Opinion: Trump's lawyers had no defense because there is none
FORMER PRESIDENT Donald Trump’s lawyers had a tough job Friday at the Senate impeachment trial. The House impeachment managers presented a damning case showing how Mr. Trump primed and directed the mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, then failed to stop them. Against this, Mr. Trump’s lawyers brought gimmicks and half-baked arguments that the impeachment managers had already rebutted.
The former president’s defense team attempted to gaslight the Senate by insisting that Mr. Trump is a longtime peacemaker. They accused Democrats of having wanted to impeach Mr. Trump for years, which says nothing about whether he deserves it in this circumstance. They showed endless videos of Democrats talking about “fighting” for political causes, making it seem as though they were as guilty as Mr. Trump of encouraging and condoning extremism. They played tape of Democrats praising Black Lives Matter protesters and making it seem as though they were praising rioters.
The centerpiece of the former president’s defense was the notion that Democrats are violating Mr. Trump’s right to free speech by punishing him for his words on Jan. 6. They warned that if politicians were suddenly punished for their words, none would be safe from partisan retribution.
But the First Amendment is not at issue here. Mr. Trump is not some private citizen being punished for a few words he uttered in a bar; he took an oath to protect and defend the constitutional order, and then betrayed that oath. The proposed punishment is not criminal sanction, in which case freedom of speech would be a relevant consideration, but a formal declaration that a person who has proved untrustworthy with power must not be allowed to wield it again. As lead House manager Rep. Jamie B. Raskin (D-Md.) argued previously, if a town fire chief encouraged arsonists to light a blaze, then hardly lifted a finger to put it out, the town’s leaders would dismiss that fire chief and bar that person from ever again serving in the role.
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trumps-lawyers-had-no-defense-because-there-is-none/2021/02/12/0634da72-6d64-11eb-9f80-3d7646ce1bc0_story.html
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