Plaskett called the 57-43 vote "heartbreaking" for everyone involved, including the American people; at the same time, she was thankful that it was the most bipartisan vote to convict we've ever had.
About the decision not to call Rep. Jamie Herrera Beutler (D-WA) or to subpoena her notes, Plaskett said
I know that people are feeling a lot of angst and believe that maybe, if we had this, the senators would have done what we wanted. But, listen, we didn't need more witnesses. We needed more senators with spines.
Tapper wondered if Senate Dems pressured them about calling witnesses. She didn't agree with that.
I think the idea was, we had sufficient evidence to prove that the president did what we said he did, which was incite an insurrection to overthrow our government, to retain power for himself. And there was overwhelming evidence of that... And the nonsense that the defense put out did not dispute that.
Plaskett didn't offer an opinion on whether the Biden administration should pursue criminal charges, but did say "...God bless the attorney general of Georgia, New York, district attorney's office here in D.C. as well."
Next up? Lead Manager, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD); he visited Chuck Todd on Meet the Press.
Todd had three questions. First, should they have investigated more, since they couldn't start the trial before Trump left office? Raskin said they used their extra two weeks (the trial started later than it was supposed to) and noted no one said they didn't make their case.
Next, witnesses. Raskin said they brought that topic up when the rules allowed, and that Herrera Beutler's official statement was just issued the night before. As to other people, they didn't know what anyone (Kevin McCarthy, for example) was going to say if they were deposed.
Last, would dereliction of duty have been a better charge? He said no matter which way they had done it, the Rs would have looked for and found a reason to fault the decision, as they did with the insurrection charge.
I mean, you know, you can always come up with a lawyer's argument to get to where you want to go. And they did not honestly confront the reality of what happened to America, which was Donald Trump incited a violent mob to attack the Congress of the United States...we have no regrets at all.
And, before he asked people to "hang tough for democracy," he said
... you know, there's no reasoning with people who basically are acting like members of a religious cult and when they leave office should be selling flowers at Dulles Airport.
Hear, hear.
Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-PA) was in the This Week classroom with George Stephanopoulos, who noticed that each of the managers got emotional at one point or another. Dean said it was a "solemn honor" tobe in the Senate, and
It felt like the gravity of the Constitution was resting on our shoulders. Many have said that the Constitution is a precious thing, that democracy a precious thing and it's fragile. So, what we did, and I think we did very well, was we put forward the strongest case based on the evidence and the law, and the responsibility of this president, that the president just absolutely abandoned his oath.
She also noted that, after watching each senator stand and vote, she thinks "history will remember" Mitch McConnell speaking out of both sides of his mouth. She said she'd rather stay in her lane and leave the conversation about criminal charges to the experts.
Dean said the president's lawyers "really struggled," adding
I think the world witnessed that. They struggled with their own credibility. They absolutely struggled with legal arguments. They struggled to understand or even recognize the gravity of the evidence. I thought their performance reflected really their client.
George asked if a 9/11-style commission should be pursued, and she was clear:
Of course there must be a full commission, an impartial commission, not guided by politics but filled with people who would stand up to the courage of their conviction like Dr. Cassidy [one of the seven Rs who voted to convict.}
Finally, Colorado's Rep. Joe Neguse joined Margaret Brennan in the Face the Nation classroom. Brennan referenced part of his closing argument, when he said " extremist groups may be emboldened and the violence on the 6th may just be the beginning." He said he was pointing to
a real fear that I think many Americans have after witnessing the terrible violence that happened on January 6th and the insurrection that took place on our nation's -- our nation's Capitol that without accountability, that many of these groups could very well become more emboldened and perhaps engage in-- in more violence.
And to her question about witnesses, he offered
...whether it was five more witnesses or five thousand witnesses, it is very clear that the senators who voted to acquit on a technicality, which was the jurisdictional argument... It would not have made a difference to those senators.He disagreed that Kevin McCarthy told the full story of his conversation with Trump, and it wasn't until Rep. Herrera Beutler's statement that they learned what really happened. Neguse also said that "witnesses that were not friendly to the prosecution were not going to comply voluntarily, which meant-- that we would be litigating subpoenas for months or potentially years."
The final question? Brennan noted that Neguse looked "right at Leader McConnell" during his closing remarks and asked if ever thought he'd be able to persuade McConnell to convict. He said he was hopeful.
You know, I-- look, I care a great deal about this country. As the son of immigrants and someone who's, you know, been given so many freedoms and opportunities here in the United States, I was hopeful that every senator would ultimately vote to do the right thing. And I'm glad-- I'm grateful that seven of them on the Republican side did that. Obviously, history will be the judge of the rest.
One can only hope that history will judge them, and harshly.
See you around campus. Wear your mask. Wash your hands. You know the drill.
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