Trump refuses to testify in "unconstitutional" impeachment
Former US President Donald Trump on Thursday refused to testify in the impeachment trial that opens next week against him and which he deemed "unconstitutional", declining a request from lawmakers serving as prosecutors in the process.
Trump's defense ridiculed the request by Democratic Congressman Jamie Raskin, who is leading the prosecution, to be questioned about the Jan. 6 attack on Capitol Hill as a "communication coup."
"His letter only confirms what everyone knows: he cannot prove his allegations" against Trump, attorneys Bruce Castor and David Schoen said in their response.
Although the attorneys did not say whether Trump would testify, a senior adviser, Jason Miller, flatly said he would not.
"The (former) president will not testify in an unconstitutional process," Miller told AFP.
- Trial starts Tuesday -
The refusal is known five days before the start in the Senate of Trump's trial on the charge of "incitement to insurrection."
In his second unprecedented impeachment trial, Trump is accused of fomenting his supporters' attack on the US Legislature a month ago, forcing lawmakers to halt the proceedings to certify the victory of Joe Biden, his rival in the presidential elections of November.
Raskin had asked Trump, who maintained without evidence that Biden won by massive fraud, to give his testimony "under oath", before or during the trial, between Monday 8 and Thursday 11 February.
Raskin further said that the trial will prove that "Trump's conduct is indefensible."
"His immediate refusal of him to testify speaks for itself and establishes an adverse inference that points to his guilt," he later said in a statement.
Raskin's and defense sayings set the battle lines for a president's never-before-seen impeachment after leaving office.
Democratic lower house prosecutors, called impeachment managers, say the Republican leader was responsible for the attack on the headquarters of Congress, which left five dead.
"In a grave betrayal of his oath of office, President Trump incited a violent mob to attack the United States Capitol," they said.
But Trump's team argued in a brief Tuesday that everything Trump said in the days and hours before the attack to encourage supporters to reject Biden's election victory was covered by his constitutional right to free speech.
And they declared it unconstitutional to prosecute a former president in the Senate.
- "Fight like hell" -
The January 6 attack continues to make waves in Washington.
Some 180 people have been indicted for the Capitol capture, according to a tally by the George Washington University Program on Extremism, and hundreds more are under investigation.
The Justice Department has suggested that it could build a case of "seditious conspiracy" by some far-right pro-Trump groups.
Several of the defendants have said they were encouraged by the Republican magnate, who less than two hours before the attack summoned his supporters gathered at a rally in front of the White House to "fight like hell" to support his claims of electoral victory. .
Trump had already been sent to trial in late 2019 for asking Ukraine to investigate Biden's son for alleged corruption. He did not testify in that first trial and was quickly acquitted by a Republican-majority Senate.
But while Democrats have since regained control of the Upper House, they will find it difficult to garner the support of 67 out of 100 senators necessary for a guilty verdict.
Last week, 45 of the 50 Republican senators made it clear in a vote that they believe that trying a former president is unconstitutional.
