Bruce Castor and Michael van der Veen, lawyers for former President Donald Trump, walk back to their meeting room during a break through the Senate Reception room in the Capitol on the fourth day of the Senate Impeachment trials for former President Donald Trump on Capitol Hill, Friday, Feb 12, 2021 in Washington.
Watch: Closing arguments in Trump impeachment trial
By Alana Wise/NPR
Jabin Botsford / The Washington Post via AP, Pool
Bruce Castor and Michael van der Veen, lawyers for former President Donald Trump, walk back to their meeting room during a break through the Senate Reception room in the Capitol on the fourth day of the Senate Impeachment trials for former President Donald Trump on Capitol Hill, Friday, Feb 12, 2021 in Washington.
(Washington) — Donald Trump’s historic second impeachment trial is on track to conclude on Saturday after the defense wrapped up its arguments in a single day and senators had time to ask their questions on Friday.
Saturday’s focus is closing arguments, potentially followed by a final vote on whether to convict the former president. Trump is facing a single impeachment charge, incitement of an insurrection, for his role in urging a mob to attack the Capitol complex on Jan. 6.
The Senate began the trial Tuesday, a little more than a month after a mob of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol. Senators voted 56-44 that the trial was in fact constitutional, even though Trump has already left office.
Trump has denied responsibility for stoking the mob on Jan. 6. His lawyers claim that he did not encourage unlawful acts and that his comments to supporters that day are protected by the First Amendment. They also argue that he should not be on trial at all, as he is no longer president — though many constitutional experts disagree.
As Congress began counting the Electoral College votes on Jan. 6, Trump called for his supporters to walk to the Capitol in protest of the election results. Trump falsely claimed the election had been “stolen,” despite his clear loss to now-President Biden.
“You’ll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength and you have to be strong. We have come to demand that Congress do the right thing and only count the electors who have been lawfully slated, lawfully slated,” he said. “I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard.”
Hours later, multiple people were dead, the Capitol building was in a state of chaos, and still, Biden’s election victory was certified by Congress.
House impeachment managers dissected those remarks and others made by Trump in the months prior to argue that his false election claims laid the groundwork for the violence far before that particular rally.