Democrats' impeachment managers plan to use social media posts from Capitol assault in case against Trump
House impeachment managers plan to use social media video from the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol in their presentation during former President Trump's Senate trial to help demonstrate why they believe the former president should be convicted, according to a source familiar with planning for the trial.
Mr. Trump's response to the article of impeachment is due on Tuesday. Also due on Tuesday is the House's pretrial briefs where they will lay out much of their arguments against Mr. Trump.
Mr. Trump's pretrial briefs will be presented on February 8. The trial is set to begin on February 9.
The House voted to impeach Mr. Trump on January 13 on a charge of "incitement of insurrection." One week earlier, Mr. Trump had encouraged his supporters to "fight like hell" to stop Congress from counting the Electoral College votes, the final step in affirming President Biden's victory. A mob of his supporters then stormed the U.S. Capitol, sending lawmakers fleeing and delaying the count for nearly six hours. Five people died in the melee.
More than 170 people have been charged in connection to the riot, some of whom were identified and charged as a result of posts they made on various social media platforms. A Texas real estate agent, for example, posted on Twitter amid the assault, "we just stormed the Capital (sic). It was one of the best days of my life."
Federal authorities have been sorting through tips from people regarding these social media posts.
With Mr. Trump's Senate trial set to start in a little over a week, the former president on Sunday night announced two new lawyers have joined his legal team: David Schoen, who represented Mr. Trump's associate Roger Stone, will be the lead attorney and David Castor, a former district attorney, also joined.
The announcement came less than 24 hours after Trump adviser Jason Miller confirmed that South Carolina attorney Butch Bowers, who was expected to be Mr. Trump's lead attorney, and Deborah Barbier, were no longer part of his team. A Trump adviser said the departure was mutual.
