Impeachment trial: SoCal Rep. Ted Lieu argues Trump ran out of nonviolent options to maintain power

WASHINGTON (KABC) -- Serving as a House impeachment manager for the Democrats in the Senate impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump, Rep. Ted Lieu of Southern California painted Trump as desperate and out of options.

"How did our exceptional country get to the point where a violent mob attacked our Capitol, murdering a police officer, assaulting over 140 other officers... I'll show you how we got here. President Donald J. Trump ran out of nonviolent options to maintain power," said Lieu.

In never before seen video captured by security cameras inside the Capitol, the violent mob of Trump supporters force their way in as they begin their search for lawmakers, including Vice President Mike Pence and Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Video shows Pence and his family taken out of the Senate chamber to a secure location. This is some of what senators saw on day two of former President Trump's impeachment trial, contrasted with videos of the insurrectionists in their own words, explaining that Trump sent them on this mission.

"When his mob overran and occupied the Senate and attacked the House and assaulted law enforcement, he watched it on TV like a reality show. He reveled in it. And he did nothing to help us as commander in chief. Instead, he served as the inciter in chief," said House impeachment manager Rep. Jamie Raskin.

Democrats spent the first half of the day showing that what happened on Jan. 6 wasn't a chance occurrence, that the words spoken by Trump weren't just used on that day, but in the months leading up to it. And how Trump's questioning of the election results, which started in the spring of 2020 six month before the election, fueled violence before and on Jan. 6.

"Massive midnight vote dumps. Dead people voting all over the place. He said there were votes going up to the sky. This was never about pursuing legitimate claims. He was saying anything he could to trigger and anger his base so they would fight like hell to overturn a legitimate election," said House impeachment manager Rep. Eric Swalwell.

"This is the commander in chief telling his supporters 'Your election is being stolen, and you must stop the counting of American votes'. And it worked. His words became their actions. His commands led to their actions," said House impeachment manager Rep. Joaquin Castro. "Take a look at this, the same day as those tweets, around 100 Trump supporters showed up in front of a Maricopa County election center in Phoenix, some of them carrying rifles, literally trying to intimidate officials to stop the count, just as President Trump had commanded."

The House impeachment managers shared posts from the dark web of Trump supporters plotting to attack the Capitol before Jan. 6 and showed tweets and speeches where the former president encouraged them to fight.