A coalition of Trump critics have written Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) to establish that President Trump is disqualified from holding future office, citing a 100-plus-yaer-old-law (Section Three of the 14th Amendment) meant to prevent Confederate leaders from subverting the "fragile constitutional order" post-Civil War.

The Senate failed to convict the former President on an impeachment charge he had incited the Capitol insurrection. The vote would also have prevented him from holding future office. But the groups say there is another way to achieve that end.

Also Read: Media Play Central Role in Impeachment 

That request to Schumer comes even as Trump is resurfacing in interviews on Fox News and Newsmax tied to the death this week of conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh, but in which he talked about a number of issues. Trump signaled he could run again in 2024, still arguing the 2020 election was stolen from him.

In a letter to Schumer, various groups* urged Schumer to "exhaust his constitutional options" to prevent a Trump political second act.

They said Congress could pass a bill clarifying that the section, which "disqualifies from public office any individual who has taken an oath to uphold the U.S. Constitution and then engages in insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or has given aid or comfort to those who have," applies to former President Trump, though that could be problematic since Congress just voted not to convict him of that charge.

They concede seeking a court action to disqualify Trump under the section would not require Congressional action, with the court then left to decide if it applies, but such a law, or even simply a resolution with the sense of Congress that the section applies to Trump (resolutions have no force of law), would provide "powerful support" for such a legal challenge to Trump.

"Section Three is meant to ensure that any future presidents or would-be office-holders are dissuaded from the notion that the U.S. will permit violent insurrections to contest the will of the people. Congress should expeditiously turn to a constitutional tool designed explicitly for this juncture," they told Schumer.

*Signing on to the letter were Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), Common Cause, Constitutional Accountability Center, DemCast, Democracy 21, Digital Democracy Project, Equal Justice Society, Free Speech For People, Government Accountability Project, Mainers for Accountable Leadership' MoveOn Civic Action, Project on Government Oversight, Protect Democracy, Public Citizen, and Stand Up America.

This is a quick snapshot of TV by the numbers for the week of  Feb. 8-14, revealing the most-watched shows and networks using glass-level data from Vizio’s Inscape, and the top shows and networks by TV ad impressions with insights via iSpot.tv.

Most-Watched Shows and Networks

Via Vizio’s Inscape, the TV data company with insights from a panel of millions of active and opted-in smart TVs. Data is linear, live TV only and includes all episode types (new and reruns). Rankings are by percent share duration (i.e., time spent watching).

Coverage of former President Trump’s second impeachment trial took the top two spots for watch-time, with CNN’s broadcast at No. 1, accounting for 2.36% of all minutes watched during the week. College and NBA basketball remained in the top five, while other sports broadcasts made the ranking including PGA Tour Golf, the 2021 Australian Open and the 2021 Daytona 500. Blue Bloods, Home Town and Family Feud each jumped into the top 25 after being absent the previous week.

Also Read: Media Plays Central Role in Second Donald Trump Impeachment

Once again, CBS took first place (6.92% of all minutes watched), but ABC and NBC were close behind, with 6.42% and 6.37%, respectively. CNN and Fox News swapped places compared to the previous week, thanks in part to CNN’s coverage of the impeachment trial, while the other networks in the top 10 maintained their rank week-over-week. Propelled partially by The First 48, A&E made it into the top 25 for the first time in a while.

Top Shows and Networks by TV Ad Impressions

Via iSpot.tv, the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company. Rankings are by TV ad impressions, for new episodes only. 

NBA games took first place for TV ad impressions with 1.4 billion, a slight 1.76% week-over-week decrease. College basketball followed closely behind with 1.1 billion impressions, a 10.74% decrease compared to the previous week. And while PGA Tour Golf had a 2.27% week-over-week decrease in impressions, it jumped up from 10th to fifth place compared to the previous week. The Daytona 500 just made the top 10, coming in at No. 9 with 511.4 million impressions, while The Bachelor jumped from No. 24 to No. 14 this time, with its 374.9 million impressions representing a 9.06% week-over-week increase.

Also Read: Sports and OTT: Streaming Could Squeeze the Last Vestige of Appointment TV

CBS retained its No. 1 position with over 5 billion TV ad impressions, followed by ABC (4.2 billion) and NBC (3.5 billion). The rest of the top 10 included the usual suspects such as CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, ESPN, among others, and notably the Weather Channel was the only top-10 network that had fewer than 1 billion impressions — 890.3 million, a 52.76% week-over-week increase, thanks in part to coverage of Winter Storm Shirley. On the flip side, TNT was among the networks that had week-over-week decreases in impressions, dropping from No. 11 to 18 with 405.6 million impressions, a 41.27% decrease.

The Senate voted Saturday (Feb. 13) 57 to 44 to acquit former President Donald Trump of a single impeachment article alleging the high crime and misdemeanor of inciting the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, but not before Trump's lead lawyer took a parting shot at the media.

Seven Republicans joined 48 Democrats and two independents who caucus with the Dems, to vote for conviction.

The Senators were required to stand and deliver their vote of guilt or not guilty. Conviction required a two-thirds vote.

