US House impeachment managers asked former President Donald Trump on Thursday to provide testimony under oath about his conduct before the violent breach of the Capitol in rioting on January 6.
In their trial brief,the impeachment managers state that Trump “summoned a mob to Washington” and “aimed them like a loaded cannon down Pennsylvania Avenue”.
House Republican Adam Kinzinger announced a new political action committee called the Country First PAC,intended to challenge Trump’s ongoing grip on the party.
Former President Donald Trump has parted ways with his lead impeachment lawyers,raising doubts about the strategy of his defence team.
The meeting came three weeks after McCarthy enraged Trump by saying the then-outgoing president bore responsibility for the deadly January 6 riot.
Republican Senator Rand Paul’s proposal argued the former president couldn’t be tried as a private citizen. It was defeated 55-45.
Despite the changed nature of Washington,Trump’s second impeachment trial appears destined to end just as his first did.
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell last week blamed Trump for the violent attack,saying he “provoked” the mob,but other senior Republicans have called the impeachment “stupid”.
It currently seems unlikely that Democrats will be able to convince the requisite 17 Republicans to vote to convict the former president of inciting the Capitol riot.
McConnell said he would listen to the arguments before deciding how to vote on the impeachment charge which accuses Trump of inciting an insurrection at the Capitol.
"These men weren’t drunks who got rowdy — they were terrorists,” said Republican Senator Ben Sasse,who is likely to vote to convict Trump.