Donald Trump’s attorneys rejected a request from House Democrats on Thursday for the former president to testify under oath for his Senate impeachment trial.
The request from House impeachment managers made clear their intent to present an aggressive case against the former president even though he has left the White House. Democrats are arguing the former president must explain why he and his lawyers have disputed key factual allegations at the center of the case.
However, the response from Trump’s legal team was equally aggressive, alleging Democrats cannot prove their allegations.
The Senate impeachment trial starts Feb. 9. Trump is charged with inciting a mob of supporters that stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6.
In the letter, Rep. Jamie Raskin, one of the impeachment managers, asked that Trump provide testimony “either before or during the Senate impeachment trial,” and under cross-examination, about his conduct on Jan. 6, as early as Monday and not later than next Thursday, Feb. 11.
Raskin said Trump questioned critical facts in the case “notwithstanding the clear and overwhelming evidence of your constitutional offense.”
“In light of your disputing these factual allegations, I write to invite you to provide testimony under oath, either before or during the Senate impeachment trial, concerning your conduct on January 6, 2021,” Raskin wrote.
Raskin wrote that if Trump refuses to testify, the managers will use his refusal against him in the trial — a similar argument put forth by House Democrats in last year’s impeachment trial, when many Trump officials ignored subpoenas.
“Indeed, whereas a sitting president might raise concerns about distraction from their official duties, that concern is obviously inapplicable here,” Raskin wrote.
Trump previously was impeached by the House in late 2019 and acquitted by the Senate in February 2020 on two charges: abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. The GOP-led Senate acquitted Trump on both charges. Prior to Trump, only two presidents had been impeached, Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton. Both were acquitted by the Senate.
The latest impeachment charge — authored by U.S. Reps. David Cicilline of Rhode Island, Raskin of Maryland and Ted Lieu of California — alleges Trump incited the violence that led to the death of one Capitol Police officer who died from injuries suffered in the riot and the shooting death of another protester. Three other people died in what authorities said were medical emergencies.
The unprecedented second impeachment of an American president came without hearings, witnesses or testimony. Trump’s first impeachment in the House happened after weeks of preparations among top Democratic leaders, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Adam Schiff of California, who was the lead House impeachment manager.
On Tuesday, Democrats filed a legal brief in their most detailed case yet of why the former GOP president should be convicted and permanently barred from office.
The brief attempts to link Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of the presidential election to the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol and argues he must be found guilty when his impeachment trial opens next week. Trump’s team — which underwent a shakeup over the weekend — is basing its argument on the First Amendment and whether a former president can even be tried in the Senate at all.
Shortly after Raskin’s letter was made public, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said he would listen to the House managers’ arguments if they felt a subpoena was necessary. But he said that “the more I see what’s already in the public record, the more powerful the case” against Trump, based on his own words and actions.
Trump’s statements before and after the attack on the Capitol “are the most powerful evidence,” Blumenthal said. “His own words incriminate him. They show his guilty intent.”
South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, one of Trump’s closest GOP allies, said he thinks the letter is a “political ploy” and notes that Democrats didn’t invite or subpoena him to testify before the House voted to impeach him on Jan. 13.
Asked if he thinks Trump will testify, Graham said it would be a “bad idea.”
“I don’t think that would be in anybody’s interest,” he said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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