Senators are not only sitting as the jury in former President Donald Trump's upcoming impeachment trial but also as eyewitnesses to the violence that took place in the Capitol on Jan. 6, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin said Wednesday, after 45 Republicans voted the night before that the move against Trump is not constitutional.
"I was in that chamber when the Capitol Police came in and said stay where you are, we're going to protect this particular room, and 10 minutes later said everybody out as fast as you can move," the Illinois Democrat said on CNN's "New Day." "We knew exactly what was going on. There was a mob overtaking the United States capitol for the first time in over 150 years. And their intent was clear. To disrupt our orderly government process."
Trump has been charged with inciting the riot, and Durbin said Thursday that those waging the attack were "instigated into this deadly mission by a president who summoned them to Washington ... that was one of the most despicable acts ever by a president of the United States. Sad to say many of my colleagues do not even want to look at it, let alone accept it."
He added that the framers of the Constitution did not create a document that would allow a sitting president to break laws in the last days of the presidency and not be held accountable.
"We want a complete trial but I can tell you that, as you know, everyone knows, we have mountains of videotape," said Durbin. "We have clear evidence in front of us as to what occurred that day."
Meanwhile, the Senate is moving forward with the process of reconciliation in hopes of passing the president's $1.9 trillion COVID relief proposal with a simple majority, but Durbin said he hopes a bipartisan agreement can be reached.
"We can't waste any time," said Durbin. "We know across America, millions of Americans are anxious to be vaccinated to put this pandemic behind them ... President Biden wants to move and move quickly. He's talked about 100 vaccinations, 100 million vaccinations in 100 days, and really reaching out to all of America by the end of the summer."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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