Trump's second impeachment trial: Day 2

By Melissa Macaya, Meg Wagner, Veronica Rocha, Melissa Mahtani and Mike Hayes, CNN

Updated 11:41 p.m. ET, February 10, 2021
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3:03 p.m. ET, February 10, 2021

Stacey Plaskett is the first delegate in US history to serve on a team of impeachment managers 

From CNN's Maureen Chowdhury 

Senate TV
Senate TV

Rep. Jamie Raskin, lead House impeachment manager, said it was a moment of "special pride" to introduce impeachment manager Stacey Plaskett to speak on the Senate floor as she is the first delegate to ever serve on a team of impeachment managers. Raskin also noted that Plaskett was his former law student at American University.

"She was an A student then and an A-plus student now," Raskin said.

Plaskett represents the United States Virgin Islands’ at-large congressional district. During her Senate remarks, she shared a bit of her personal story ahead of detailing the Democrats' arguments against former President Trump.

"I've learned throughout my life that preparation and truth can carry you far. Can allow you to speak truth to power. I've learned that as a young black girl growing up in the projects in Brooklyn, housing community on St. Croix, sent to the most unlikeliest of settings and now as an adult woman representing an island territory speaking to the US Senate," she said.

"And because of truth, I am confident today speaking before you, because truth and facts are overwhelming, that our president, the President of the United States incited a mob to storm the capitol, to attempt to stop the certification of a presidential election," she continued.

Since Plaskett is considered a delegate because she represents a US territory, she is not able cast votes on the House floor and was unable to vote to impeach Trump. Now she is be able to make the case to convict Trump as an impeachment manager for the second trial.

Before her election to Congress, Plaskett served as assistant district attorney for the Bronx District Attorney’s Office and as senior counsel at the Department of Justice. She was also general counsel for the Virgin Islands Economic Development Authority.

CNN's Clare Foran, Janie Boschma and Curt Merrill contributed reporting to this post.

3:04 p.m. ET, February 10, 2021

Trump "ran out of nonviolent options to maintain power," impeachment manager says

From CNN's Adrienne Vogt

Senate Tv
Senate Tv

Democratic Rep. Ted Lieu, a House impeachment manager, said former President Trump “ran out of nonviolent options to maintain power.”

“After his efforts and — of course, threatening officials — failed, he turned to privately and publicly attacking members of his own party in the House and in the Senate. He would publicly bait senators, naming them in social media,” Lieu said, citing a Trump tweet from Dec. 18 that falsely claimed he won the election and called on Republican senators to “fight for it.” 

Lieu also showed a tweet from Dec. 24 in his presentation in which Trump called out senators, including then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, telling them that he would "never forget" if they just "sit back and watch me fight."

"President Trump was telling you that you owe him, that if you don't help him fight to overcome the results, he will never forget and there will be consequences," Lieu said.

"The President wasn't just coming for one or two people, or Democrats like me. He was coming for you — or Democratic and Republican senators. He was coming for all of us, just as the mob did at his direction," Lieu added.

Watch the moment:

2:41 p.m. ET, February 10, 2021

What you need to know about impeachment manager Rep. Ted Lieu

From CNN’s Maureen Chowdhury 

Rep. Ted Lieu, one of the House impeachment managers, chronicled former President Trump's pressure campaign to overturn the election results in his remarks today from the Senate floor.

Lieu, of California’s 33rd district, serves on the Judiciary Committee and the Committee on Foreign Affairs. He is a former active-duty officer in the US Air Force who served as a prosecutor in the Judge Advocate General's Corps, and currently serves as a Colonel in the Reserves.

"I was trained as a prosecutor at the air force base in Alabama, and I remain in the reserves because we're the greatest country in the world. But how did our exceptional country get to the point where a violent mob attacked our Capitol, murdering a police officer, assaulting over 140 other officers? How did we get to the point where rioters desecrated, defiled and dishonored your Senate chamber? The very place in which you sit became a crime scene, and where National Guard troops still patrol outside wearing body armor? I'll show you how we got here," Lieu said as he went on to lay out his argument against Trump.

Lieu, along with other House impeachment managers, has been vocally critical of Trump.

Lieu started drafting articles of impeachment against Trump as the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol was happening, while he was sheltering inside the Capitol building.

A few days after the House voted to impeach Trump and after he was chosen as an impeachment manager, Lieu told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, “We absolutely have a chance of conviction… You had a violent mob attack our nation's Capitol to try to stop Congress from formalizing Donald Trump's defeat and Donald Trump was the one that incited that mob."

Lieu sponsored the articles of impeachment with his Democratic colleagues Rep. David Cicilline and Rep. Jamie Raskin.

2:35 p.m. ET, February 10, 2021

Key things to know about impeachment manager Rep. Dean and her role in Congress

From CNN’s Maureen Chowdhury 

Senate TV
Senate TV

Impeachment manager Rep. Madeleine Dean, of Pennsylvania’s 4th district, spoke today from the Senate floor about former President Trump's efforts to retain the presidency, and referred to Trump as a "desperate president."

"I will present evidence of President Trump's relentless escalating campaigns to fabricate an election victory by ignoring adverse court rulings, pressuring and threatening election officials, attacking senators and members of congress," Dean said.

Dean was one of the many members of Congress who was evacuated from the House floor during the Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol.  

Dean is a member of the Judiciary Committee and is a former executive director of the Philadelphia Trial Lawyers Association and later started a three-woman law firm outside of Philadelphia.

