On the recordFebruary 12, 2021
I send a question to the desk. The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Kansas, Mr. Marshall, has a question for the counsel for the former President. The clerk will read the question. The legislative clerk read as follows: The House Managers' single Article of Impeachment is centered on the accusation that President Trump singularly incited a crowd into a riot. Didn't the House managers' contradict their own charge by outlining the premeditated nature and planning of this event and by also showing the crowd was gathered at the Capitol even before the speech started and barriers were pushed over some 20 minutes before the conclusion of President Trump's speech? Mr. Counsel VAN DER VEEN. Yes. The House managers contradicted their own charge by outlining the premeditated nature and planning of this event and by also showing the crowd gathered at the Capitol, even before the speech started, and barriers were pushed over some 20 minutes before the conclusion of President Trump's speech. The answer is yes. And I want to take the rest of my time to go back to the last question because it was completely missed by the House managers. Brandenburg v. Ohio is an incitement case. It is not an elected official case. That is Wood and Bond. And the whole problem that the House managers have in understanding the First Amendment argument here is that elected officials are different than anybody else. He is talking about fire chiefs. Fire chiefs are not elected officials.…
