Author: PolitCens

As president, Donald Trump was immune from criminal prosecution and civil liability.But now that he is a private citizen, he no longer enjoys the cloak of presidential immunity — and his legal troubles are starting to pile up.On Tuesday, just three days after the Senate acquitted him of an impeachment charge of inciting the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, Trump was sued over the riot in federal court by a prominent U.S. Democratic representative.The suit by Congressman Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, accuses Trump, his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani and two far-right groups of conspiring to incite the riot to prevent congressional certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s presidential election victory.The lawsuit is likely to be the first of many. But Trump’s legal troubles are not limited to his role in the riot. Ongoing investigations in New York and other lawsuits are likely to keep him “wrapped up” for years, said Sarah Tuberville of the Project on Government Oversight.“I think one of his biggest perils now is that the many defenses that he had before, both legal, as well as political, are not available to him” outside of office, Tuberville said.Jason Miller, a spokesperson for the former president, called the investigations and lawsuits “nakedly partisan stuff that we’re seeing from partisan Democrats.”Despite growing calls from Democrats for the Department of Justice to investigate Trump’s role in the Jan. 6 attack, it remains uncertain whether the law enforcement agency will undertake such a politically charged probe.Biden has said he will leave it up to his incoming attorney general, Merrick Garland, to decide whether to investigate or prosecute Trump. The question is likely to dominate Garland’s confirmation hearings set for next week.Here is a look at some of the civil and criminal cases that Trump now faces.GeorgiaFani Willis, the top prosecutor for Fulton County, Georgia, is investigating whether Trump broke state law when he pressed top officials in the battleground state to reverse his election loss to Biden.At the heart of the investigation is a Jan. 2 phone call Trump made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in which Trump asked Raffensperger to “find” him enough votes to change the outcome of the election in the state.In a Feb. 10 letter to top Georgia officials, Willis wrote that the criminal investigation is a high priority for her office and that she is examining a wide range of potential violations, from solicitation of election fraud to violence or threats related to the election’s administration.Kimberly Wehle, a former federal prosecutor and now a law professor at the University of Baltimore, said the investigation appears to be moving along “in a serious way.”“That’s because we know what the evidence is, and it’s pretty clear what happened,” Wehle said.New YorkFor more than two years, New York State Attorney General Letitia James and Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. have been investigating Trump and his real estate empire, The Trump Organization, for alleged fraud and financial improprieties.Vance’s civil probe grew out of former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen’s 2019 congressional testimony during which he alleged that Trump committed financial crimes by manipulating the value of his real estate assets over a period of several years.The investigation appears to be gathering steam. Last month, a New York Supreme Court judge ordered The Trump Organization to turn over documents to James’ office.The separate criminal investigation, led by Vance’s office, began in 2018 as a probe of “hush money” payments that Cohen made in 2016 to two women who allegedly had extramarital affairs with Trump. Cohen subsequently served time for tax evasion, campaign finance violations and perjury in connection with the payments.The Vance investigation resumed after federal prosecutors closed the case in 2019 without charging Trump, and it has since widened to include a range of criminal violations, from tax and insurance fraud to falsifying business records.While Trump has yet to turn over his financial records to Vance despite a Supreme Court ruling last year, the investigation appears to be picking up, with Vance’s office reportedly hiring forensic experts to aid with the probe.District of ColumbiaDistrict of Columbia Attorney General Karl Racine’s office is looking into whether Trump’s role in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol violated a local anti-riot statute, a spokesperson told VOA.Racine’s jurisdiction is limited to enforcing the capital city’s code. The more than 200 rioters arrested to date have all been federally charged.Under Washington’s local code, “rioting or inciting to riot” is a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in prison. Racine’s office has not decided whether to move ahead with a charge under the code, the spokesperson said.Wehle said that while a misdemeanor is “not a serious disincentive,” it would put a “stain on (Trump’s) presidency.”DefamationTrump faces a pair of defamation lawsuits brought by two women who have accused him of sexual misconduct. In 2019, E. Jean Carroll, a former Elle magazine columnist, sued him for defamation after he denied her accusation that he raped her in a New York department store in the 1990s, saying she is “not my type” and “it never happened.”Shortly before Trump left office on Jan. 20, the Justice Department argued in court that as president, Trump was an “employee of the government” and could not be sued. But now that he is a private citizen, he can no longer claim immunity, Wehle said.Summer Zervos, a former contestant on The Apprentice, the reality show hosted by Trump that premiered in 2004, sued him for calling her a liar after she accused him of sexually assaulting her in 2007. Last week, Zervos asked a New York court to allow her lawsuit to proceed now that Trump is out of office.InsurrectionThe lawsuit by Thompson alleges that false election claims by Trump and Giuliani fomented the Jan. 6 riot and the two extremist groups — the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers — in violation of the Ku Klux Klan Act, an 1871 law barring violent interference in congressional constitutional duties.
…

