- Trump lawyers to present brief defense and pin blame on Capitol rioters
- ‘Accomplice’ senators who amplified Trump lies now get a say in his fate
- Senate hears how Trump stoked Capitol assault over years
- Democrats rest case with warning that Trump remains a threat
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•The impeachment trial of Donald Trump continued on Friday, as lawyers for the president began to present their defense.
•That defense is not expected to last very long. Trump’s lawyers are expected to use about four hours of their possible sixteen – apparently the defense team believe they have enough Republican votes to avoid a conviction.
Mike Pence has “no plans to condemn Trump or to speak out during the Senate impeachment trial”, the Washington Post reported, despite the near miss the former-vice president experienced on January 6.
Video shown by impeachment managers this week showed Pence fleeing as Trump’s supporters broke into the Capitol, but the close call was apparently not enough to spur Pence into action.
[Pence] is still operating from a playbook of obsequiousness that has become second nature — never airing grievances publicly, and delivering his often rose-colored counsel to Trump only in private, one-on-one settings.