That vote also constituted a "no" on the accompanying ban on Trump holding future federal office.

The vote came after a pause of a couple of hours to consider whether witnesses should be called following the news that a Republican congresswoman had been told by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy that the President had said during the insurrection that the mob appeared to be more interested in the outcome than McCarthy.

Also Read: Impeachment Trial Goes On

Ultimately, her statement to that effect was entered into the record and the closing arguments and vote proceeded.

In his closing, Trump lawyer Michael van der Veen took aim at the media, much as his client has done for the past four years, saying the impeachment managers' evidence had been "cribbed from a biased news media" and its second- and third-hand reporting. 

Ven der Veen said the Capitol insurrectionists had gotten the idea that violence, rioting and radicalism were acceptable not from President Trump or Republicans, but months of rioting and violence over summer that was supported by Democrats arguing that angry, marginalized people could be expected to "blow off steam."

He said arriving at a place where "rioting and pillaging" had become commmonplace came due to "month after month of political leaders and media personalities bloodthirsty for ratings glorifying civil unrest and damning the reasonable law enforcement measures that are required to quell violent mobs."

The vote also came after a relatively brief, but video-heavy, defense by Trump attorneys Friday (Feb. 12) (using, at about three hours, only a fraction of their allotted 16 hours), likely being able to count the votes of Republicans who have signaled from the outset they did not plan to convict.

It wrapped up a compelling, five-day, made-for-television and streaming event.

Also Read: Impeachment Managers Point to Trump Tweets, Videos

The former President was twice impeached as a sitting President by the Democratically controlled House, and twice acquitted by the Republican-controlled Senate, perhaps appropriate since impeachment, including the Senate trial, is a political process.

Trump's lawyers argued he had not incited the violence at the Capitol and that the proceeding was unconstitutional in any event. They said Democrats were simply trying to keep a political opponent they hated from being re-elected President.

The impeachment managers said it was clear the President had fanned the flames and lit the match and knew what he was doing by calling on a mob to overturn an election and that he could foresee the violence that ultimately ensued, violence he did little to stop.

Also Read: Trump Employs First Amendment Impeachment Defense

Both sides relied heavily on videos to make their points, including from the mainstream media Trump has long argued are fake and enemies of the people.

Trump lawyers also argued that the other side had doctored, by selectively editing and abridging, their video evidence in order to create a false narrative.

"While the final vote did not lead to a conviction, the substance of the charge is not in dispute," said President Joe Biden. "Even those opposed to the conviction, like Senate Minority Leader McConnell, believe Donald Trump was guilty of a 'disgraceful dereliction of duty' and 'practically and morally responsible for provoking' the violence unleashed on the Capitol."

It was a case of dueling videos Friday as the Senate impeachment trial team defending former President Donald Trump from charges he incited the Capitol insurrection looked to counter the sobering video montages of Trump speeches and tweets and mob violence offered up by House impeachment managers (the prosecutors) earlier in the week with many of their own that they said told a very different story.

Also Read: Fox News to Cover Trump Senate Impeachment Trial

Their argument was that Democrats were practicing constitutional cancel culture to take out a political opponent, and smear him with an incitement charge that more fittingly could be turned on them. 

Of the prosecutions initial and emotional video of the insurrection violence, which included "never before seen" security camera footage, Trump lawyer David Schoen said the house managers had kept new footage of the Capitol violence from Trump's defense team and the public. He also accused the impeachment managers of manipulating evidence, including false representations of tweets and selectively editing footage.

The defense team's initial video featured a montage of footage of various Democratic legislators, including Current House Impeachment Manager Rep. Jeremy Raskin (D-Md.), objecting to the electoral vote counts during the certification of Donald Trump's election victory in 2017.

Also Read: Senate Receives Trump Impeachment Articles

The next was another 2017 video montage of Trump saying he was against violence, and of the violent protests surrounding his inauguration and of Democratic rhetoric targeting Trump and suggesting his election should be protested.

Trump's lawyers are arguing that the President's speech was protected by the First Amendment and was equivalent to some of that speech used by Democrats targeting Trump and his supporters. 

Trump lawyer Michael van der Veen called it an unjust act of political vengeance that further divides the nation. He said no thinking person could believe the President's speech on the ellipse was an incitement or insurrection and was patently absurd and that nothing he said could be construed as condoning or enticing violence. 

He said the impeachment article was "slander" and that the President's speech was that the Democratic process should play out "according to the letter of the law" and promoting various steps to secure the vote and prevent ballot harvesting. 

Also Read: Trump Team Employs First Amendment Defense

He said the entire challenge to the election results was on specific process and through a legal and constitutional system. He said to claim the President encouraged violent behavior is a "preposterous and monstrous lie." 

Van der Veen said the attack on the Capitol was a small group carrying out a planned and premeditated action. He also talked about the security measures at Lafayette Square to protect the White House during the summer protests, sometimes violent, over George Floyd's murder.

He said the Senate needed to be careful about the precedent the case would set. He said the President's exhortation, "If you don't fight like hell you won't have a country anymore," was equivalent to the Biden campaign slogan of "battle for the soul of America." One video included a seemingly endless string of Democrats, mostly Senators who were in the chamber but also including President Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, using the word "fight" in political speech.