President Joe Biden has picked a former Obama administration official to run the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The agency oversees government health insurance programs covering more than 1 out of 3 Americans and is a linchpin of the health care system.If confirmed by the Senate, Chiquita Brooks-LaSure would be the first Black woman to head CMS, which has under its umbrella Medicare, Medicaid, children’s health insurance and the Affordable Care Act, better known as “Obamacare.” The programs cover more than 130 million people, from newborns to nursing home residents.Brooks-LaSure has a long track record in government, having held health policy jobs at the White House, in Congress, and at CMS during the Obama administration. Most recently she led the Biden transition’s “landing team” for the Department of Health and Human Services, laying the groundwork for the new administration. Before her return to government service, Brooks-LaSure was a managing director at the Manatt Health consultancy.Her nomination was confirmed by a person familiar with the White House decision, who spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of a formal announcement.CMS also plays a central role in the nation’s $4 trillion health care economy, setting Medicare payment rates for hospitals, doctors, labs and other service providers. Government payment levels become the foundation for private insurers. The agency also sets standards that govern how health care providers operate.Brooks-LaSure “gets the imperative of securing greater affordability for beneficiaries, taxpayers, and Medicare, Medicaid and the ACA marketplaces,” said Chris Jennings, a longtime health policy adviser to Democrats. “She is well-respected and liked by the department veterans who have worked with her in the past.”Years ago, Brooks-LaSure worked with Biden’s nominee to run HHS, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra. She was a staffer on the House Ways and Means Committee and he was a senior member of the panel during the 2009-10 drive to pass President Barack Obama’s health care law. Senate committees will hold hearings next week on Becerra’s nomination.Under Biden, Brooks-LaSure will be expected to grow Obamacare enrollment by promoting HealthCare.gov and trying to persuade holdout states to adopt Medicaid expansion. She’s also expected to roll back Trump administration policies allowing states to impose work requirements on Medicaid recipients, as well as insurance rules seen as undermining Obamacare.Throughout her career, Brooks-LaSure has worked on Medicaid policy, and that program has now grown to become a mainstay of coverage for many low-income working people. At CMS she’ll have to confront Medicare’s long-term financial problems, aggravated by a decline in payroll tax collections because of COVID-related job losses.Prescription drugs will be a tricky policy area for Brooks-LaSure. Biden wants to legally authorize Medicare to negotiate prices with drugmakers, but he may not be able to marshal enough support in a closely divided Congress. Brooks-LaSure will be tasked with finding ways to use the agency’s rule-making powers to rein in prices.Biden’s pick was first reported by The Washington Post. 
…

U.S. President Joe Biden is open to studying whether the descendants of enslaved people should get reparations, the White House said Wednesday.In response to a question about H.R. 40 — a bill floated in Congress for nearly 30 years that would fund a study of slavery and recommend “appropriate remedies” — White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Biden would support a study.”He continues to demonstrate his commitment to take comprehensive action to address the systemic racism that persists today,” Psaki said.But she did not say whether Biden would sign the bill were it to pass.The proposed legislation, which was being discussed by members of the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, was reintroduced by Texas Democrat Sheila Jackson Lee in January.“Now, more than ever, the facts and circumstances facing our nation demonstrate the importance of H.R. 40 and the necessity of placing our nation on the path to reparative justice,” Lee said Wednesday.Freshman Utah Representative Burgess Owens, a Republican, argued that reparations would be “impractical,” calling the bill “a nonstarter.”Though Biden has reiterated his commitment to racial justice in the first month of his presidency, he has never said that he supports reparations.Around the world, reparations have compensated victims of war and human rights abuses. What exactly they would mean for the descendants of enslaved Americans has not been clearly established on a national level, but more specific examples have been floated in smaller communities.This week in Athens, Georgia, city commissioners unanimously passed a resolution acknowledging damage done by the city to residents of the Linnentown neighborhood in the 1960s, when property held by members of the predominantly Black community was seized under eminent domain laws to make way for high-rise dormitories for the University of Georgia.According to Stephanie Allen of the Athens Banner-Herald, seizure of the 22-acre area displaced families and compensated owners with only a small fraction of the estimated property market values.“It is the first act of reparations to be passed in the GA state,” Athens-Clarke County Commissioner Mariah Parker wrote.for 2 yrs i worked w the former residents of linnentown to get reparations for what our city and @universityofga took from their families.last night, our resolution for recognition and redress passed unanimously.it is the first act of reparations to be passed in GA state.— Mariah Parker (@MariahforAthens) February 17, 2021In Florida, a Tallahassee lawmaker proposed starting an education fund for the descendants of African Americans killed, beaten or driven from their homes by white mobs in 1920.
…

First ladies are not elected, but once their husband becomes president, they are expected to represent the nation and to look good while doing it. Although they have no overt political power, VOA’s Dora Mekouar reports that modern first spouses have turned to “fashion diplomacy” to get their point across. 
Camera: Mike Burke 
 
…

For four years, former U.S. President Donald Trump and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell were politically joined at the hip, with the lawmaker eagerly advancing Trump’s demands to cuts taxes, curb governmental regulations and install conservative jurists on the Supreme Court and lower courts across the country.But now, with Trump out of office and McConnell presiding over a Senate Republican minority, not majority, their relationship has plunged into a vitriolic sea of acrimony.McConnell voted to acquit Trump at the conclusion of last week’s Senate impeachment trial on charges of inciting the Jan. 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol that left five people dead.But McConnell said he voted in Trump’s favor only because he did not believe the U.S. Constitution allowed for Trump to be convicted on an impeachment charge after he had left office. A Senate majority, 57-43, voted to convict Trump but that was short of the two-thirds majority necessary for a conviction.Then McConnell unleashed a broadside against the person he thought was singularly responsible for the chaos that threatened the life of former Vice President Mike Pence and the safety of lawmakers: Donald Trump.”There is no question, none, that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day,” he said in a floor speech Saturday afternoon, noting that Trump had watched the events unfold on television. “A mob was assaulting the Capitol in his name. These criminals were carrying his banners, hanging his flags and screaming their loyalty to him.”McConnell added, “This was an intensifying crescendo of conspiracy theories orchestrated by an outgoing president who seemed determined to either overturn the voters’ decision or else torch our institutions on the way out.”Trump, from his Atlantic coastal mansion where he moved after leaving Washington, responded in kind Tuesday night.He called McConnell “a dour, sullen, and unsmiling political hack.”Trump claimed in a statement that if Republican senators retain McConnell as their leader, “they will not win again.””He will never do what needs to be done, or what is right for our country,” Trump said of McConnell even though the lawmaker had done Trump’s bidding during his four-year term in the White House.After his acquittal, Trump said he would engage in shaping the Republican political landscape ahead of the 2022 congressional elections when all 435 members of the House of Representatives are up for reelection along with one third of the 100-member Senate.“Where necessary and appropriate,” Trump said in his Tuesday statement, “I will back primary rivals who espouse Making America Great Again and our policy of America First. We want brilliant, strong, thoughtful, and compassionate leadership.”It was not immediately clear how such a list of Trump-favored Republican candidates might differ from ones McConnell would support. McConnell says he is most interested in Republican congressional nominees who can win and retake control of both chambers of Congress from the Democrats.  Democrats hold a slight majority in the House and are split 50-50 with Republicans in the Senate. However, Vice President Kamala Harris is able to cast tie-breaking Senate votes in favor of the legislative agenda she and President Joe Biden favor.The Trump-McConnell split mirrors complaints from state and local Republican groups against House Republican lawmakers who last month voted to impeach Trump on a single charge of incitement of insurrection and against seven Republican senators who joined all 50 Democrats in voting to convict Trump.Since Saturday’s vote to acquit Trump, several state Republican party groups have censured the Republican lawmakers who voted to convict him.In turn, the lawmakers said the evidence showed at the five-day trial that Trump was guilty after he urged supporters at a rally near the White House to “fight like hell” to upend Biden’s victory and then sent them marching on the Capitol. 
…

