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Live updates: Trump's lawyers present his impeachment defense

Dylan Stableford, Christopher Wilson and Kate Murphy
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The impeachment trial of Donald Trump resumes at noon Friday with the former president’s lawyers presenting his defense against the charge that he incited the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

Yahoo News is providing an uninterrupted live stream of the proceedings as well as instant analysis from our reporters at the trial in Washington, D.C., and elsewhere.

Tune in here beginning at 12 p.m. ET.

Live Updates
  • Dylan Stableford

    The latest

    • Donald Trump's second impeachment trial resumed Friday with the former president’s defense lawyers arguing against the charge that he incited the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

    • Trump's defense team has up to 16 hours to present his case, though they are expected to use just a fraction of that time.

    • A final vote could come as early as Saturday.

    • Despite compelling evidence, a conviction still remains unlikely, as 17 Republican senators would have to cross the aisle for the two-thirds majority needed to get one.

    • President Biden said Thursday that he believes the minds of some Republicans "may have been changed" by the evidence presented at the trial.


  • Dylan Stableford

    House Democrats were driven by 'hatred,' Trump's lawyers say

    Schoen (via Reuters TV)

    David Schoen, one of former President Donald Trump's lawyers, argued Friday that the House impeachment managers were driven by "hatred" in their pursuit of an impeachment case against him.

    "The hatred that the House managers and others on the left have for President Trump has driven them to skip the basic elements of due process and fairness, and to rush an impeachment through the House claiming 'urgency,'" Schoen said in his opening statement.

    In their pre-trial brief, however, Trump's lawyers argued that a former president could not be convicted in an impeachment trial.

    The House impeached Trump on Jan. 13, one week after the deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol and one week before Trump left office.

    Schoen also alleged that the impeachment managers "manufactured evidence" and altered video footage of Trump's Jan. 6 speech during their presentation earlier this week.

    The defense argued that while Trump urged his supporters to "fight like hell," he also told them to do so peacefully.

  • Kate Murphy

    Trump's defense team opens its case

    (via Reuters video)

    Former President Donald Trump's defense team opened day four of his second impeachment trial in the Senate disputing the charge that he incited the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

    Michael van der Veen, one of Trump's lawyers, called the charge a "preposterous and monstrous lie."

    Van der Veen also said Democrats have also used similar violent language to Trump, playing a montage of video clips.

    He also defended what Trump said at the Jan. 6 rally — "fight like hell or you're not going to have a country anymore" — calling it metaphorical terminology that has been used by politicians for hundreds of years.

  • Dylan Stableford

    A recap of day three

    • Donald Trump's second impeachment trial resumed with House Democrats wrapping up their case that the former president incited the deadly Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

    • As they did Wednesday, the prosecutors presented video evidence from the attack.

    • Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., the lead impeachment manager, said that the Michigan statehouse siege was a "dress rehearsal" for the Capitol riot.

    • House Democrats also used the words of the U.S. Capitol rioters to emphasize Trump’s role in the attack.

    • Trump's defense team has up to 16 hours to present his case beginning Friday, though one of his lawyers, David Schoen, said “there’s no reason for us to be out there for a long time.”

    • Despite compelling evidence, a conviction still remains unlikely, as 17 Republican senators would have to cross the aisle for the two-thirds majority needed to get one.

    • At the White House, President Biden told reporters that he believes the minds of some Republicans "may have been changed" by the never-before-seen video shown at the trial.

  • Dylan Stableford

    'We humbly, humbly ask you to convict President Trump for the crime for which he is overwhelmingly guilty of. Because if you don't, if we pretend this didn't happen, or worse, if we let it go unanswered, who's to say it won't happen again?'

    — Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Colo., an impeachment manager for House Democrats, delivering his closing argument Thursday

  • Kate Murphy

    Prosecution's closing arguments: Trump created a 'powder keg' and lit the match

    Neguse (via Reuters video)

    Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Colo., delivered closing arguments as House Democrats prepared to rest their case that former President Donald Trump incited the Jan. 6 violent attack on the U.S. Capitol.

    Neguse presented an overview of the evidence laid out by Democratic House impeachment managers that the rampage was incited by Trump. The congressman argued that the violence was foreseeable, Trump encouraged it, and the former president acted willfully.

    "We humbly, humbly ask you to convict President Trump for the crime for which he is overwhelmingly guilty of," Neguse said in an appeal to Senate jurors. "If we pretend this didn't happen, or worse, if we let it go unanswered, who's to say it won't happen again?"

  • Dylan Stableford

    Trump lawyer: House Democrats are creating 'an entertainment package'

    Schoen speaks to a reporters at the U.S. Capitol Thursday. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

    David Schoen, one of former President Donald Trump's lawyers, said Thursday that the defense team will expose the "hypocrisy" of House Democrats when it presents its case.

    During a Fox News interview that was conducted in a Senate hallway while House impeachment managers were presenting at the trial, Schoen said viewers would "get a much better picture of what's going on" during defense arguments, which begin Friday. Schoen also accused Democrats of creating "an entertainment package" with their presentation of chilling new video footage taken from security cameras inside the Capitol during the siege.

    Asked whether the defense team would need all 16 hours allowed to present its case, Schoen said that "there's no reason for us to be out there for a long time."

  • Dylan Stableford

    President Trump gestures to his supporters at the "Stop the Steal" rally on Jan. 6. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)

  • Dylan Stableford

    'Trump wasn't just some guy with political opinions who showed up at a rally on Jan. 6 and delivered controversial remarks. He was the president of the United States.'

    — Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Colo., a House impeachment manager, during arguments Thursday

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