Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) was seemingly emotional — appearing to almost cry — while he recalled being with his youngest daughter Tabitha at the Capitol on January 6 as he presented arguments supporting the Democrat-led push to impeach former President Donald Trump on Tuesday.
Raskin, the lead impeachment manager, noted the recent death of his son, Tommy, during his remarks in the Senate impeachment trial of Trump. Raskin’s son took his own life on December 31 at the age of 25.
The Maryland Democrat recalled his two daughters, Hannah and Tabitha, being with him in the Capitol during what he described as an “insurrection” and “coup”:
My youngest daughter Tabitha was there with me on Wednesday, January 6. It was the day after we buried her brother, our son, Tommy. The saddest day of our lives.
Also, there was my son-in-law Hank, who is married to our oldest daughter, Hannah, and I consider him a son, too. Even though he eloped with my daughter, and didn’t tell us what they were going to do, but it was in the middle of COVID-19 [coronavirus]. But the reason they came with me that Wednesday, January 6, was because they wanted to be together with me in the middle of a devastating week for our family.
And I told them I had to go back to work because we were counting electoral votes that day on January 6. It was our constitutional duty, and I invited them instead to come with me to witness this historic event, the peaceful transfer of power in America, and they said they heard that President Trump was calling on his followers to come to Washington to protest and they asked me directly, ‘Would it be safe?’
And I told them, ‘Of course, it should be safe. This is the Capitol.’
Raskin said he apologized to his youngest daughter as events unfolded in and around the Capitol. Politicians “though they were going to die,” he added.
“I promised [Tabitha] that it would not be like this again the next time she came back to the Capitol with me,” Raskin stated. He appeared to nearly cry as he continued, “and you know what she said? She said, ‘Dad, don’t want to come back to the Capitol.’ Of all the terrible brutal things I saw and I heard on that day and since then, that one hit me the hardest.”
WATCH (relevant portion begins at 6:05):
During his opening statement, Raskin accused Trump of inciting a “violent insurrection” and “riot.”
“There can be no doubt that this is a valid and legitimate impeachment,” Raskin claimed, “and there can be no doubt that the Senate has the power to try this impeachment.” He repeatedly insisted the Constitution’s impeachment clause applied to former officeholders.