President Joe Biden is sidestepping a divided Congress and going straight to the nation Tuesday with a televised town hall in Wisconsin seeking support for his $1.9 trillion economic rescue package. With lawmakers reeling from the aftermath of Donald Trump’s impeachment acquittal, Biden is betting that he can escape the partisan turmoil by addressing ordinary voters at the primetime CNN event in Milwaukee — his first official trip away from Washington as president. The live show will see Biden “go out and have a conversation with the people in Wisconsin, people who agree with him, people who disagree with him,” press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters, calling the president “laser-focused” on passing his plan. Biden’s stimulus package would more than double the previous measure passed by Congress, after intense debate, in December. The administration says massive injections of money, including $1,400 checks sent to many Americans, are vital to preventing a sluggish economic recovery from stalling altogether. Police set up barricades prior to the arrival of President Joe Biden, outside The Pabst Theater in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Feb. 16, 2021.Another major goal of the spending spree is to boost the COVID-19 vaccine rollout —a logistical, medical and financial challenge upon which Biden’s entire first term may hang. But the stimulus bill’s price tag, as well as some of the spending details, leaves most Republicans in Congress skeptical. Support from countryApart from weekends at home in Delaware or the presidential retreat at Camp David, Biden’s Air Force One flight Tuesday will be his first foray out of Washington since taking office a month ago. Biden’s choice of Wisconsin for the town hall is no coincidence: He won the battleground state by just 20,000 votes against Trump in November, and it will feature prominently again in the 2022 midterms and 2024 presidential race. On Thursday, he will go to another swing state when he tours the Pfizer plant in Kalamazoo, Michigan, where coronavirus vaccines are being manufactured. On Friday, Biden will pursue his stimulus bill pitch on the international stage when he addresses the virtual G-7 leaders’ meeting and the Munich Security Conference.  The White House says he will stress “the importance of all industrialized countries maintaining economic support for the recovery and collective measures to build back better.” With slim majorities in both the House and Senate, Democrats could force through Biden’s package without Republicans at all. But Biden took office insisting he would seek cross-party solutions, turning the page on Trump’s ultra-divisive style. He is keen to break through to at least some Republicans. On Friday, Biden met in the Oval Office with a group of Democratic and Republican governors and mayors to discuss the COVID-19 relief package. As local and regional officials most immediately caught up in the consequences of the twin health and economic crisis, they were a relatively receptive audience. “You folks are all on the front lines and dealing with the crisis since day one,” Biden noted. Poll ratingsHis efforts seem to be paying off — among voters at least, if not yet with congressional Republicans. A Quinnipiac poll this month showed nearly 70% of Americans support the stimulus package. A CNBC poll reported 64% believe the price tag is sufficient or not even enough, while 36% said it was too much. Biden himself is on a solid footing with nearly 55% average approval ratings. Trump may still hold a powerful grip over the Republican voter base, but his final average approval rating on leaving office was a measly 38.6%. “If you look at the polls, they are very consistent,” Psaki said. “The vast majority of the American people like what they see in this package and that should be … noted by members of Congress.” 
 
…

State and local Republican groups in the United States are rebuking national lawmakers from their own party who voted to impeach or convict former President Donald Trump of inciting an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol last month.
 
The Senate acquitted Trump on Saturday of a single charge of having incited the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the seat of the U.S. Congress as that body was meeting to certify that Democrat Joe Biden had defeated Trump in the November presidential election.
 
However, seven Senate Republicans joined all 50 Democrats in voting in favor of conviction, providing a 57-43 margin that was 10 votes short of the required two-thirds majority needed for a conviction.
 
Since the acquittal, state Republican committees in North Carolina and Louisiana censured two of their respective Republican senators, Richard Burr and Bill Cassidy, for voting to convict Trump — a fellow Republican whose only term in office ended with Biden’s inauguration January 20.
 
“The Republicans across North Carolina, the party leaders that I talked to, were shocked and disappointed with Senator Burr’s vote and wanted to put out a statement saying that we disagreed with him,” state Republican chairman Michael Whatley told CNN on Tuesday.
 
Burr, who is not running for reelection next year after three six-year terms in the Senate, said in response, “It is truly a sad day for North Carolina Republicans. My party’s leadership has chosen loyalty to one man (Trump) over the core principles of the Republican Party and the founders of our great nation.”
 
