Friday, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) sounded off on the House sending over the article of impeachment citing President Donald Trump with inciting the riot at the U.S. Capitol earlier this month.
Blumenthal said on “CNN Newsroom” that the evidence of Trump inciting the riot is “pretty open and shut” given his speech and tweets leading up to and following the chaos that ultimately left five dead and others injured. With House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) set to send over the article of impeachment on Monday, Blumenthal said the trial “can happen in days, not weeks.”
“The evidence here is pretty open and shut, Kate,” Blumenthal declared. “What came out of the president’s mouth at the ellipse that day, what he tweeted before, what he said and did afterward, essentially ignoring those abhorrent, absolutely repulsive photographs of domestic terrorism directed against members of the Congress and the building that is the temple of our democracy. He incited that riot. And Mitch McConnell himself had said that he provoked this action, in fact instigated it. So I think that the evidence is the videos and his statements before and after, and his guilty intent is evident from that — ”
CNN anchor Kate Bolduan asked, “So, you don’t think witnesses are needed?”
“Well, the president has a right to present his defense,” Blumenthal replied. “And if he wants witnesses, we would have to consider them. But this trial can happen in days, not weeks.”
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