Second impeachment trial begins with video of Capitol riot

The Trial the Nation Watched House managers opened with devastating video showing the attack's violence: police being beaten, lawmakers fleeing, the mob chanting for Pence's death. Many senators--who had been in the building during the attack--saw evidence they hadn't known about. The Overwhelming Evidence Managers presented a timeline proving Trump knew violence was occurring and refused to act. They showed tweets attacking Pence sent while the mob was hunting him. They documented the 'stand back and stand by' signal to the Proud Boys. The case was irrefutable. The Predetermined Outcome Despite the evidence, the outcome was never in doubt. The procedural vote two weeks earlier had shown only 7 Republican votes for constitutionality. The trial was a historical exercise--creating the record even though conviction was impossible. The Video Record The trial produced a documented video archive of the attack's violence. This footage would later be used in prosecutions of individual rioters and contradicted Trump's 'day of love' revisionism.