Van der Veen said the media had been repeating for four years that the 2016 election had been hacked and that it had falsely claimed he President was a Russian spy. He also argued that Democrats had encouraged left-wing anarchists throughout the summer, with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi calling law enforcement protecting government buildings "storm troopers." By contrast, he said, President Trump has consistently deplored mob violence in no uncertain terms. Democrats' opposition to mobs depends on the mob's political views, he concluded. 

The Senate has voted 56 to 44 that the Senate impeachment trial of a former president, in this case Donald Trump, is constitutional and will proceed Wednesday (Feb. 10). Only six republicans supported the trial. 

Also Read: Impeachment Launches with Sobering Video

A simple majority was needed to continue with the trial, rather than the two-thirds needed to convict, which seems unlikely given that 44 Republicans voted not to proceed with the trial at all. 

That vote Tuesday (Feb. 9) came after about four hours of argument, sometimes impassioned and at other times fairly dry and lawyerly. That argument included dueling videos, one by House Democrats showing sometimes hard-to-watch footage of the Capitol insurrection at the heart of the trial, and the other by Trump lawyers with repeated calls for Trump's impeachment dating back years.

Also Read: Donald Trump Makes First Amendment Impeachment Defense

The trial resumes at noon Wednesday with arguments on whether the President incited the Capitol insurrection that cost lives and property.

The House voted to impeach the President Jan. 13 for incitement of insurrection, a high crime and misdemeanor, after a crowd of his followers left a rally where he said the election had been stolen and stormed and vandalized the Capitol where the election results were being certified.

House Impeachment managers started their argument in the Senate trial of former President Donald Trump Tuesday afternoon (Feb. 9) with a video montage of the President's speech to supporters and the Capitol Insurrection that followed, filled with F-word expletives' that broadcast nets ran with "explicit content" warnings.

There is a general exemption for news broadcasts from the FCC's rules against profanity during daytime hours.

Also Read: Donald Trump Makes First Amendment Impeachment Defense

The montage was interspersed with interstitial text, like "Trump's Mob Breaches the Capitol," that linked the former president directly to the actions that followed, which the unsparing video did not leave to the imagination. 

Following the sobering video, lead impeachment manager Rep. James Raskin (D-Md.) said that if that was not an impeachable offense, "then there was no such thing."

In Washington, the ABC, CBS and NBC  affiliates and owned stations all preempted special programming for their respective network's live coverage of the opening of the trial, while Fox's WTTG-TV instead aired regular programming. Fox had pointed out that it would provide its affiliates broadcast coverage, but that they could also livestream it if they wanted to also offer regular programming. 

By three and a half hours into the arguments, only CBS affiliate WUSA-TV was still going live with the trial. The other stations had switched to their local news.

Also Read:  Senate Receives Trump Articles of Impeachment

The House has already impeached Trump for inciting the mob, the second time the former President has been impeached. 

Initial arguments are on whether the Senate trial is constitutional because the President can no longer be removed from office since he is already gone.

President Trump's defense team, led by Bruce Castor, pushed back on the video, but not on "the violence of the rioters and those that breached the Capitol." He said to have the seat of government attacked is repugnant and the loss of life horrific. 

Castor said it was natural to recoil and desire retribution for that "awful thing," suggesting the prosecution's 13-minute video was meant to provoke that emotional response, just as people can be overcome by events and act without reflective thought.

Trump attorney David Schoen said Democrats had created, manufactured and spliced together a package designed to frighten, as though impeachment was a "blood sport," and that it would serve to tear the country apart, suggesting it would have no precedent except in one case, obviously a reference to the Civil War.

Both Castor and Schoen argued that the impeachment was a political exercise to eliminate Donald Trump as a political opponent and, as Schoen put it, disenfranchise  75 million voters.

Trump's team presented their own video montage of Democrats calling for Trump's impeachment almost from the day he was sworn in, resulting in the fastest impeachment inquiry in history and a rush to judgment, though Schoen called that an understatement.

From the sound of it, President Joe Biden will not be closely following TV coverage of his predecessor's impeachment trial in the Senate, which begins Tuesday (Feb. 9).

That is according to White House press secretary Jen Psaki at the daily press briefing Monday.

Also Read: CBS Eye Turns Toward Impeachment Trial

Asked if the President plans to watch any of the trial this week, which will be either broadcast or streamed live on the major news outlets, Psaki signaled that given his schedule, which includes going to NIH, the Department of Defense, and talking with local officials and businesspeople about his American Rescue Plan, that is unlikely.

"I think it's clear from his schedule, and from his intention, he will not spend too much time watching the proceedings any time over the course of this week," she said.

Also Read: Fox to Cover Impeachment Trial Live

The CBS Eye will play its coverage of the Trump Senate impeachment trial by ear, at least in terms of when to start its special live coverage.

"We don’t have exact timing of when the proceedings will start," said a spokesperson. "When they do start, we will go up for a CBS News Special Report."