Whatley said he did not think Trump, who urged hundreds of his supporters to confront lawmakers as they certified Biden’s election victory, was to blame for the January 6 riot at the Capitol that left five people dead, including a Capitol Police officer whose death is being investigated as a homicide.
 
“I think the fault lies with the people who attacked the Capitol,” Whatley said.
 
In Louisiana, the state Republican Party’s executive committee unanimously censured Cassidy after he joined the six other Republicans in voting against Trump.FILE – Republican Senator Bill Cassidy leaves the chamber as the Senate voted to consider hearing from witnesses in the impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump, at the Capitol in Washington, Feb. 13, 2021.“We condemn, in the strongest possible terms, the vote … by Sen. Cassidy to convict former President Trump,” the group said in a tweet Saturday. “Fortunately, clearer heads prevailed, and President Trump has been acquitted of the impeachment charge filed against him.”
 
Cassidy said, “Our Constitution and our country is more important than any one person. I voted to convict President Trump because he is guilty.”
 
Other state Republican organizations are attacking or considering rebukes of the other five Republican senators who voted against Trump: Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, Mitt Romney of Utah, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Ben Sasse of Nebraska.
 
Dave Ball, a county Republican official in Pennsylvania, rebuked Toomey for his vote, saying, “We did not send him there to vote his conscience. We did not send him there to do the right thing or whatever he said he was doing. We sent him there to represent us.”
 
Toomey, who is retiring after two terms in the Senate, said, “I did what I thought was right, and I would certainly like to think that regardless of my political circumstances or whether I was running for office again or not, I would do the same thing.”
 
Ten Republicans in the House of Representatives who joined all 222 Democrats in the chamber to impeach Trump a week after the mayhem at the Capitol and a week before he left office have also faced censures and rebukes from party officials.  
 
A group of conservative House Republicans who opposed Trump’s impeachment tried to remove Congresswoman Liz Cheney of Wyoming from her No. 3 leadership position in the party caucus, but she easily survived a vote of confidence.
 
Congressman Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, an outspoken Trump critic, has been disowned by his own family for his vote to impeach Trump.FILE – In this image from video, Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger speaks at a House debate, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Jan. 7, 2021. (House Television via AP)Kinzinger said 11 family members sent him a handwritten two-page note that started, “Oh my, what a disappointment you are to us and to God!”
 
The letter accused him of working with “the devil’s army,” which it said included Democrats and the “fake news media.”
 
“We thought you were ‘smart’ enough to see how the left is brainwashing many ‘so called good people’ including yourself” and other Republicans. “You have even fallen for their socialism ideals! So, so sad!”
 
“It is now most embarrassing to us that we are related to you,” the family members wrote. “You have embarrassed the Kinzinger family name.”
 
Kinzinger said the family members suffered from “brainwashing” at conservative churches.
 
“I hold nothing against them,’’ he said, “but I have zero desire or feel the need to reach out and repair that. That is 100% on them to reach out and repair, and quite honestly, I don’t care if they do or not.”
 
Kinzinger said he knows his vote against Trump could imperil his political career but that he “couldn’t live with myself” if “the one time I was called to do a really tough duty, I didn’t do it.”
 
