John,

Our trial in Colorado continued today, with more testimony from our witnesses. Yesterday’s testimony focused on the events of January 6th, and the impact of the insurrection on those who were present on that day, from the law enforcement officers who fought to protect the Capitol to the members of Congress who were violently delayed in certifying the results of the 2020 election.

Today’s witness testimony focused on right wing extremism, political violence, national security, Donald Trump and January 6th.

Witnesses

• Professor Peter Simi, of Chapman University, served as an expert witness focused on right wing extremism, communications techniques of extremists, and how Trump’s calls for violence mobilized extremists groups leading up to and on January 6th.
• Professor William Banks, a professor of law and public administration and international affairs at Syracuse University, explained the many tools available to Trump to quell the violence on January 6th.

Key Moments

“Simi spent the morning going over specific tweets and interviews that Trump delivered leading up to Jan. 6th and arguing there is a shared language between Trump and far right extremists. He said far right extremists were galvanized, energized and mobilized by Trump’s call for them to be there on Jan. 6th, especially his now-infamous tweet urging ‘Be there, will be wild!’...‘I’ve never seen anything in recent history like this,’ Simi said of Trump’s language that he believes encouraged and inspired people to engage in violence.” — Colorado Public Radio

“[Simi] testified that in the months after President Joe Biden won the 2020 election, Trump led an effort to influence violent extremist groups that ‘ultimately resulted in the attack on the Capitol.’ Simi, who said he’d conducted hundreds of interviews with members of extremist groups while researching their communication patterns, pointed to repeated references to ‘1776’ by Trump supporters in the lead-up to Jan. 6. Those references, Simi said, were ‘a violent call for revolution’ and an example of the ‘doublespeak’ that extremist groups and their allies use to urge violence while maintaining deniability.” — Colorado Newsline

“Banks said Trump should have acted swiftly that day when violence was occuring. ‘He should respond to his constitutional responsibilities to protect the national security of the United States when there's an assault on our democratic process.’ He also said Trump could have declared a state of emergency.” — Colorado Public Radio

Livestream

C-SPAN aired today’s portion of the trial in full, which you can watch here.

Selected News Coverage

• Trump signaled to extremist groups on Jan. 6, experts testify in Colorado 14th Amendment case, The Hill
• Trump’s relationship with far-right groups under scrutiny during ‘insurrection’ trial in Colorado, Associated Press
• Voters ask Denver judge to block Trump from Colorado ballot, Courthouse News Service
• Police officers who responded to Jan. 6 riot testify at first day of trial in lawsuit aiming to block Trump from Colorado’s primary ballot, Colorado Sun

Thanks for following along during our 14th Amendment trial challenging Donald Trump’s ballot eligibility in Colorado. We’ll be back tomorrow with more updates.