Related: Fox News to Cover Impeachment Trial Live

CBS Evening News anchor/managing editor Norah O’Donnell will lead coverage of the trial from Washington, where the newscast is based, starting Tuesday (Feb. 9).

Contributors to the ongoing coverage will include chief Washington correspondent Major Garrett, chief White House Correspondent Nancy Cordes, senior political analyst John Dickerson, and correspondents Nikole Killion, Kris Van Cleave, and Jeff Pegues, as well as CBS News contributor Jeffrey Rosen.

CBS This Morning, led by Gayle King, Anthony Mason and Tony Dokoupil, will tee up each day's proceedings and their importance, while CBSN, the network's free streaming service, will provide Wall-to-wall live coverage and its affiliate news service, CBS Newspath, will have both coverage and digital content.

Also Read: C-SPAN to Cover Impeachment Trial

Trump was impeached by the House Jan. 13 for incitement of insurrection, a high crime and misdemeanor, after a crowd of his followers left a rally ,where he said the election had been stolen, a charge he had been leveling since November. The crowd then stormed and vandalized the Capitol, where the election results were being certified.

Fox News will be covering the second Senate impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump live Tuesday (Feb. 9) starting at 1 p.m., providing cable, broadcast and streaming coverage of the only president/ex-president to be impeached twice, though the first time he was not convicted by the Senate and it not expected to be this time around, either.

Also Read: Senate Receives Trump Impeachment Articles

John Roberts, co-anchor of America Reports, which airs at 1-3 p.m. weekdays will co-anchor with Sandra Smith from New York.

Also on the anchor team are Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum. 

Contributors will also include Fox News Sunday's Chris Wallace, legal correspondent Shannon Bream, Karl Rove, Ken Starr and Andrew McCarthy.

Fox TV station affiliates will also be offered coverage from Washington by Gillian Turner, or if they want to stick with regular broadcast programming, can live stream the trial on their digital or social platforms, FNC points out.

Also Read: Trump Team Employs First Amendment Defense

Trump was impeached by the House Jan. 13 for incitement of insurrection, a high crime and misdemeanor, after a crowd of his followers left a rally ,where he said the election had been stolen, a charge he had been leveling since November. The crowd then stormed and vandalized the Capitol, where the election results were being certified.

His defense team is arguing that the President's claims of a stolen election and widespread fraud that needed correcting--by force if necessary-- so he could rightly remain in power are shielded by the First Amendment's protection of unpopular speech, including his barrage of tweets on the subject, which were repeatedly cited by House Impeachment Managers in making their case for Senate conviction.

Attorneys for former President Donald Trump are asserting that the President's claims of a stolen election and widespread fraud that needed correcting--by force if necessary-- so he could rightly remain in power are shielded by the First Amendment's protection of unpopular speech, including his barrage of tweets on the subject, which were repeatedly cited by House Impeachment Managers in making their case for Senate conviction.

Also Read:  Senate Receives Trump Articles of Impeachment

That came in a filing with the Senate in advance of the former President's impeachment trial next week. Trump has already been impeached by the House, for a second time. The Senate did not convict the first time around and is not expected to this time, either.

House Impeachment managers laid out their case for the high crime and misdemeanor charge of inciting the Capitol insurrection that left one policeman and four others dead and forced legislators and the Vice President to hiding from an angry and armed mob.

That case was built in part on the President's tweets leading up to the insurrection, tweets saying that he had won in a landslide but that the victory had been stolen from him, including the tweet even after the insurrection to the effect that "these are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously & viciously stripped away from great patriots..."

But in response, Trump's lawyers said that following the election, the President had "exercised his First Amendment right under the Constitution that the election results were suspect..."

The President still denies that his statements were false and his lawyers said that like "all Americans" the President is "protected by the First Amendment," uniquely so among all nations, in that the Constitution "specifically and intentionally protects unpopular speech from government retaliation."

Also Read: Trump Video Calls out Insurrectionists

Trump is arguing that the entire impeachment trial is moot because he is no longer President. But if that argument does not fly, he needs to be ready to address the underlying charge of inciting a mob to attack the U.S. Capitol, which his attorneys did in part by invoking the First Amendment, sometimes loftily: "The actions by the House make clear that in their opinion the 45th President does not enjoy the protections of liberty upon which this great Nation was founded, where free speech, and indeed, free political speech form the backbone of all American liberties."

The House impeachment managers began the impeachment trial process for former President Donald Trump with the official reading of the single article to the Senate Monday night (Jan. 25). 

The House voted to impeach the President Jan. 13 for incitement of insurrection, a high crime and misdemeanor, after a crowd of his followers left a rally where he said the election had been stolen and stormed and vandalized the Capitol where the election results were being certified.

Also Read: Trump Video Calls Out Capitol Insurrectionists

In Washington, the CBS affiliate, Tegna's WUSA-TV carried the CBS special report covering the reading of the articles as well as the impeachment managers marching it over to the Senate chamber, as did NBC-owned WRC-TV with NBC News' coverage. Fox affiliate WTTG-TV carried regular programming (Fox 5's Like it or Not), and Sinclair-owned ABC affiliate WJLA stuck with regular programming as well, airing powerhouse syndicated game show Wheel of Fortune. 