…

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Monday that Congress will establish an independent, September 11-style commission to look into the deadly insurrection that took place at the U.S. Capitol. Pelosi said the commission will “investigate and report on the facts and causes relating to the January 6, 2021, domestic terrorist attack upon the United States Capitol Complex … and relating to the interference with the peaceful transfer of power.” FILE – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California speaks during a news conference at the Capitol, Feb. 11, 2021.In a letter to Democratic colleagues, Pelosi said the House will also put forth supplemental spending to boost security at the Capitol. After former President Donald Trump’s acquittal at his second Senate impeachment trial, bipartisan support appeared to be growing for an independent commission to examine the deadly insurrection. Investigations into the riot were already planned, with Senate hearings scheduled later this month in the Senate Rules Committee. Pelosi of California asked retired Army Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré to lead an immediate review of the Capitol’s security process. In her letter Monday, Pelosi said, “It is clear from his findings and from the impeachment trial that we must get to the truth of how this happened.” She added, “As we prepare for the Commission, it is also clear from General Honoré’s interim reporting that we must put forth a supplemental appropriation to provide for the safety of Members and the security of the Capitol.” Lawmakers from both parties, speaking on Sunday’s news shows, signaled that even more inquiries were likely. The Senate verdict Saturday, with its 57-43 majority falling 10 votes short of the two-thirds needed to convict Trump, hardly put to rest the debate about the Republican former president’s culpability for the January 6 assault.  FILE – Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., talks with reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Feb. 11, 2021.”There should be a complete investigation about what happened,” said Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, one of seven Republicans who voted to convict Trump. “What was known, who knew it and when they knew, all that, because that builds the basis so this never happens again.” Cassidy said he was “attempting to hold President Trump accountable,” and added that as Americans hear all the facts, “more folks will move to where I was.” He was censured by his state’s party after the vote. An independent commission along the lines of the one that investigated the September 11 attacks would probably require legislation to create. That would elevate the investigation a step higher, offering a definitive government-backed accounting of events. Still, such a panel would pose risks of sharpening partisan divisions or overshadowing President Joe Biden’s legislative agenda. FILE – Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., speaks during a Senate Judiciary Committee business meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington, June 11, 2020.”There’s still more evidence that the American people need and deserve to hear, and a 9/11 commission is a way to make sure that we secure the Capitol going forward,” said Democratic Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware, a Biden ally. “And that we lay bare the record of just how responsible and how abjectly violating of his constitutional oath President Trump really was.” House prosecutors who argued for Trump’s conviction of inciting the riot said Sunday they had proved their case. They also railed against the Senate’s Republican leader, Mitch McConnell, and others who they said were “trying to have it both ways” in finding the former president not guilty but criticizing him at the same time. FILE – Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., speaks during a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Sept. 30, 2020.Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a close Trump ally, voted for acquittal but acknowledged that Trump had some culpability for the siege at the Capitol that killed five people, including a police officer, and disrupted lawmakers’ certification of Biden’s White House victory.  Graham said he looked forward to campaigning with Trump in the 2022 election, when Republicans hope to regain the congressional majority. “His behavior after the election was over the top,” Graham said. “We need a 9/11 commission to find out what happened and make sure it never happens again.” The Senate acquitted Trump of a charge of “incitement of insurrection” after House prosecutors laid out a case that he was an “inciter in chief” who unleashed a mob by stoking a monthslong campaign of spreading debunked conspiracy theories and false violent rhetoric that the 2020 election was stolen from him. Trump’s lawyers countered that Trump’s words were not intended to incite the violence and that impeachment was nothing but a “witch hunt” designed to prevent him from serving in office again. The conviction tally was the most bipartisan in American history but left Trump to declare victory and signal a political revival while a bitterly divided Republican party bickered over its direction and his place in the party. The Republicans who joined Cassidy in voting to convict were Sens. Richard Burr of North Carolina, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Mitt Romney of Utah, Ben Sasse of Nebraska and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania. FILE – In this image from video, House impeachment manager Delegate Stacey Plaskett, D-Virgin Islands, answers a question in the Senate at the U.S. Capitol, Feb. 12, 2021.”It’s frustrating, but the founders knew what they were doing, and so we live with the system that we have,” Democratic Delegate Stacey Plaskett, a House prosecutor who represents the Virgin Islands, said of the verdict, describing it as “heartbreaking.” She added: “But listen, we didn’t need more witnesses. We needed more senators with spines.” McConnell told Republican senators shortly before the vote that he would vote to acquit Trump. In a blistering speech after the vote, the Kentucky Republican said the president was “practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of that day” but that the Senate’s hands were tied to do anything about it because Trump was out of office. The Senate, in an earlier vote, had deemed the trial constitutional. “It was powerful to hear the 57 guilties. And then it was puzzling to hear and see Mitch McConnell stand and say, ‘Not guilty’ and then minutes later, stand again and say (Trump) was guilty of everything,” said Democratic Congresswoman Madeleine Dean of Pennsylvania. “History will remember that statement of speaking out of two sides of his mouth.”  Dean also backed the idea of an impartial investigative commission “not guided by politics but filled with people who would stand up to the courage of their conviction.” Cassidy and Dean spoke on ABC’s “This Week,” Graham appeared on “Fox News Sunday,” and Plaskett appeared on CNN’s “State of the Union.” 
 
…

Saturday’s vote at the Senate impeachment trial of former U.S. President Donald Trump took place after four days of hearing from lawyers for the House of Representatives who prosecuted the case against him, and lawyers who defended him. VOA’s Steve Redisch examines how politics shaped the strategies behind both sides’ arguments.Produced by: Mary C 
…

The political fortunes of former U.S. President Donald Trump are now an open question, even after the Senate acquitted him of allegations that he incited insurrection last month by urging hundreds of his supporters to confront lawmakers at the U.S. Capitol as they were certifying his election loss to Democrat Joe Biden.  Moments after the Senate voted 57-43 on Saturday to convict Trump but falling short of the required 67 votes needed to do so, the former president said he was not done with political life. Trump gave no explicit hint that he might attempt another run for the presidency in 2024, as he suggested he might when he left office last month. The House of Representatives impeached Trump in January on the single charge of “incitement of insurrection.”  Trump called the impeachment case against him “another phase of the greatest witch hunt in the history of our country. No president has ever gone through anything like it.” In this image from video, senators vote during the second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump in the Senate at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Feb. 13, 2021.He added, “Our historic, patriotic and beautiful movement to make America Great Again has only just begun. In the months ahead, I have much to share with you, and I look forward to continuing our incredible journey together to achieve American greatness for all our people.” One of his staunchest Republican supporters, Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, told the “Fox News Sunday” show that he spoke with the former U.S. leader after the Senate impeachment trial ended. He said that Trump is “ready to move on to build the party” to try to retake control of both the Senate and House of Representatives from Democratic control in the 2022 elections halfway through Biden’s first four-year term in the White House. “If you want to win, you have to work with President Trump,” Graham said. “The Trump movement is alive and well. The most potent force in the Republican party is Donald Trump.” But Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, a Republican critic of Trump, told CNN that with Trump’s election loss and controversial end to his presidency, “We’re going to have a real battle for the soul of the Republican Party over the next couple of years,” questioning whether Republicans are “going to be a party that can’t win national elections.” “Or somehow,” Hogan asked rhetorically, “Are we going to get back to a real traditional Republican party with common-sense conservatives…to push for the things that we’ve always believed in and to try to compete with Democrats?” National polls show that many Republican voters remain supportive of Trump, but Hogan said, “I think that’s going to change over time. We’re only a month into the Biden administration. I think the final chapter of Donald Trump and where the Republican Party goes hasn’t been written yet.” FILE – Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley leaves after speaking during the Republican National Convention from the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington, Aug. 24, 2020. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)One of Graham’s fellow Republicans in South Carolina, former Governor Nikki Haley, who served as Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations, turned on the former president last week, although Graham said he thinks her assessment is wrong. Haley, a possible 2024 Republican presidential candidate, said of Trump, “We need to acknowledge he let us down. He went down a path he shouldn’t have, and we shouldn’t have followed him, and we shouldn’t have listened to him. And we can’t let that ever happen again.” Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, who voted to convict Trump, told Fox News she does not think Trump will remain a key player in the Republican Party. “The American people have seen what this man has done,” she said. “He is done.” Graham said Trump was “mad at some folks” who turned against him in the Senate trial as seven of the 50 Republicans in the chamber voted with all 50 Democrats to convict him. But Graham said Trump is “ready to hit the trail” in support of Republican candidates. “I don’t think he caused the riot,” Graham said of Trump’s admonition to hundreds of supporters to march to the Capitol January 6 and “fight like hell” to upend Biden’s victory as lawmakers were certifying that Trump had become the fifth president in U.S. history to lose his re-election bid after a single term in office. “It was politically protected speech in my view,” Graham said, referring to the U.S. Constitution’s guarantee of freedom of speech.  Other Republican senators disputed Graham’s assessment. In this image from video, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky speaks after the Senate acquitted former President Donald Trump in his second impeachment trial at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Feb. 13, 2021.Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, after voting to acquit Trump because he did not believe the Senate had the right to sit in judgment of Trump since his term had already ended, criticized his long-time political ally for his role in fomenting the attack that left five people dead, including a Capitol police officer. McConnell said Trump was “practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day. The people who stormed this building believed they were acting on the wishes and instructions of their president.” On Sunday, Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, one of the seven Republicans who voted to convict Trump, said in a statement, “If months of lies, organizing a rally of supporters in an effort to thwart the work of Congress, encouraging a crowd to march on the Capitol, and then taking no meaningful action to stop the violence once it began is not worthy of impeachment, conviction, and disqualification from holding office in the United States, I cannot imagine what is.” She added, “By inciting the insurrection and violent events that culminated on January 6, President Trump’s actions and words were not protected free speech. I honor our constitutional rights and consider the freedom of speech as one of the most paramount freedoms, but that right does not extend to the president of the United States inciting violence.” 
…

