The Democratic prosecution team began presenting its case against former US President Donald Trump on the second day of the Senate parliamentary trial, and said it would present evidence showing that Trump was not an innocent bystander to the events of the storming of Congress.
Representative Jimmy Ruskin - who leads the prosecution team - opened the session reserved for them today, Wednesday, to present the legal arguments behind Trump's accusation of "inciting rebellion", in connection with the attack by his supporters on the Capitol (Congress) on January 6 with the aim of disrupting the confirmation hearing On winning the presidential election, Joe Biden.
"The evidence will show you that former President Trump was not an innocent bystander," Ruskin said, "and that he gave up his role as commander in chief and became a major instigator of a dangerous rebellion."
He added that with "the occurrence of violence (...) as was expected, and the chaos that swept through this body and the House of Representatives, we will show you that he has completely abandoned his duty as commander of the army, to stop the violence and protect the government.
Raskin saw what Trump had done as "the biggest betrayal of the presidential oath in American history," and said that he spent weeks inflaming the feelings of his supporters by telling them that the elections had been stolen and was likely to impede the transfer of power in the United States for the first time in history.
New video
On the other hand, American media said that the prosecution team is expected to display previously unseen video footage of the events of the congressional storming.
"We will use footage that has not been shown before, showing an exceptional view of the Capitol and a scene of the attack that was not disclosed before," Reuters quoted a senior aide in Congress as saying.
The proceedings of Trump's parliamentary trial began on Tuesday, with the Senate voting in favor of proceeding with the first trial of a former president in the United States, rejecting the defense team's arguments that the trial should only be conducted by a president in power.
Only 6 of the 50 Republicans in the Senate joined the 50 Democrats to vote in favor of holding the trial, far short of the 17 Republican vote required to convict Trump.
On Tuesday, Democrats showed a video of the congressional blockade, but some Republican senators were content with lowering their eyes or looking at papers in front of them, while the attackers shouted and screamed in the House.