House managers file impeachment trial brief, Trump answer filed

H. Res. 24 Impeaching Donald John Trump (117th Congress)

Sponsor: David N. Cicciline (D-RI-1) Introduced January 11, 2021

Answer of President Donald John Trump

Bruce L. Castor, Jr. David Schoen -Counsel to the 45th President of the United States

February 2, 2021

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES Sitting as a Court of Impeachment 

In re IMPEACHMENT OF PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP 

TRIAL MEMORANDUMOF THE UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVESIN THE IMPEACHMENT TRIAL OF PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP

United States House of Representatives 

Jamie Raskin, 

Diana DeGette 

David Cicilline 

Joaquin Castro 

Eric Swalwell 

Ted Lieu 

Stacey Plaskett 

Madeleine Dean 

Joe Neguse 

U.S. House of Representatives Managers 

President Trump’s responsibility for the events of January 6 is unmistakable. After losing the 2020 election, President Trump refused to accept the will of the American people. He spent months asserting, without evidence, that he won in a “landslide” and that the election was “stolen.” He amplified these lies at every turn, seeking to convince supporters that they were victims of a massive electoral conspiracy that threatened the Nation’s continued existence. But every single court to consider the President’s attacks on the outcome of the election rejected them. And state and federal officials from both parties refused President Trump’s increasingly desperate demands that they break the law to keep him in power.

 With his options running out, President Trump announced a “Save America Rally” on January 6. He promised it would be “wild.” By the day of the rally, President Trump had spent months using his bully pulpit to insist that the Joint Session of Congress was the final act of a vast plot to destroy America. As a result— and as had been widely reported—the crowd was armed, angry, and dangerous. Before President Trump took the stage, his lawyer called for “trial by combat.” His son warned Republican legislators against finalizing the election results: “We’re coming for you.” 

Finally, President Trump appeared behind a podium bearing the presidential seal. Surveying the tense crowd before him, President Trump whipped it into a frenzy, exhorting followers to “fight like hell [or] you’re not going to have a country anymore.” Then he aimed them straight at the Capitol, declaring: “You’ll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength, and you have to be strong.” 

Incited by President Trump, his mob attacked the Capitol