House impeachment managers are calling for former President Donald J. Trump to provide testimony under oath regarding his conduct before the violent breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. The impeachment trial of the former president, the first to face such a trial twice, is scheduled to begin the week of Feb. 8.
In a Thursday letter to Trump, lead Impeachment Manager Rep. Jamie Raskin, D. Md., responded to a letter filed by Trump’s attorneys on Feb. 2 denying many of the allegations set forth in the article of impeachment.
Raskin’s letter says, in part, “In light of your disputing these factual allegations, I write to you to invite you to provide testimony under oath, either before or during the Senate impeachment trial, concerning your conduct on January 6, 2021.” It also notes that “Presidents Gerald Ford and Bill Clinton both provided testimony while in office—and the Supreme Court held just last year that you were not immune from legal process while serving as President—so there is no doubt that you can testify in these proceedings.”
This comes in direct opposition to the 45 Republican senators who refused to affirm the impeachment trial on the basis of unconstitutionality.
If Trump refuses to provide the requested testimony, Raskin’s letter says the Senate reserves “any and all rights, including the right to establish at trial that your refusal to testify supports a strong adverse inference regarding your actions (and inaction) on January 6, 2021.” The former president has until 5 p.m. Friday, Feb. 5, 2021, to respond.
In a press conference, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi responded to a question about “why bother” with the impeachment trial by saying, “We’re here to support and defend the Constitution of the United States,” pointing to what she called the “world witness” to the “incitement the president caused” to the Capitol insurrection. {eoa}
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