Following the acquittal Saturday of former president Donald Trump in his second impeachment trial, Trump’s future in politics remains uncertain. Fifty-seven senators voted to convict him, including seven from his own Republican Party — falling short, however, of the 67 votes needed for conviction.Trump was found not guilty of inciting violence against the U.S. government after his supporters stormed Congress on Jan. 6, enraged by Trump’s false charge that Joe Biden stole the election.Democrats said Trump’s responsibility was clear. Seven Republicans agreed, but others said there was not enough evidence.A Reuters/Ipsos poll shows 71% of U.S. adults, and half of Republicans, believe Trump is partly responsible for the riots.One man named Zach said he supported impeachment. “Everything he’s been doing is trying to ruin the very fragile voting system we already have that’s already been beaten down quite a bit,” he said.Trump supporter Shell Reinish, however, said Congress was wasting its time.“Impeachment is to remove a sitting president from his office. He is no longer in his office,” Reinish said.Surveys show most Republicans still embrace Trump.“In fact, 70% of Republicans believe that Joe Biden was illegally elected president,” said Barbara Perry, an analyst at the University of Virginia. That’s something Republican leaders admit is false.But the analyst said Trump supporters got the policies they wanted.“They got lower taxes, fewer regulations, conservatives on the federal bench, conservatives on the Supreme Court,” she said. They also got an aggressive foreign policy and a hard line on border issues.President Joe Biden and Democrats in Congress, meanwhile, face challenges.“The Democrats need to get us out of COVID and get the economy back on track,” said Elaine Kamarck, an analyst with the Brookings Institution. “They’ve got a pretty straightforward job to do, and whatever ideological divisions there are in the party, they are muted compared to the Republican party.”Trump is loved by his base but reviled by some Republicans and only tolerated by others.Kamarck and her colleagues at the Brookings Institution foresee a range of possible futures for Trump.“It goes all the way from leading the Republican Party and getting reelected as president in 2024 to going to jail or having to go into exile in Russia or Saudi Arabia or someplace like that,” she said.Exonerated in Congress, Trump remains a target for many prosecutors over his business dealings. 
…

The US Senate on Saturday acquitted former President Donald Trump of the impeachment charge that he incited the Jan. 6 riot at the US Capitol. By a vote of 57-43, senators voted to hold Trump responsible for his supporters’ attempts to overturn the counting of electoral college results for Democrat Joe Biden, though they were 10 votes short of the 67 needed for a conviction. Seven Republicans voted with Democrats for Trump’s conviction. VOA’s Congressional Correspondent Katherine Gypson has more.
Camera: Mike Burke   Producer: Katherine Gypson
…

