Former President Donald Trump’s legal professionals started their protection throughout Friday’s portion of the impeachment trial with flimsy al
Former President Donald Trump’s legal professionals started their protection throughout Friday’s portion of the impeachment trial with flimsy allegations that Home impeachment managers manipulated proof. They then proceeded to current proof much more egregiously manipulated than something the managers offered.
One of many protection group’s key arguments was an train in whataboutism: They argued Democrats are being hypocritical in accusing Trump of inciting the January 6 riot, as a result of they use the language of “combating” on a regular basis. For instance this level, they repeatedly performed prolonged video montages of Democrats (and liberal celebrities) utilizing language that’s supposedly simply as unhealthy as Trump.
Right here’s a portion of a kind of movies:
One instance Trump’s legal professionals honed in on pertains to feedback Michigan state Rep. Cynthia Johnson (D) made in early December saying, “That is only a warning to you Trumpers … watch out, stroll flippantly.” The implication is that Johnson’s feedback are simply as unhealthy as Trump encouraging a mob of his helps to descend on the Capitol whereas Congress was certifying his Electoral School loss, subsequently Democrats don’t have a leg to face on when accusing Trump of inciting riot.
However an examination of the context of Johnson’s remarks reveals that her feedback had been under no circumstances what Trump’s legal professionals made them out to be. Johnson made her “watch out” feedback in response to threats from Trump supporters she obtained after a listening to by which she pushed again on lies about election fraud that Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani was pushed.
Media Issues’s Eric Kleefeld laid out the related context in an article from December:
Johnson spoke bluntly finally week’s state legislative listening to, telling Home Oversight Chairman Matt Corridor that the witnesses offered by Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani ought to’ve been sworn in: “You’re permitting individuals to return in right here and lie. And I do know they’re mendacity.”
Following that listening to, she grew to become the goal of virtually 100 racist and threatening cellphone calls, with a number of callers saying that she can be lynched and one lady telling her, “Try to be swinging from a f—— rope, you Democrat.”
Johnson responded with a video posted Tuesday on Fb, saying {that a} lady who threatened her had been tracked down by the FBI and state police: “So, that is only a warning to you Trumpers — watch out, stroll flippantly. We ain’t enjoying with you. Sufficient of the shenanigans. Sufficient is sufficient.”
So, as a substitute of threatening Trump supporters, Johnson’s feedback had been really geared toward getting them to cease threatening her. In context, they really reveal one of many methods by which Trump’s rhetoric incited his followers within the weeks main as much as January 6.
The Johnson clip is perhaps probably the most egregious instance of Trump’s legal professionals twisting Democrats’ phrases out of context, however it was removed from the one one. One other a part of the video montage centered on references to “combating” that Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) made whereas operating for president. However as Ali Vitali of NBC wrote on Twitter, Warren’s references to “combating” had been all concerning the political battle for progressive coverage, not encouraging an unruly mob to disrupt a congressional continuing.
By comparability, I coated Trump for yrs & repeatedly heard him urge supporters to violence. In 2016, telling supporters he’d pay their authorized payments in the event that they punched protesters within the face and even wishing legislation enforcement had been extra forceful when eradicating protesters from occasions.
— Ali Vitali (@alivitali) February 12, 2021
Past twisting phrases out of context, Trump’s group included clips of Democrats speaking about “combating” that couldn’t remotely be interpreted as incitement, corresponding to Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) speaking about combating the coronavirus.
A number of the clips of “combating” rhetoric included within the video montage had been extra troubling. Johnny Depp’s 2017 “when was the final time an actor assassinated a president?” remark is indefensible and was included within the Trump legal professionals’ video — however that an actor made an irresponsible remark isn’t actually a protection of Trump or an indictment of Democrats. And Rep. Maxine Waters encouraging individuals to “push again” on Trump administration officers arguably crossed a line, however even interpreted in probably the most incriminating method potential, two wrongs don’t make a proper.
In the end, not one of the feedback included in Trump legal professionals’ video montage is corresponding to Trump radicalizing his followers with lies concerning the election being stolen from them, encouraging them to assemble in DC, after which sending them to Congress. In that method, the “hypocrisy” protection rests on a false equivalence.
However as logically flawed because it was, the case made by Trump’s legal professionals in the course of the early a part of Friday’s listening to gave the impression to be persuasive sufficient to no less than one key undecided senator — Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) — who instructed reporters she discovered it to be “very organized” and “a lot stronger” than the incoherent case Trump’s legal professionals made on Tuesday. Sens. Rob Johnson (R-WI) and John Barrasso (R-WY) additionally indicated they discovered the Trump protection convincing.
Whataboutism might not make for sturdy arguments to these inclined to guage them on the deserves, however it’s sufficient to supply a pretext for acquittal.