WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th February, 2021) Donald Trump's lawyer Michael van der Veen urged the US Senate on Friday to reject the Article of Impeachment as an unjust and blatantly unconstitutional act of political vengeance.
"Like every other politically motivated witch-hunt the left has engaged over the past four years, this impeachment is completely divorced from the facts, the evidence and the interest of the American people. The Senate should promptly and decisively vote to reject it," van der Veen said in his opening arguments during the Senate trial.
Van der Veen denounced the impeachment attempt as an appalling abuse of the Constitution that only further divides the nation when it should try to come together around shared priorities.
The lawyer dismissed as "patently absurd on its face" the allegations that Trump incited insurrection with his January 6 speech that preceded the incident by a group of his supporters at the Capitol. In the speech, Trump called on his supporters to let their voices be heard "peacefully and patriotically." However, a group entered the Capitol to protest the lawmakers' acceptance of electoral slates from several US states Trump claims are invalid and robbed him of election victory.
"Nothing in the text could ever be construed as encouraging, condoning or enticing unlawful activity of any kind. The President's remarks explicitly encouraged those in attendance to exercise their rights peacefully and patriotically," van der Veen said.
The lawyer claimed that the rally was supposed to be a peaceful event, like previous pro-Trump gatherings, but was tragically hijacked by an extremist group for its own purposes. Van der Veen noted that Trump demanded violent rioters be imprisoned for as long as the law allows.
Van der Veen said an Antifa activist was among those arrested who was "sadly the first to be released," and accused the Washington, DC Democratic municipality of resisting the deployment of reinforcements ahead of the rally.
The lawyer defended Trump's efforts to question and challenge the 2020 election result as "squared on proper civic process," adding that Democrats have for years alleged the 2016 election was stolen by Russian hackers and warned that the impeachment poses a threat to freedom of speech as it seeks to smear and cancel the 75 million Trump supporters .
"This unprecedented effort is not about Democrats opposing political violence. It is about Democrats trying to disqualify their political opposition. It is constitutional cancel culture," van der Veen said. "History will record this shameful effort as a deliberate attempt by the Democrat Party to smear, censor and cancel not just President Trump, but the 75 million Americans who voted for him."
Video clips screened at the Senate showed Trump preaching law and order on multiple occasions and Democrats failing to condemn violence that marred Black Lives Matter and Antifa riots across the country.
In an attempt to fend off attacks on Trump for the appeal to his supporters to fight "like Hell," the lawyers also rolled out a compilation of Democratic leader using similar expressions. "We fight this fight... Fight on, fight on," Vice President Kamala Harris was heard saying in one of the videos.
"It's the word people use. It's OK. But, please, stop the hypocrisy," another member of Trump's defense team, David Schoen, said.
Van der Veen confirmed that the lawyers plan to take some four hours of 16 hours allotted for their presentation, clearing the way for the Senators to debate and vote on the case.
The result may be arrived at as early as this weekend and is very likely to be in favor of the former President given the apparent lack of a two-thirds majority needed to convict him.