CNN, Fox News Channel and C-SPAN all covered the presentation of the article live.

The impeachment trial, which will be presided over by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), will not start for two weeks. It will be Trump's second impeachment trial. He was not convicted the first time around.

Also Read: Sen. Schumer Calls for Trump Removal

Some Republicans argue the trial is unconstitutional because the President is no longer in office, but if the President is convicted--on a two-thirds majority--there would be a second vote--which a simple majority would determine--on barring Trump from holding any future federal office.

This is a quick snapshot of TV by the numbers for the week of Jan. 11-17, revealing the most-watched shows and networks using glass-level data from Vizio’s Inscape, and the top shows and networks by TV ad impressions with insights via iSpot.tv.

Most-Watched Shows and Networks

Via Vizio’s Inscape, the TV data company with insights from a panel of more than 17 million active and opted-in smart TVs. Data is linear, live TV only and includes all episode types (new and reruns). Rankings are by percent share duration (i.e., time spent watching).

When it comes to live TV, sports and news continue their domination, led by NFL games with 7.94% of all minutes watched, followed by the college football national championship (1.61%). CNN’s broadcast The 2nd Trump Impeachment Vote made it into the top 10 at No. 7 (0.76% of minutes watched). And, thanks in part to syndicated marathons, Chicago P.D. jumped up the ranking from No. 21 to No. 12, and Rizzoli & Isles broke into the top 25 after not previously being in the top 50. 

Also Read: College Football Championship, Impeachment Proceedings Propel ESPN, Cable News Networks Ratings

NBC remained in first place for the network ranking (7.65%), fueled in part by NFL football, Today and NBC Nightly News With Lester Holt, while NFL games and post-game coverage helped boost Fox into second place with 7.64% of all minutes watched. Networks that maintained rank position week-over-week included Fox News, HGTV, Investigation Discovery, MTV and TV Land.

Top Shows and Networks by TV Ad Impressions

Via iSpot.tv, the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company. Rankings are by TV ad impressions, for new episodes only. 

Four out of the top five placements for TV ad impressions were sports-related, led by NFL games (9.3 billion impressions) and college football (1.8 billion). News programs were also prevalent throughout: CNN Newsroom took fifth place with 889.3 million TV ad impressions, a 39.97% week-over-week increase, while The Situation Room With Wolf Blitzer, CNN Tonight With Don Lemon and Good Morning America all made the top 10. The only non-sports or news-related programming in the top 25: The Young and the Restless and The Price Is Right.

On the network side of things, CBS was first once again, although its 7.7 billion TV ad impressions constituted a 22.12% decrease from the previous week. CNN surpassed NBC to snag second place with 6.2 billion vs. 6.1 billion impressions, respectively.  Thanks in part to the NFL and related coverage, Fox jumped into fourth place with 5.6 billion TV ad impressions, a 70% week-over-week increase. Newsmax TV entered into the ranking for the first time, grabbing No. 25 with 256 million ad impressions.

President Donald Trump posted a video Wednesday evening (Jan. 13) on the White House Twitter account--his personal account has been banned--calling for calm and condemning in no uncertain terms the violence at the Capitol Jan. 6 and called for upholding the rule of law.

That came not long after the House voted to impeach him for what it said was inciting that insurrection, in which a Capitol Police Officer was killed and four members of the protest/insurrection died. It also came after he had failed for days to condemn the siege. When trying to encourage the mob to exit the Capitol, Trump said: "We love you. You're very special," appearing to echo the tone deafness of his comments about there being good people on both sides of the deadly Charlottesville "protest."

Also Read: House Votes Second Time to Impeach Trump

"I want to be very clear," he said in Wednesday's video. "I unequivocally condemn the violence that we saw last week" he said. He also said that violence and vandalism have no place in the country or in his movement.

"No true supporter of mine could ever endorse political violence. No true supporter of mine could ever disrespect law enforcement or our great American flag. No true supporter of mine could ever threaten or harass their fellow Americans." He said anyone who did that was attacking his movement and attacking the country. "We cannot tolerate it."

The President also tacitly equated the Capitol assault with the sometimes violent protests earlier in the year over the death of George Floyd.

"We have seen political violence spiral out of control. We have seen too many riots, too many mobs, too many acts of intimidation and destruction. It must stop. Whether you are on the right or the left, Democrat or Republican, there is never a justification for violence. No excuses. No exceptions."

The President said he had been briefed on potential threats from planned demonstrations, both in Washington and across the country, around the Jan. 20 inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden and asked all his followers to find ways to ease tensions, calm tempers and promote peace. He said peaceful protest was their First Amendment right, but he said there must be no violence or vandalism "of any kind."

The President also took the opportunity to call out Social Media for decisions to ban his social media accounts, and to de-post right-wing social network site, Parler, though he did not cite any specifics. 

Also Read: Trump Says Twitter Ban Will Not Silence Him

He said efforts to "censor, cancel and blacklist our fellow citizens are wrong and they are dangerous" and an unprecedented assault on speech. He said it was important to listen to each other, not silence each other. 