The U.S. Senate acquitted Donald Trump on Saturday in his second impeachment trial in a year, with fellow Republicans blocking conviction over the former president’s role in the deadly assault by his supporters on the U.S. Capitol.The Senate vote of 57-43 fell short of the two-thirds majority needed to convict Trump on a charge of incitement of insurrection after a five-day trial in the same building ransacked by his followers on January 6, shortly after they heard him deliver a fiery speech.In the vote, seven of the 50 Senate Republicans joined the chamber’s unified Democrats in favoring conviction.Trump left office on January 20, so impeachment could not be used to remove him from power. But Democrats had hoped to secure a conviction to hold him responsible for a siege that left a police officer and four other people dead and to set the stage for a vote to bar him from ever serving in public office again. Given the chance to hold office in the future, they argued, Trump would not hesitate to encourage political violence again.Trump’s attorneys argued that his words at the rally were protected by his constitutional right to free speech and said he was not given due process in the proceedings.Earlier, the Senate reached an agreement to avoid witness testimony in the trial. Five Republican senators had voted with all 50 Democrats to hear testimony from witnesses — a surprising development, as the Senate was expected to hear closing arguments from each side, followed by a vote later in the day.The vote to call witnesses came after Congressman Jamie Raskin, the lead House impeachment manager, announced Saturday that he wanted to subpoena Republican Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler of Washington state. Beutler issued a statement late Friday that House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy told her Trump had expressed sympathy and admiration for the mob during a heated phone call between the two amid the unfolding attack on the Capitol.”When McCarthy finally reached the president on January 6 and asked him to publicly and forcefully call off the riot, the president initially repeated the falsehood that it was antifa that had breached the Capitol,” the statement read.  “McCarthy refuted that and told the president that these were Trump supporters. That’s when, according to McCarthy, the president said: ‘Well, Kevin, I guess these people are more upset about the election than you are.'” After taking a midday break, senators returned and announced they had reached an agreement that includes admitting Beutler’s statement as evidence in the trial.  The move to call witnesses would likely have resulted in the trial continuing at least into next week.   Watch the session live:  McConnell tips hand on vote Earlier Saturday, several U.S. news organizations, citing anonymous sources, reported that Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell had told his Republican colleagues he planned to vote to acquit the former president in the vote previously expected Saturday. Shortly after Trump was impeached a second time in January, McConnell wrote to his colleagues saying he had not made a decision about how he would vote at the Senate trial. The Republican leaders’ final vote in the trial could be crucial to the outcome.  At least 17 Republican votes are needed to reach the two-thirds majority needed for a conviction, assuming all 50 Democrats vote to find Trump guilty.   4 Ways Trump’s Lawyers Challenged His Impeachment ChargeHis lawyers deem it ‘act of political vengeance’ Trump defense concludesOn Friday, Trump’s lawyers wrapped up their defense of the former U.S. leader, denying he helped incite a deadly mob attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6.  Trump’s lawyers described the trial as a politically inspired and illegal “witch hunt.”“Like every other politically motivated witch hunt the left has engaged in over the past four years, this impeachment is completely divorced from the facts, the evidence and the interests of the American people,” said Trump attorney Michael van der Veen.He told senators that the former president had every right to dispute his election loss to President Joe Biden and that Trump’s 70-minute speech just minutes before the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol did not amount to inciting the violence.When Trump urged thousands of supporters on the Ellipse to “fight like hell,” the defense said it was no different from Democrats’ using similar rhetoric that could spark violence.Trump’s lawyers played a lengthy video montage featuring prominent Democrats, including Vice President Kamala Harris, Senator Elizabeth Warren and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, using the word “fight” without any context.The video included many of the Democratic lawmakers who are the impeachment managers prosecuting the former president.The defense presentation followed a powerful two-day prosecution by House Democrats linking Trump’s rhetoric at a rally on January 6 to the actions of the mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol shortly afterward in an attempt to block certification of the 2020 presidential election results.Impeachment prosecutors contended Thursday there is “clear and overwhelming” evidence that Trump incited insurrection by sending a mob of his supporters to the Capitol last month to confront lawmakers as they were certifying that he had lost the November election to Democrat Joe Biden.In wrapping up his presentation, lead impeachment manager Raskin told the 100 members of the Senate acting as jurors they should use “common sense on what happened here.”Raskin argued that Trump urged hundreds of his supporters to march to the Capitol on January 6 and then, when they stormed the building, smashed windows, ransacked offices and scuffled with police, “did nothing for at least two hours” to end the mayhem that left five people dead, including a Capitol Police officer. Reuters contributed to this report. 
…

The U.S. Senate voted Saturday morning to subpoena witnesses in the impeachment trial of former president Donald Trump.Five Republican senators voted with all 50 Democrats to hear testimony from witnesses.  The vote was a somewhat surprising development, as the Senate was expected to hear closing arguments from each side, and possibly hold a vote later Saturday to acquit or convict Trump, bringing an end to the trial that began Tuesday. The move to call witnesses means the trial will continue at least into next week.Congressman Jamie Raskin, the lead House impeachment manager, announced that he wanted to subpoena Republican Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler of Washington state.  Beutler issued a statement Friday night that House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy told her Trump had expressed sympathy and admiration for the mob during a heated phone call between the two amid the unfolding attack on the Capitol. McCarthy had made the call urging Trump to intervene and call off rioters.Earlier Saturday, several U.S. news organizations, citing anonymous sources, reported that Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell had told his Republican colleagues he planned to vote to acquit the former president in the vote expected Saturday. On Friday, Trump’s lawyers wrapped up their defense of the former U.S. leader, denying he helped incite a deadly mob attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. Trump’s lawyers described the trial as a politically inspired and illegal “witch hunt.”“Like every other politically motivated witch hunt the left has engaged in over the past four years, this impeachment is completely divorced from the facts, the evidence and the interests of the American people,” said Trump attorney Michael van der Veen.Watch the session live:  Trump’s lawyers presented their case in three hours Friday, choosing not to use the full 16 hours allocated.Trump’s attorneys told senators that the former president had every right to dispute his election loss to President Joe Biden and that Trump’s 70-minute speech just minutes before the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol did not amount to inciting the violence.When Trump urged thousands of supporters on the Ellipse to “fight like hell,” the defense said it was no different from Democrats’ using similar rhetoric that could spark violence.Trump’s lawyers played a lengthy video montage featuring prominent Democrats, including Vice President Kamala Harris, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, using the word “fight” without any context.Also featured in the video were many of the Democratic lawmakers who are the impeachment managers prosecuting the former president.After the defense’s presentation Friday, the senators held a question-and-answer session, taking turns submitting written questions to both the lawyers for Trump and the Democratic lawmakers prosecuting the former president.One of the first questions came from Republican Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who have both been critical of Trump’s actions, asking exactly when Trump learned of the breach of the Capitol and what specific actions he took.Van der Veen did not directly answer the question but blamed Democrats for not investigating the matter.Lead impeachment manager Congressman Jamie Raskin of Maryland said later in the session that the details being sought are “in sole possession of the president” and noted that Trump was invited to participate in the trial but declined.Friday’s question-and-answer session and defense presentation followed a powerful two-day presentation by House Democrats linking Trump’s rhetoric at a rally on Jan. 6 to the actions of the mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol shortly afterward in an attempt to block certification of the 2020 presidential election results.Impeachment prosecutors contended Thursday there is “clear and overwhelming” evidence that Trump incited insurrection by sending a mob of his supporters to the Capitol last month to confront lawmakers as they were certifying that he had lost the November election to Democrat Joe Biden.In wrapping up his presentation, Raskin told the 100 members of the Senate acting as jurors they should use “common sense on what happened here.”Raskin argued that Trump urged hundreds of his supporters to march to the Capitol on Jan. 6 and then, when they stormed the building, smashed windows, ransacked offices and scuffled with police, “did nothing for at least two hours” to end the mayhem that left five people dead, including a Capitol Police officer.However, there has been no immediate indication that Republican supporters of Trump in the Senate are turning en masse against him. Trump remains on track to be acquitted.
…

