Then-President Donald Trump walks towards Marine One after speaking during an event held in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., to commemorate a record of judicial confirmations by the Republican controlled Senate, on Nov. 6, 2019.
Former President Donald Trump’s impeachment counsel argued Tuesday that the former president didn’t incite the violent mob of his supporters that stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 and that his speech trying to undermine the election results is protected under the First Amendment despite that protection not applying to the impeachment process.
The 14-page brief filed in the Senate by Trump’s new defense counsel, Bruce Castor Jr. and David Schoen, insists that Trump’s comments to a crowd at the Ellipse shortly before the riots—when he told them “if you don’t fight like hell you’re not going to have a country anymore”—were a reference to imposing tighter election security measures.