Speaking on Fox News, which aired the video in its entirety, NPR's Mara Liasson said the President's straightforward statement may have come too late, and wondered what would have happened if that had been his initial reaction to the violence.

The Democratically controlled House voted Wednesday, Jan. 13, for a second time to impeach President Trump, this time for inciting the insurrection at the Capitol Jan. 6, but for the first time some Republicans joined with the Democrats.

Also Read: Senator Schumer Calls for Removal of President

The vote was 232 to 197, with 222 Democrats voting to impeach, joined by 10 Republicans.

The President in tweets and in a speech to protestors called on them to fight the electoral vote count certification of Joe Biden as the election's winner. 

The major broadcast news nets aired special reports to chronicle the vote live, joining cable news nets and C-SPAN in covering the history-making event.

Also Read: Joe Scarborough Drops F-Bomb

The process now moves to a trial in the Senate, though such a trial would likely have to  start on the eve of or after Biden's inauguration and Trump was already out of office. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) pointed out that he wants to make sure that Trump can never run for office again, which a conviction in a Senate trial would ensure.

The union representing most of a million federal and D.C. government workers wants a court to block guidance from the Office of Special Counsel that they said bars them from expressing their opinion, while at work, about whether or not President Trump should be impeached. 

The primary function of the office is "to safeguard the merit system by protecting federal employees and applicants from prohibited personnel practices..." 

The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) has filed a motion for preliminary injunction seeking a suspension of the OSC guidance. 

“The Trump impeachment is THE major news story dominating the headlines," said AFGE National Secretary-Treasurer Everett Kelley. "For federal employees, he is top management, and it is absurd to think impeachment of the boss will not be discussed at lunch and at the water cooler." 

AFGE said its employees have a right to speak about "this important matter." 

The union said it was concerned that OSC had not taken any action against high government officials defending the President, such as Trump counselor Kelly Anne Conway, while "ordinary civil servants who might hold different views must refrain from speaking out or risk losing their jobs." 

The OSC advisory--on application of the Hatch Act prohibition on on-the-job politicking by federal employees--"presumptively restricts federal employees from expressing any opinion on 'impeachment' or policy matters if the words “#resist” or 'resistance' are used." 

AFGE said the guidance advises employees that they can discuss whether the President should or should not be impeached, but can't advocate themselves for either outcome.

ESPN’s coverage of the LSU-Clemson college football championship game helped the network top the primetime cable weekly ratings charts last week, while the continuing Impeachment proceedings were ratings gold for Fox News, CNN and MSNBC.

ESPN averaged 4.3 million viewers in primetime during the week of Jan. 13-19 to top all cable networks, according to Nielsen. The sports network was paced by its coverage of the Jan. 13 College Football Playoff National Championship game -- won by LSU over last year’s champs Clemson -- which drew more than 25 million viewers.

Fox News (2.8 million viewers), MSNBC (1.9 million) and CNN (1.5 million) occupied the next three spots on the primetime chart, buoyed by their respective coverage of the ongoing Impeachment proceedings.

TLC finished fifth for the week with 1.1 million viewers, followed by HGTV, A&E and Hallmark Channel (all tied with 1 million viewers), History (955,000) and Discovery Channel (884,000).

On the total day ratings front, Fox News dominated the pack with 1.6 million viewers, followed by ESPN, MSNBC, CNN and HGTV, according to Nielsen. 

"History will be our final Judge. Will senators rise to the occasion?" With that question from Democrat Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), the Senate closed out regular business Tuesday, Jan. 21, preparing to gavel in the first impeachment since Bill Clinton, only the third Senate trial of a President, and the first of the Twitter age.

On CNN, legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin was calling the Senate plans for a speedy trial without witnesses a sham that would go down in shame, while commenting on Fox, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), one of the President's defense team, said that the facts were with the President, which was why a speedy acquittal was in the cards.

In Washington, the affiliates of ABC, CBS, and NBC, were all going with live special reports, while the Fox affiliate was going with its counter-programming strategy of sticking with syndicated fare while streaming its live news coverage of the trial online.

The gallery was warned of keeping quiet on penalty of imprisonment.

The trial began by not really beginning. That is, with dueling resolutions regarding the process for holding the trial. The first was from Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) setting the rules, including confining the material to what has already been considered by the House in its impeachment inquiry, subject to hearsay objections, if any, by the President.  

No testimony would be admissible unless the witness can be deposed. Democrats objected, beginning what will be hours of debate on how the trial should be conducted.  

Pat Cipollone, lead defense attorney for the President said there would be 24 hours--over three days--for opening statements by the Dems, then the same for the Republicans--followed by 16 hours for questions. After which they would consider the question of witnesses.  

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), lead House manager for the Dems, said they would prove that the President illegally withheld funds to Ukraine (thus coersing a foreign nation) to help him cheat in the 2020 election, part of what he called the "absolute trifecta of constitutional misconduct." He called the Trump the "very evil" the Constitution was designed to prevent. 

Cippolone said that once the Senators had heard the opening statements, the only conclusion they could draw was that the President had did "absolutely nothing wrong." 