The U.S. Senate is back in session Saturday morning as a court of impeachment for former President Donald Trump.Neither the House managers nor lawyers for Trump have announced any plans to call witnesses, which means the two sides will likely make their final arguments Saturday. A final vote in the case would soon follow.On Friday, Trump’s lawyers wrapped up their defense of the former U.S. leader, denying he helped incite a deadly mob attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. Trump’s lawyers described the trial as a politically inspired and illegal “witch hunt.”“Like every other politically motivated witch hunt the left has engaged in over the past four years, this impeachment is completely divorced from the facts, the evidence and the interests of the American people,” said Trump attorney Michael van der Veen.Trump’s lawyers presented their case in three hours Friday, choosing not to use the full 16 hours allocated.Trump’s attorneys told senators that the former president had every right to dispute his election loss to President Joe Biden and that Trump’s 70-minute speech just minutes before the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol did not amount to inciting the violence.When Trump urged thousands of supporters on the Ellipse to “fight like hell,” the defense said it was no different from Democrats’ using similar rhetoric that could spark violence.Trump’s lawyers played a lengthy video montage featuring prominent Democrats, including Vice President Kamala Harris, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, using the word “fight” without any context.Also featured in the video were many of the Democratic lawmakers who are the impeachment managers prosecuting the former president.After the defense’s presentation Friday, the senators held a question-and-answer session, taking turns submitting written questions to both the lawyers for Trump and the Democratic lawmakers prosecuting the former president.One of the first questions came from Republican Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who have both been critical of Trump’s actions, asking exactly when Trump learned of the breach of the Capitol and what specific actions he took.Van der Veen did not directly answer the question but blamed Democrats for not investigating the matter.Lead impeachment manager Congressman Jamie Raskin of Maryland said later in the session that the details being sought are “in sole possession of the president” and noted that Trump was invited to participate in the trial but declined.Friday’s question-and-answer session and defense presentation followed a powerful two-day presentation by House Democrats linking Trump’s rhetoric at a rally on Jan. 6 to the actions of the mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol shortly afterward in an attempt to block certification of the 2020 presidential election results.Impeachment prosecutors contended Thursday there is “clear and overwhelming” evidence that Trump incited insurrection by sending a mob of his supporters to the Capitol last month to confront lawmakers as they were certifying that he had lost the November election to Democrat Joe Biden.In wrapping up his presentation, Raskin told the 100 members of the Senate acting as jurors they should use “common sense on what happened here.”Raskin argued that Trump urged hundreds of his supporters to march to the Capitol on Jan. 6 and then, when they stormed the building, smashed windows, ransacked offices and scuffled with police, “did nothing for at least two hours” to end the mayhem that left five people dead, including a Capitol Police officer.However, there has been no immediate indication that Republican supporters of Trump in the Senate are turning en masse against him. Trump remains on track to be acquitted.
…

A prosecutor from the southern U.S. state of Georgia plans to examine a phone call between U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham and Georgia’s secretary of state as part of a criminal investigation into whether former President Donald Trump or his allies broke state law in trying to influence the results of the election, The Washington Post reported Friday.Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis will look into the call Graham made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger 10 days after the Nov. 3 election, the Post reported, citing an unnamed person familiar with the probe.Graham, a Republican and a close Trump ally, asked Raffensperger whether he had the power to toss out all mail ballots in certain counties, Raffensperger has told the Post.Raffensperger said Graham appeared to be asking him to improperly find a way to set aside legally cast ballots, according to the newspaper.A spokesperson for Graham, Kevin Bishop, called the accusation “ridiculous.” He said Graham was asking Raffensperger how the signature verification process worked and said the senator never asked him to disqualify a ballot by anyone.Bishop said Graham has not been notified of any probe of the call.The Fulton County District Attorney’s Office and Raffensperger’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Reuters.Willis is investigating Trump after a Jan. 2 phone call he made pressuring Raffensperger to overturn the state’s election results based on unfounded voter fraud claims.In the call with Raffensperger, which was recorded, Trump says: “All I want to do is this: I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have,” referring to the narrow margin of President Joe Biden’s victory in the state, one of a handful of swing states that cost Trump the White House.
…

The legal defense for former President Donald Trump took less than three hours Friday to argue before the U.S. Senate that he should not be convicted of incitement in the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. As VOA’s congressional correspondent Katherine Gypson reports, the first-ever trial of a former U.S. president is rapidly moving to a close.
…