After House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that Dean would be serving as a manager, Dean tweeted, “I am honored to serve as an impeachment manager among my esteemed colleagues — it is for the sake of our country, not hate of one man or anyone, but for the love of our country and constitution.”

2:25 p.m. ET, February 10, 2021

House manager details Trump's efforts to overturn Michigan results

From CNN's Marshall Cohen

House Democrats are giving a detailed presentation of President Trump’s attempt to overturn the election results in key states, and started by focusing on Michigan. 

CNN extensively covered these events as they unfolded last year. Trump personally called GOP officials in Wayne County, home to Detroit, and pressed them to rescind their votes in favor of certifying the results.

Later, he hosted top GOP state lawmakers at the White House in a longshot attempt to convince them that the legislature should overturn the outcome of the election. 

"Think about it. The President of the United States was calling public officials, calling from the White House, inviting them into the Oval Office, telling them to disenfranchise voters of her state, telling them to overturn the will of the American people. All to take the election for himself," Rep. Madeleine Dean, a House impeachment manager, said on the Senate floor on Wednesday.

"The officials held strong, and so Trump moved on to a different state," she added.

All of these efforts failed and President Biden’s win in Michigan was certified by the state. 

2:29 p.m. ET, February 10, 2021

GOP senator doesn't think Democrats' presentation "is going to change minds"

From CNN's Manu Raju

 Joshua Roberts/Pool/AFP/Getty Images
 Joshua Roberts/Pool/AFP/Getty Images

Sen. Josh Hawley, a Republican from Missouri, insisted he was paying attention when sitting in the upstairs gallery and while reading a stack of documents from his manilla folder. He said he was reading legal briefs in the case. He's the lone senator sitting in the upstairs gallery.

"Oh I'm very interested. That's why I'm sitting where I am," Hawley told CNN.

Asked what he was reading, he said:

"Well I've got the trial briefs with me, and taking notes. I'm sitting up there A, because it's a little less claustrophobic than on the floor, but B, I've also got a straight shot. Where I sit in the Senate chamber, as you know, I'm kind of in the corner. I can basically see the back of their heads. But I sort of picked a spot where I can look right down on them, I can see the TV, and it's interesting."

Hawley added that if Republican senators don't think the Senate has jurisdiction to try the case, there's no reason in his view, why there should be any should vote to convict – a view expressed by many GOP senators.

Hawley said Democrats are presenting their case in a "very understandable, easy-to-follow manner."

But he added, "I don't think it's going to change any minds. In my view, we don't have jurisdiction."

2:19 p.m. ET, February 10, 2021

Trump aide says former President thinks his lawyers need to "tighten up" their arguments

From CNN's Kaitlan Collins 

Former President Trump adviser Jason Miller told Fox News that Trump is in "a great mood." He said he spoke with him about five minutes ago.

"The President agrees with my position that the Democrats, everything they are saying today is very easily rebutted," Miller said on Fox News. "There's a critical detail here, Sandra [Smith] — the fact that Democrats aren't using the entire speech. Everything is selective. Not only regarding his speech, but regarding the Constitution, words law professor Jonathan Turley said. They haven't played the clips of President Trump saying be peaceful, patriotic."

He said Trump's legal defense team will point out how "hypocritical" the House impeachment managers were during their arguments. 

Regarding reports, including from CNN, that Trump was unhappy with his legal team yesterday, Miller said, "The President thinks David Schoen did a very excellent job. Also, there were good points Bruce Castor made. There are a few things we need to tighten up."

2:07 p.m. ET, February 10, 2021

The Senate is back in session

After a quick 15-minute break, the Senate is back in session.

House impeachment managers are continuing their arguments and will show evidence in the case against former President Trump.

2:10 p.m. ET, February 10, 2021

Senators still hope to finish the impeachment trial as soon as Saturday night

From CNN's Lauren Fox and Manu Raju

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell arrives at the US Capitol on February 10.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell arrives at the US Capitol on February 10. Kevin Dietsch/UPI/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell walked his conference through the impeachment timeline today during the private GOP lunch. He laid out that it was still possible to finish this trial by Saturday evening, according to GOP Sen. Kevin Cramer.

Finishing by Saturday would mean they would do senators' questions, closing arguments and the final vote that day – and push back doing senators' final speeches until later. The ultimate vote has not been decided yet, in part because the question about whether Democrats will seek witnesses is still not fully resolved, but all signs point to the trial ending this weekend.

Unlike the 2020 trial, when many senators from both parties took to the floor and gave floor speeches before the final conviction vote, Cramer also indicated that fewer GOP senators would speak this time – a sentiment echoed by many other of his colleagues.

The reason, Republican senators say, is that not as many GOP senators want to publicly defend Trump. Moreover, senators from both parties are eager to get home for next week's Presidents Day recess.

 “I think there is a lot of incentive for that,” Cramer said about trying to end Saturday.

Cramer told reporters that he believed that many of the Senate speeches that can bog down the end of an impeachment trial wouldn’t come until after the trial concluded and after a vote on conviction had already happened. But the timing on floor speeches hasn't been decided by the leaders yet.

“We have talked about that in the shop. If we were to give speeches, it would be after the trial is over,” Cramer said. “I expect we would have the vote as soon as we can, move along… then if senators want to take their opportunities, they probably will.”

Cramer said he will likely put something in the record, but he was not sure if he would formally speak.