The opposing motion, from Sen. Schumer, was what the Dems said was necessary insure there would be a fair trial, so that the senators did not only see part of the evidence. He said if the House can't introduce documents or evidence, it was not only not a fair trial, but was not a trial at all. 

He said only allowing a recounting of the impeachment transcripts was a mockery of a trial. He said witnesses must be allowed to be called, and the Senate have access to documents subpoenaed from the President that have so far been blocked, so they know which witnesses need to be called.

Asked whether the President would be watching the coverage, press secretary Stephanie Grisham said: "He has a full day here in Davos, but will be briefed by staff periodically."

President Trump has named the Republican members of Congress who will help mount his defense against the articles of impeachment--obstruction of Congress and abuse of power--in the Senate trial that starts Tuesday (Jan. 21). 

Related: Trump Concedes 2020 Election Interference...By Democrats 

The White House said said they would help the President "combat" the "hyper-partisan and baseless impeachment," and suggested there could be more legislators joining the effort, identifying the list as an initial one.  

They are: Congressman Doug Collins, Congressman Mike Johnson, Congressman Jim Jordan, Congresswoman Debbie Lesko, Congressman Mark Meadows, Congressman John Ratcliffe, Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, Congressman Lee Zeldin. 

Those were identified as legislators who had already provided the White House legal team guidance on proceedings "concocted" by House Democrats as part of a "brazen political vendetta." 

The President is on trial for allegedly using his power to attempt to solicit the head of a foreign government to interfere in the 2020 election for his benefit, and for refusing to provide info subpoenaed by the House in its impeachment inquiry. 

President Trump is acknowledging that there is ongoing interference in the 2020 election, but he says it is by the Democrats in Congress. 

That is one of the takeaways from his and his legal team's response Saturday to the articles of impeachment on which he is being tried by the Senate beginning Tuesday (Jan. 21). That is not to be confused with the President's legal brief, which will go into greater detail on the charges and isn't due until Monday (Jan. 20). 

Related: Rep. Schiff Officially Presents Articles of Trump Impeachment 

According to sources close to the President's legal team, they are arguing that the impeachment proceeding is a dangerous attack on the American people and their fundamental right to freely choose their President. 

They will call it a brazen and unlawful attempt to overthrow the 2016 election and interfere with the 2020 election, which they say is a highly partisan (translation: Democrats") obsession with impeachment that began before President Trump was elected. 

They will argue that far from high crimes and misdemeanors, the articles don't allege any crime at all. They say the abuse of power article could do lasting damage to separation of powers becuase it threatens the President's assertion of a legitimate executive branch confidentiality interest, which they said cannot constitute obstruction of Congress. 

The President's legal team will also argue that Democrats continued to move the linguistic target, from "extortion" and "bribery" (they did not mention "collusion") to "quid pro quo" and finally "abuse of power," with "quid pro quo" failing to make an appearance in the articles. 

They will also go to process issues, saying that the House impeachment process was fundamentally flawed and illegitimate because it denied the President basic rights to counsel, to cross examine witnesses and to present evidence. They will argue that the President responded appropriate to all those subpoenas he didn't provide information for, which was to point out their constitutional defects. 

Asked about the Government Accountability Office report that concluded the GAO violated the law in holding up Ukraine aid for political purposes, they said that, first, that was not part of the articles of impeachment and, second, that the GAO just appeared to be asserting itself into the news cycle and that they had had to go back and change rulings in the past and that "it went after" Bill Clinton and Barack Obama and George W. Bush and the media hadn't reported that--they did not elaborate. 

In any event, they said, the President did nothing wrong.

The White House has confirmed the President's legal team, led by counsel to the President Pat A. Cipollone and Jay Alan Sekulow.

Joining them are Kenneth Starr, former Solicitor General, former Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and former independent counsel; Alan Dershowitz, Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law, Emeritus, Harvard Law School; Pam Bondi, special advisor to the President and former attorney general of Florida; Jane Serene Raskin, private counsel to the President; Eric D. Herschmann, Kasowitz, Benson, Torres LLP; Robert Ray, partner, Thompson and Knight, LLP, and former independent counsel.  

A Fox spokesperson confirmed that Ken Starr, the independent counsel who investigated Whitewater and was a central figure in the impeachment of Bill Clinton, will have no role in the network's coverage of the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump. 

"Ken Starr is no longer part of our coverage as he is no longer a FOX News contributor," said the spokesperson. 

That is because Starr has been named to join President Trump's legal defense team as he fights charges of obstruction of Congress and abuse of power. 

The President will have until until 6 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 18, to answer the charges and, if he wants to file a trial brief, must do it by noon Monday, Jan. 20. The trial is scheduled to start Tuesday, Jan. 21, at 1 p.m. 

Also named to the team was prominent attorney Alan Dershowitz, whose past clients, NBC News pointed out Friday (Jan. 17) have included "Jeffrey Epstein, Harvey Weinstein and O.J. Simpson." 

The political, and thus media coverage, agenda has been teed up for the Senate trial of President Donald Trump. 

After being sworn in to preside over the trial Thursday (Jan. 16), then swearing in the Senators, who will hear evidence presented by House impeachment managers, Chief Justice John Roberts adjourned the Senate until Tuesday, 1 p.m. (Jan. 21), when the trial of the President will begin. 

