Donald Trump's team completes its defense in three hours

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At the impeachment trial today, Donald Trump's defense team made an effective argument—for the prosecution. Early in the presentation, they showed a "gotcha" video of Democrats, including House impeachment manager Jamie Raskin, contesting the certification of the Electoral College vote for Trump in early 2017. The lawmakers' objections are repeatedly shot down by none other than President Biden, who was still the vice president at the time. Clearly, the video was intended to show that what some Republicans did on Jan. 6 was typical, and Democrats were hypocritical to call it out. Unfortunately for the defense, they missed a critical point—the U.S. Capitol was not stormed on that day in 2017. So what was the difference? Donald Trump. In 2016, Hillary Rodham Clinton conceded the election on Nov. 9, with the same share of electors Trump earned in 2020. Clinton did not falsely and repeatedly claim "fraud" over the ensuing months. She did not call on her supporters to show up in Washington,
D.C., to protest. And she did not pressure Biden to do something he could not do—overturn the election on her behalf. In other words, there was only one difference between 2017 and 2021: the losing candidate didn't incite an insurrection in 2017. —Melissa Amour, Managing Editor

Ed. Note: The TOPLINE team will observe Presidents' Day on Monday. THE TOPLINE will return on Tuesday, Feb. 16.

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** 'Who's to say it won't happen again?'
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Dire harm from Donald Trump's false and violent incitements will vex American democracy long into the future unless the Senate convicts him and bars him from future office, House impeachment managers concluded yesterday. "If we pretend this didn't happen, or worse, if we let it go unanswered, who's to say it won't happen again?" argued Rep. Joe Neguse. "I'm not afraid of Donald Trump running again in four years. I'm afraid he's going to run again and lose. Because he can do this again," Rep. Ted Lieu said. Trump's defense took the Senate floor today, arguing that as terrible as the attack was, it was not incited by Trump. —Associated Press ([link removed])
* — "A complete waste of time." That's what Republican Sen. Rick Scott has called the trial. Sen. Josh Hawley sat with his feet up on Wednesday, looking at unrelated materials during the trial. Others have tuned out altogether—as many as 15 seats of Republican senators were empty during the first few hours yesterday. Sens. Ted Cruz, Lindsey Graham, and Mike Lee went as far as meeting privately with Trump's defense attorney, David Schoen. While some Republican senators have publicly praised the House managers, it doesn't appear that enough of them are taking the trial seriously, which doesn't bode well for the managers' hopes for a conviction. —The Hill ([link removed])
*
* — "If Trump asks me to come, I will." In a filing yesterday morning, the Justice Department made clear that a leader among the Oath Keepers paramilitary group—who planned and led others in the U.S. Capitol siege to attempt to stop the Biden presidency—believed she was responding to the call from Trump himself. It's the most direct language yet from federal prosecutors linking Trump to the most militant aspects of the insurrection, and it supports the House case. —CNN ([link removed])
*
* — "You shoot, and I'll take your f—ing ass out!" Kansas resident William Chrestman shouted that at U.S. Capitol Police during the insurrection on Jan. 6. He was arrested yesterday, along with four other members of the far-right group the Proud Boys in Missouri and Arizona, on conspiracy and other charges for their involvement in the riot. The five advanced together onto the Capitol grounds, dressed in tactical gear. So much for "blue lives matter." —The Wall Street Journal ([link removed])

MORE: Jed Handelsman Shugerman: Impeach an ex-president? The Founders were clear: That's how they wanted it —Politico ([link removed])


** Hillyer: Tuberville provides the smoking gun
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"So, around 2:15, [Sen. Tommy] Tuberville told Trump that security forces had whisked [Vice President Mike] Pence away from the chamber. By 2:20, all members of Congress were being removed from both chambers. Four minutes after that, nine minutes after Trump's call with Tuberville, Trump tweeted his new attack on Pence. Pence and his family were still in the building. Two minutes after Trump's tweet, security evacuated the vice president entirely—less than a single minute before the mob reached the room where the Pences had been held." —Quin Hillyer in ([link removed]) The Washington Examiner ([link removed])

Quin Hillyer is a columnist, author, and a senior fellow at the Center for Individual Freedom.

MORE: David French: Is the Republican Party truly Trumpist now? The impeachment trial is the ultimate test —TIME ([link removed])


** Oregon GOP at war over 'false flag' lie
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The Oregon Republican Party's executive committee passed a resolution by a vote of 12–2 that the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol was a "false flag" operation whose aim was to discredit Donald Trump and "advance the Democrat goal of seizing total power, in a frightening parallel to the February 1933 burning of the German Reichstag." Needless to say, that conspiracy theory has been thoroughly debunked, and Oregon's elected Republicans are aghast that party leadership would formally embrace it. The Republican leader in the state House of Representatives secured the support of her entire caucus for a statement repudiating the resolution. —The Atlantic ([link removed])

MORE: Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy censured by Republican Party after impeachment vote —KALB ([link removed])


** Noonan: The GOP fears its own
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"I haven't heard a single story of a member who supported the president in refusing Electoral College certification, who stood with him, and who, hearing what was happening in the first stages of the riot, went into the halls to speak with the rioters. ... Why didn't they go into the halls where the clamor was and tell the people, 'Friends, I share your beliefs and am arguing for them on the floor, but what you are doing is wrong and unlawful, and you must leave.' Instead they were spirited from the floor by the police and hid in their offices and other rooms. Why didn't they go out and speak to the crowds, their own people?" — ([link removed]) The Wall Street Journal ([link removed])

Peggy Noonan, a columnist at The Wall Street Journal, was a special assistant and speechwriter for former President Ronald Reagan and is the author of nine books on American politics, history, and culture.

