Former President Trump thanked his defense team and supporters in the Senate who voted to acquit him on Saturday, and promised that his "movement to Make America Great Again has only just begun."
Why it matters: Trump's comments came in a statement issued moments after his second acquittal. He had closely watched the trial from Mar-a-Lago with his former social media director, Dan Scavino, and other advisers, and even directed his legal team ahead of their closing arguments on Friday.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Saturday accused Republicans who voted to acquit Donald Trump during his second impeachment trial of choosing Trump over country and failing to "summon the courage or the morality to condemn" the former president's actions leading to the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol siege.
Driving the news: Seven Senate Republicans joined all their Democratic and Independent colleagues in the final 57-43 vote, but they failed to reach the two-thirds majority necessary to convict Trump on charges of high crimes and misdemeanors.
After voting to acquit Donald Trump, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) condemned the former president as "practically and morally responsible for provoking the events" on the day of the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol siege.
Why it matters: The Senate failed to reach the two-thirds majority necessary to convict Trump on charges of high crimes and misdemeanors, with a final vote of 57-43 cementing his acquittal. But in his post-vote speech, McConnell said Trump “didn’t get away with anything yet."
The Senate failed to reach the two-thirds majority necessary to convict former President Trump on charges of high crimes and misdemeanors, with a final vote of 57-43 cementing his acquittal.
Why it matters: Seven Senate Republicans voted ‘guilty,’ the most bipartisan margin in favor of conviction in history.
The families of two police officers who died by suicide within days after defending Congress from a pro-Trump mob on Jan. 6 want their deaths recognized as “in the line of duty,” according to The Washington Post.
The big picture: The assault on the Capitol claimed five lives including Brian Sicknick, who died from injuries he sustained during the siege. Metropolitan Police officer Jeffrey Smith, 35, and Capitol Police officer Howard Liebengood, 51, who had been on duty during the attack, took their own lives days later.
The Senate voted 55-45 on Saturday in favor of calling witnesses in former President Trump's second impeachment trial after three days of presentations from House Democrats and Trump's defense team. Five Republicans voted with Democrats to call witnesses.
The state of play: The vote opens up new possibilities for Democrats to strengthen their case, which alleges that Trump incited an insurrection on Jan 6. Witnesses were not called in Trump's first impeachment trial, but Republicans held the Senate majority at that time.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) told his fellow Senate Republicans in an email that he will vote to acquit former President Trump in his impeachment trial over the deadly U.S Capitol riot on Jan. 6, two sources familiar with the email told Axios.
Why it matters: McConnell's acquittal vote will likely shrink the number of Republicans who considered voting to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial, making a conviction on the House's single charge of "incitement of insurrection" unlikely.
The Biden administration has indicated that it will continue to press for the extradition of Julian Assange from the United Kingdom and prosecute the WikiLeaks founder in the United States, according to the New York Times.
Driving the news: The Justice Department filed a brief on Thursday asking a British court to overturn a ruling that blocked Assange's extradition to the U.S., as human rights and civil liberties groups urged acting attorney general Monty Wilkinson to abandon the prosecution.
Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-Wash.) has called on those close to former President Trump and former Vice President Pence to reveal what they know about Trump's actions as a violent mob of his supporters was assaulting the Capitol on Jan. 6.
Why it matters: Herrera Beutler, one of the 10 House Republicans who voted to support Trump's impeachment for inciting the Capitol insurrection, also claimed in a statement on Friday night that the president accused House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of not supporting him when McCarthy urged Trump to publicly and forcefully call off the riot.
Donald Trump directed his own defense via speakerphone on Friday, repeatedly calling his lawyers in the Lyndon Baines Johnson Room on the Senate side of the Capitol to relay his feedback, sources tell Axios.
What we're hearing: In contrast to Tuesday's widely panned start of his defense, the Trump was said to be thrilled with his lawyers' performances on Friday — particularly by Michael van der Veen and David Schoen, both of whom "went full Trump," one person familiar with the situation told Axios.
It's not lost on historians that Donald Trump's likely impeachment trial acquittal could fall on Presidents' Day weekend, a holiday celebrating the examples set by America's first president, George Washington, and Abraham Lincoln, who held the republic together through civil war and ended slavery.
Why it matters: Through his repeated efforts to overturn the election, Trump put the country through one of the toughest tests of democracy it has ever faced. Historians say his expected acquittal on a charge of inciting the Jan. 6 insurrection will have consequences we are only beginning to understand — and they'll be felt for years.
The Biden administration says it will keep tariffs on some European wine, cheese and other food products, despite lobbying efforts by industry groups that argue the levies harm U.S. businesses.
The big picture: In a filing Friday, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said it "is unnecessary at this time to revise" the tariffs. The U.S. imposed the tariffs as part of a 17-year dispute over European subsidies for Boeing rival Airbus.
Executives at the center of the GameStop trading saga — including from Reddit and Robinhood, plus hedge funds Melvin Capital and Citadel — will testify before Congress next week, the House Financial Services committee announced on Friday.
Why it matters: The virtual hearing is the first since the fallout of the Reddit stock trading frenzy that pushed stocks like GameStop and AMC Entertainment to meteoric heights — and the first time some of these executives will speak publicly about it.
The Senate passed a bill Friday to award Capitol Police officer Eugene Goodman the Congressional Gold Medal for his actions in response to the deadly Jan. 6 siege.
Driving the news: Goodman has been widely praised for leading the mob of pro-Trump supporters away from members of Congress during the riot. New footage of the siege released by House impeachment managers on Wednesday showed Goodman directing Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) to safety.
Donald Trump's legal team argued four key points during its defense of the former president on Friday — all focused on process.
The big picture: The lawyers delivered a swift defense in which they called the House charge that the former president incited the Jan. 6 insurrection a "preposterous and monstrous lie." In their presentation, the defense team asserted that the trial itself is unconstitutional; there was no due process; convicting Trump violates his First Amendment rights; and impeachment fails to unify the country.
