Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial started on Tuesday with extensive video footage of the deadly January 6 siege on the US Capitol, as Democrats made the case that the former president should be convicted for inciting an insurrection.
Jamie Raskin, the Democratic congressman from Maryland who is the lead impeachment manager and de facto chief prosecutor, played the often graphic video at the start of four hours of debate over whether it is constitutional to put a former president on trial in the Senate.
The 10-minute video was a compilation of clips, played in chronological order, of the attack as seen from outside and inside the Capitol, including a snippet of Trump encouraging the crowds to “fight like hell” and march on the legislature.
The crowd subsequently staged a riot that interrupted the certification of Joe Biden’s election victory while leaving five people dead, including a Capitol police officer.
“That’s a high crime and misdemeanour,”…