Trump's second impeachment trial: Day 2

House impeachment manager Stacey Plaskett revealed today that the the man photographed sitting at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s desk on Jan. 6 was carrying a 950,000 volt "stun gun walking stick."

Plaskett said the FBI had later identified the device from the photo.

Richard Barnett, who left a note for Pelosi, later appeared on social media to brag about desecrating Pelosi's office. Plaskett also showed a photo of Barnett's note during her presentation. The note read: "We will not back down."

Barnett, a resident of Alabama, has been charged with knowingly entering and remaining in restricted building ground without authority, violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds and the theft of public property, officials said early last month.

He was also charged in connection with the pipe bomb found on the south side of the Capitol building, 11 Molotov cocktails and military-style weapon found in his pickup truck. 

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At the same time as House managers were presenting video of Dominic Pezzola, an alleged member of the Proud Boys, storming the Capitol, Pezzola was before a magistrate judge in DC District Court who was considering a Justice Department request to keep him detained as he awaits trial. 

The Democratic lawmakers highlighted his role as one of the first people to breach the Capitol. They showed video of him smashing a window, which allowed dozens of rioters to rush into the building. In addition to showing widely shared social media footage from outside the Capitol, the Democratic managers played never-before-seen security camera footage depicting the breach of the window from inside the building.

In court, prosecutor Erik Kenerson tip-toed around calling him a Proud Boy, without saying the group's name specifically, and instead described him becoming a "leader" of an effort to overtake a pedestrian walkway in or near the Capitol building on Jan. 6. Kenerson also described how Pezzola "was not some solitary actor" who came to DC — alleging he may have planned and coordinated with others to stop the certification of Joe Biden's presidential win, even meeting up with some the morning of the pro-Trump rally.

Kenerson said also "the defendant's group" discussed a return to DC after Jan. 6 and was interested in "fomenting rebellion," a phrase used in another prior court filing seeking to keep a Proud Boy leader from Washington state detained.

Pezzola's lawyer said he does not have a long history with the Proud Boys and is not a threat to public safety.

The judge has not yet decided if Pezzola will stay in jail.

Evidence presented today was clearly targeted for Senate Republicans, including video of a crowd chanting "Destroy the GOP" and mentions of "relentless attacks on Mike Pence," GOP sources said.

Two senior Republican Capitol Hill sources gave very different reactions to how GOP members are likely to vote that reflects the division in the party, but also the political realities.

"I'll be shocked if anyone changed their vote from yesterday," one said.

Another said: "I cannot imagine how any senator sits and listens to this and votes against conviction."

A former GOP Senate staffer believes that the GOP senators are either scared of Trump's base or were a party to what happened, and will never vote to convict. 

"What I’ve heard from senate friends is similar — that lots of their bosses would love to vote against him but don’t want the fallout. Most of the folks at the lower level will grouse about it in the office, but it’s something that the top two-three aides will ultimately advise on, and they tend to be more cognizant of the political winds in the state.

"So each time the state Republican parties put out a statement bashing a senator, it really dampens any desire to buck the party," the GOP Senate staff said.

One senior GOP former administration official questioned how anyone can vote to acquit.

"How anybody could vote to acquit after watching that yesterday is just beyond," the official said.

New security footage showed how then-Vice President Mike Pence was evacuated on Jan. 6 as rioters breached the Capitol, looking for him.

The security footage shows Pence and his family quickly moving down the stairs. The vice president turns around briefly in the video. During the same time frame, rioters were spreading throughout the building, Plaskett said.

"As the rioters reached the top of the stairs, they were within 100 feet of where the vice president was sheltering with his family, and they were just feet away from one of the doors to this chamber," she said.

In one video shown, the crowd can be heard chanting "hang Mike Pence" as they stood in the open door of the Capitol building. A photo showed a gallow outside on the lawn.

"After President Trump had primed his followers for months and inflamed the rally-goers that morning, it is no wonder that the Vice President of the United States was the target of their wrath, after Pence refused to overturn the election results," Plaskett said.

"They were talking about assassinating the Vice President of the United States," she added during her arguments.

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House impeachment managers are showing new Capitol security footage in their presentation today to demonstrate the extent of the violence that occurred on Jan. 6 and the threat the rioters posed to everyone in the Capitol.

"There is some very graphic, violent footage coming," lead impeachment manager Rep. Jamie Raskin said before the footage start

Footage from one of the Capitol's interior security cameras showed Capitol officer Eugene Goodman direct Sen. Mitt Romney out of the path of the rioters. Videos from other security cameras showed the moment the rioters broke into the building.

Senior aides on the House impeachment team told reporters earlier today that the footage would be used as part of a compelling presentation that shows a view of the “extreme violence” at the Capitol on Jan. 6, as the managers argue that the rioters were incited by former President Trump.

Watch here:

Every so often a poll result comes across that seems to make no sense; yet, it continues to show up. We see one of those when it comes to the Senate impeachment trial.

If the Senate were to convict Trump (highly unlikely), another vote could be taken to bar him from holding federal office in the future. This second step is more drastic than mere conviction, and you would think would have less support.

But as I noted on Sunday, barring Trump from office actually has more support. A Monmouth University poll taken in late January found that 57% of Americans favored barring Trump from future office, while 52% favored the Senate convicting Trump in the Senate trial. Of course, the Senate would likely need to convict first to have him barred from office. 

So what exactly is going on here? As FiveThirtyEight’s Laura Bronner has pointed out, a disproportionate share of the voters who favor barring Trump from office but not Senate conviction are Republicans. In the Monmouth poll, for example, banning Trump is 8 points more popular among Republicans than convicting him is among them.

Perhaps some of these Republicans think that barring Trump from holding office is actually less of a punishment than being convicted.

It could also be that some people, particularly Republicans, think the impeachment trial shouldn’t be occurring, but they really don’t want Trump to run again in 2024.

Impeachment manager Stacey Plaskett revealed dramatic new audio of communications among law enforcement officers as rioters moved toward the Capitol building on Jan. 6 as former Vice President Mike Pence was presiding in the US Senate chamber. 

"You have a group of about 50 charging up the hill on the west front, north of the stairs. They're approaching the wall now," said a law enforcement, advised a dispatcher. 

"They're starting to dismantle the reviewing stand," and officer can be heard, "They're throwing metal poles at us."

"Multiple law enforcement injuries," reports another officer.

"We just had explosions go on up here, I don't know if they're fireworks or what, but they're starting to throw explosives, fireworks material," another officer can be heard saying.

The radio communication from the Metropolitan Police Department had not been made public until today, Plaskett said before unveiling the audio.

Supporters of former President Trump breached the US Capitol on Jan. 6, engulfing the building in chaos after Trump urged his supporters to fight against the ceremonial counting of the electoral votes to certify President Joe Biden's win.

Five people died as a result of the riot, including a woman who was fatally shot by police and three people who died of apparent medical emergencies.

House impeachment manager Stacey Plaskett is going over the timeline of events now on the Senate floor.

Here's how key events unfolded throughout the day at the Capitol:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement earlier on the evening of Jan. 6 that congressional leadership wanted to continue with the joint session that night.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on the floor that the "United States Senate will not be intimidated. We will not be kept out of this chamber by thugs, mobs or threats."

It took until deep in the early hours of Thursday morning (Jan. 7), but Congress eventually counted and certified Biden's election win.

See the full timeline of events here.

The Senate is back in session after their second break of the day.

House impeachment managers are continuing their arguments and are expected to show new evidence as part of their case against former President Trump.

You can read up on the day's proceedings so far here.