House Impeachment Managers Wrap Up Arguments

House impeachment managers yesterday wrapped up their arguments in the opening phase of the trial of Donald John Trump in the United States Senate.  Their case linked the words of Trump to the events which led up to the horrific storming of the U. S. Capitol on January 6.  They made clear in searing detail, with video, that the events of January 6 did not happen spontaneously or by accident. 

We have before us, then, a clear case of incitement.  We have seen how a worried Trump launched an effort to sow doubt in the minds of supporters regarding the validity of the November election months before it even took place.  We have seen how the invasion of the Michigan state Capitol served as a prelude to conspirators who were already known to each other, and indeed showed up at the U. S. Capitol months later.  

Thus we have no one-off loss of control, but a plan for insurrection -- conceived, nurtured, and executed in the White House by the President of the United States.  The matter could hardly be clearer.

And yet, certain business interests, fronted by the Republican Party, have emitted a fog of obfuscation, deflection, and denial.  This obfuscation will continue today, as Trump enablers seek to turn attention away from the facts of January 6, and Trump's role in it, and toward side issues.  

I believe the American people will not be deceived.  Certain things can be felt, especially when they have actually been seen.  There is no real way to hide or deflect.  The President did what he did.  It is now there on the record with a new, more powerful light shone upon it.  Let us not avert our gaze.  Let is join together -- in horror, yes -- but more importantly in a shared clarity.  And then let us act with ennobled dispatch to make sure such a thing as January 6, 2021, never happens again.  

 Photo of Rep. Jamie Raskin, lead House impeachment manager