Battle lines drawn in Trump impeachment trial

WASHINGTON • Former US president Donald Trump's lawyers have denied that he incited a deadly assault on the Capitol and argued that the Senate has no power to try a former president.

Meanwhile, House prosecutors have made the case that Mr Trump is "singularly responsible" for the Jan 6 rampage and must be convicted and barred from holding any future office.

The duelling filings on Tuesday provided the clearest preview yet of a politically fraught impeachment trial - the second in just a year - scheduled to begin in earnest next Tuesday. Mr Trump is the first US president in history to be impeached twice.

Both sides indicated they were ready for a debate over the constitutionality of trying a former president. They were also lining up diametrically opposed interpretations of a set of events witnessed on live television across the nation.

In his first formal answer to the "incitement of insurrection" charge against him, Mr Trump, through his lawyers, denied that he was responsible for the Capitol riot, or that he intended to interfere with Congress formalising President Joe Biden's election win.

During his Jan 6 speech, Mr Trump repeated false claims that the election was fraudulent and exhorted supporters to march on the Capitol, telling them to "stop the steal", "show strength" and "fight like hell".

The rampage interrupted the certification of Mr Biden's victory, sent lawmakers into hiding for their own safety and left five people dead, including a police officer.

Lawyers Bruce Castor Jr and David Schoen wrote in the 14-page filing that Mr Trump's words to supporters were protected by his First Amendment right of free speech and were not meant as a reference to violent action, but "about the need to fight for election security in general".

The response arrived two hours after the nine House Democrats preparing to prosecute the case argued in their own 80-page pre-trial brief that Mr Trump had shown he would do anything to "reassert his grip on power" if he were allowed to seek election again.

"A president who violently attacks the democratic process has no right to participate in it," wrote the managers, led by Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland.

The House prosecutors also refuted Mr Trump's constitutional challenge to the case, asserting that history and even conservative constitutional theory supported the Senate's right to try a former president.

While Mr Trump was impeached on Jan 13, his term ended a week later - before the beginning of the Senate trial - and his lawyers argued that there were no grounds to try him as he had already left office.

"There is no 'January exception' to impeachment or any other provision of the Constitution," the prosecutors wrote. "A president must answer comprehensively for his conduct in office from his first day in office through his last."

Mr Trump's response took an unusual form, addressing the House's article of impeachment point by point. It also appeared to be somewhat hastily assembled after Mr Trump shook up his legal team just 48 hours before the brief was due.

Separately, Republicans fighting over their party's future faced a turning point yesterday as House leaders confronted calls to punish two Members: one for spreading conspiracy theories and endorsing political violence, and the other for voting to impeach Mr Trump.

Trump loyalists want to strip Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the No. 3 Republican, of her leadership post as payback for her vote to impeach.

Trump critics want to strip Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia of her committee assignments for endorsing false claims, bigoted language and violent behaviour, including calling for the execution of top Democrats.

The fates of the two lawmakers, which were expected to be discussed at a private meeting among Republicans yesterday, are a proxy battle for the party's future, prompting a clash among its top leadership.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, NYTIMES, REUTERS