, or wrongful conduct charged against President Trump.” The House Managers stood by their impeachment article and again asserted that the latest impeachment is within the jurisdiction of the Senate.

Countering Trump’s argument that because he has left office he can no longer be impeached, the House Managers wrote that “there is no ‘January Exception’ to the Constitution that allows Presidents to abuse power in their final days without accountability.” As for Trump’s reliance on the First Amendment to protect political speech, the brief called this defense “utterly baseless.”

The impeachment trial in the Senate starts tomorrow, February 9, at 1:00 PM ET.

Link to tweet

[NoMoreRepugs]

1. Put on your boots people - the tsunami of bullshit from the RePutinicans and Faux kicks into

ludicrous speed tomorrow.

[ShazzieB]

4. Boots, hell. We're gonna need waders!

[turbinetree]

6. Hell we are going to have put on diving suits this is going to get deep in BS

[Butterflylady]

10. Oh I like your post.

Fits perfectly since I been reading several articles blaming every democrat from Pelosi thru to the Obamas. They are soon gonna run out of democrats to blame.

[aggiesal]

11. Started yesterday on the Sunday News shows with Lady G & Rand n/t

[Hermit-The-Prog]

2. a bit more ...

From https://www.democracydocket.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/45/2021/02/housemanagersreply_020821.pdf

First Amendment: President Trump’s incitement of insurrection was itself a frontal assault on the First Amendment. As a matter of law and logic — not to mention simple common sense — his attempted reliance on free speech principles is utterly baseless. See Trial Memo at 45 - 48.

The Answer claims that the Article of Impeachment “misconstrues protected speech.” Answer at 10. For instance, it contends that there is “insufficient evidence” to decide whether any of 3 President Trump’s statements at the January 6 rally were “accurate or not.” Id. at 4. It further asserts that one of President Trump’s statements — “if you don’t fight like hell you’re not going to have a country anymore” — was “clearly about the need for fight for election security in general.” Id. at 6. Finally, it declares that President Trump never “threatened Secretary Raffensperger.” Id. at 8.

To call these responses implausible would be an act of charity. President Trump’s repeated claims about a “rigged” and “stolen” election were false, no matter how many contortions his lawyers undertake to avoid saying so. When President Trump demanded that the armed, angry crowd at his Save America Rally “fight like hell” or “you’re not going to have a country anymore,” he wasn’t urging them to form political action committees about “election security in general.” And when the President of the United States demanded that Georgia Secretary of State Raffensperger “find” enough votes to overturn the election — or else face “a big risk to you” and “a criminal offense” — that was obviously a threat, one which reveals his state of mind (and his desperation to try to retain power by any means necessary). The House looks forward to proving each of these points at trial.

Also, to be clear, this is not a case about “protected speech.” The House did not impeach President Trump because he expressed an unpopular political opinion. It impeached him because he willfully incited violent insurrection against the government. We live in a Nation governed by the rule of law, not mob violence incited by Presidents who cannot accept their own electoral defeat.

[Grokenstein]

17. That last paragraph. Wonderful.

Needs to be quoted to every rightwanker who tries to defend Dim Donald.

[riversedge]

3. Senate Repugs have put plugs in their ears and blinders over their eyes.

[KS Toronado]

5. That's it in a nutshell,

he's Qne of Qurs and that proves he's innocent of everything, including never shitting in his diapers.

[localroger]

7. And that's why this will really be a trial of them before the public

I'm sure they are laying out a case that starts the day of the election, not on Jan 5. There's probably a lot that is known about the movement of people behind the scenes and within the mob the day of the insurrection which hasn't been publicized yet. If they vote to acquit, expect a barrage of D political ads in the next election juxtaposing the damning evidence with the inexplicable vote.

[Paper Roses]

14. And their hands on their checkbooks and eyes on their bank accounts. n/t

[Stuart G]

8. K & R..Thank You for Posting..

[smirkymonkey]

9. K&R

[soldierant]

12. The First Amendment is not designed to protect the government from the people,

but rather to protect the people from the government.

Trump** may have done more to quash the Firsr Amendment than anyone since McCarthy (Joe, not Qevin).

[lindysalsagal]

13. I'm ready for the mud-slinging!

[bdamomma]

15. yes

he was President till Jan 20th at what time until 11:58 a.m.

[BobTheSubgenius]

16. Seems very solid to me. Me...the guy with no education whatsoever in Constitutional law.

[Cha]

18. Rt TY Goth!

[Quixote1818]

19. I guess Trump has officially conceded. LOL nt

[Gothmog]

20. The law professor cited by trump atty concluded late impeachment and removal are constitutional.

Link to tweet

[MyMission]

22. The 22 rethug senators with a JD should get

Notifications from their law schools and/or state licensing boards, reminding them of what they should have learned in their constitutional law classes! Along with a letter from Kalt, with his 2001 article attached. Just a suggestion.

[Gothmog]

21. House managers rebut Trump team's calls to dismiss impeachment case, say evidence is 'overwhelming'

The House Managers have done a great job of making the case to convict trump and bar trump from ever holding office

Link to tweet

House impeachment managers responded to the final pretrial brief from Donald Trump's legal team on Monday, saying the former president's defense — that such a trial is unconstitutional and that he quickly moved to suppress the violence during the Capitol riot last month — is "wholly without merit."

"The House denies each and every allegation in the answer that denies the acts, knowledge, intent, or wrongful conduct charged against President Trump," the Democratic managers wrote. "The House states that each and every allegation in the article of impeachment is true, and that any affirmative defenses and legal defenses set forth in the answer are wholly without merit."

"The House further states that the article of impeachment properly alleges an impeachable offense under the Constitution, is not subject to a motion to dismiss, is within the jurisdiction of the Senate sitting as a court of impeachment, and should be considered and adjudicated by the Senate sitting as a court of impeachment," they added.....

In their response, the Democratic managers said evidence Trump incited the riot and failed to take action after it was underway "is overwhelming."

"He has no valid excuse or defense for his actions," they wrote. "And his efforts to escape accountability are entirely unavailing. As charged in the article of impeachment, President Trump violated his oath of office and betrayed the American people."

[Gothmog]

23. The law professor cited by the trump team is unhappy

Link to tweet