Posted by on February 13, 2021 11:18 am
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Categories: Insurrection and Political Violence Politics µ Newsjones µ Politics Behaving Badly

NY Times:

An expected verdict in Donald J. Trump’s impeachment trial was thrown into doubt on Saturday after the Senate voted to allow witnesses to be called, a result of a surprise push by Democrats to summon a Republican congresswoman who has said she was told that the former president sided with the mob as rioters were attacking the Capitol.

The last-minute move to throw open the trial record came on a day when the Senate had been expected to hand Mr. Trump his second impeachment acquittal, on the charge of “incitement of insurrection,” for his alleged role in stoking the mob that attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6 while Congress was meeting to formalize his election loss.

It threatened to prolong the trial for days or longer, even as the top Senate Republican, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, privately told his colleagues he was ready to acquit Mr. Trump, confirming that an eventual conviction was exceedingly unlikely.

WaPo:

Lead impeachment manager Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) said he wants to subpoena Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-Wash.), who said in a statement Friday night that House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) told her that Trump had expressed sympathy for the mob during a heated phone call between the two as the Jan. 6 attack was unfolding.

Herrera Buetler dumped a smoking gun in McConnell’s punchbowl last night, going public with her story of a – well, contentious – phone call between game show host Donald Trump and sycophantic supplicant (and part-time House Minority Leader) Kevin McCarthy.during the January 6 Capitol riot.