MORE: Mark Nielsen & Thomas Trimarco: Who will follow Romney's lead on impeachment? —Connecticut Post ([link removed])
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** McGrath & Rieckhoff: Tackling extremism in the military
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"Among the many national security threats we face, this is now the most pressing: Right-wing white supremacists and extremists were behind two-thirds of the terrorist plots in 2020, according to an analysis by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Since 2016, they have executed more attacks than any other, domestic or foreign. And there are few higher-priority recruits for extremist groups than American men and women who have worn the uniform." —Amy McGrath & Paul Rieckhoff on ([link removed]) [link removed] ([link removed])

Amy McGrath, a former F/A-18 pilot, served 20 years in the Marine Corps, including three combat deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan. Paul Rieckhoff, an Army infantry combat veteran, is the founder of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America and the author of "Chasing Ghosts: Failures and Facades in Iraq, A Soldier's Perspective."

MORE: Virginia state report: Impact of unenforced racist laws persists —The Hill ([link removed])


** Focus on the pandemic
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In remarks capping an afternoon tour of the National Institutes of Health yesterday, President Biden announced that his administration had finalized contracts with Pfizer, German company BioNTech, and Moderna to purchase a combined 200 million doses of two coronavirus vaccines authorized in the U.S. The deals will give the country enough vaccine by the end of July to cover every American adult. —The Washington Post ([link removed])
* — Back to school. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has released a roadmap for reopening schools in the midst of the pandemic, emphasizing mask wearing and social distancing, and saying vaccination of teachers is important but not a prerequisite for reopening. While the guidance is helpful, agency officials were careful to point out that they're not calling for a mandate that all U.S. schools be reopened, and they cannot force them to do so. —Associated Press ([link removed])
*
* — A deeper healthcare crisis. About 40% of the nation's coronavirus deaths could have been prevented if the U.S.'s average death rate matched other industrialized nations, a new report from the Lancet Commission on Public Policy and Health has found. While the Commission faults Donald Trump's "inept and insufficient" response to COVID-19, the report also says roots of the nation's poor health outcomes are much deeper. —USA Today ([link removed])
*
* — Politicizing Covid in New York? More than 9,000 recovering coronavirus patients in New York were released from hospitals into nursing homes early in the pandemic under a directive that was later scrapped amid criticism that it accelerated outbreaks. Gov. Andrew Cuomo's top aide told Democratic lawmakers that the administration took months to release data on the nursing home death toll because officials "froze" over worries the information was "going to be used against us." —Associated Press ([link removed])

MORE: Trump's COVID-19 condition was so concerning that doctors considered putting him on a ventilator, source confirms —CNN ([link removed])


** Brazile & Steele: Safeguarding our democracy
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"When someone asked what sort of government the delegates to the 1787 Constitutional Convention had created, Benjamin Franklin famously replied, 'A republic, if you can keep it.' Well, we've kept it. But we will only continue to keep it by consistently cleansing its wounds and disinfecting them through accountability and reform." —Donna Brazile & Michael Steele in ([link removed]) USA Today ([link removed])

Donna Brazile is a former chair of the Democratic National Committee. Michael Steele is a former chair of the Republican National Committee and former lieutenant governor of Maryland. They are members of the National Council on Election Integrity.

MORE: The Voting Rights Act hangs by a thread —The Atlantic ([link removed])

If a new party is formed, and it is really a party that puts country over power, is willing to work with the opposition, is really a protector of the Constitution, and will hold its members accountable, then it will not be a third party. The Republican Party will be the third party. With those ideas, you will attract independents like me, some Democrats, and disenfranchised Republicans. Our system has failed us for a long time. The silent majority is ready for something different. —Thomas A., Oregon

Evan McMullin wrote: "If the chilling images of the violent insurrection that threatened our democracy and the lives of our lawmakers don't inspire a majority of Senate Republicans to defend the republic and lead the party in a new direction, nothing will."

My prediction: It won't be close to a majority. It won't be close to the 17 needed to join with Democrats—assuming they are united, which is probably a safe bet—to convict. I say no more than five Republican senators will demonstrate the courage to fulfill the oaths they swore to defend the U.S. Constitution.

I never voted for someone based on party affiliation, but for the first 25 years of my voting life, I happened to vote for Republicans more often than not because they generally aligned most closely with my own priorities. At this point, I can't see myself voting for a Republican again. The GOP today is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Trump Organization, and the consistent cowardice and hypocrisy they've shown over the last four years is, to me, disqualifying. —Greg W., Connecticut

Thank you for your excellent work to hold the Republic and to try and hold onto the principles of integrity and ethics upon which the Republic stands. —Cherie H., Georgia
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** The views expressed in "What's Your Take?" are submitted by readers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff or the Stand Up Republic Foundation.
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