Related: Rep. Schiff Delivers Articles of Impeachment to Senate

As expected, the major broadcast and cable news operations covered both swearing-in ceremonies live as they prepare to chronicle only the third impeachment trial of a President in U.S. history, and the first one that will be widely streamed. 

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) laid out what could and would be happening, procedurally between now and Tuesday. 

The President will have until until 6 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 18, to answer the charges--abuse of power and obstruction of Congress and, if he wants to file a trial brief, must do it by noon Monday, Jan. 20. The House, whose impeachment managers are prosecuting the case against the President, can rebut his brief, have only until noon Tuesday to do so. 

While it is not clear whether witnesses will make an appearance at the trial--which White House officials have said should not last more than two weeks--likely making an unusual appearance on in the Senate Chamber could be TV sets on which to display video evidence. 

At a few minutes after noon, Jan. 16, the House impeachment managers read out the articles of impeachment of President Donald Trump for high crimes and misdemeanors.  

Broadcast and cable outlets dropped regular programming to carry the reading of the charges live and were likely to do so at 2 p.m. when Chief Justice John Roberts is sworn in (he will preside over the trail) and then swears the Senators in. 

They did so the in the Senate chamber, with an audience warned solemnly that they must keep quite "on pain of imprisonment." 

During the reading of the first article--abuse of power--chief manager Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said the President had used the power of his office to solicit the interference of Ukraine in the 2020 presidential election by publicly announcing investigations that would help his re-election. Schiff said the President used his powers corruptly for his own benefit, and in the process undermined the democratic process and injured the interests of the nation. 

Schiff said the President would be a threat to national security if allowed to continue as President.  

During the reading of article two--obstruction of Congress--Schiff said the President had directed the categorical denial of congressional subpoenas in subversion of the Constitution and had directed that potential witnesses not testify, thus interfering with Congress' investigation. 

The Senate trial will begin next Tuesday (Jan. 21).

Saying it wants to "help the media and public find dependable answers and explanations to sometimes confusing legal questions and issues," the American Bar Association has posted a legal "fact check" saying there is likely no federal law protecting the Trump whistleblower's identity from being revealed and suggesting their job security is better protected by law than their identity.

That came in an ABA Legal Fact Check Monday (Dec. 23). 

President Donald Trump and his allies have called for the whistleblower to be revealed. That whistleblower revealed a call between Trump and the President of Ukraine that led to the accusation that the President sought a Ukrainian quid pro quo--the announcement of the investigation of Joe Biden and son for a White House meeting and foreign aid--and ultimately to the President's impeachment in the House last week stemming directly from the call.

"[U]nmasking the whistleblower in this instance would not likely result in a civil or criminal violation," the ABA said. 

ABA pointed out that the Intelligence Identities Protection Act provides criminal penalties for unmasking U.S. covert agents, but the White House whistleblower was not considered a covert agent. In addition, a member of Congress who revealed a whistleblower's identity could face censure for violating that body's rules. 

The lawyer for the whistleblower has asked for anonymity to protect themselves and their family and ABA says that such requests are generally honored by the media and lawmakers. For example, conservative Republican and long-time whistleblower advocate Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) has said that the White House whistle-blower's identity should not be revealed. “This person appears to have followed the whistleblower protection laws and ought to be heard out and protected," he said in a statement back in October. "We should always work to respect whistleblowers’ requests for confidentiality. Any further media reports on the whistleblower’s identity don’t serve the public interest—even if the conflict sells more papers or attracts clicks."

But absent that ethical standard, "in terms of federal law," says ABA, "the whistleblower has more assurance that his or her job, rather than identity, will be protected." 

Rudy Giuliani, President Trump's personal lawyer, said AT&T intercepted his telephone calls as part of the impeachment investigation and called it "completely illegal and horrific" that the Democrats were trying to keep him from defending his client. 

That came in an interview with conservative cable outlet Newsmax. 

Asked by Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy whether he was shocked that AT&T had turned over the records without notifying him, Giuliani said he would think they [it was unclear whether he was referring to AT&T or Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee] would have at least tried to determine if they were violating attorney-client privilege." 

The phone records of Giuliani calls with the President were used in the Intelligence Committee's impeachment report and were shared "without the President’s knowledge or permission." 

The subpoenaing of phone records was also invoked repeatedly in the House Judiciary hearing Monday (Dec. 9), where numerous Republicans talked about the Democrats publishing phone conversations of private citizens, including journalists and Giuliani. 

Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) said he had a big problem with members of Congress being able to subpoenae the records of private citizens willy nilly without any kind of cause," then publishing it. He called that "a clear abuse of power on the part of the people prosecuting the impeachment." 

"Like all companies, we are required by law to provide information to government and law enforcement agencies," said AT&T in a statement. "In all cases, we ensure that requests for assistance are valid and that we act in compliance with the law." 

Constitutional law experts told a House Judiciary Committee hearing panel Wednesday (Dec. 4) that President Trump had committed high crimes and misdemeanors, which are impeachable offenses, with one going so far as to say the President had attacked the constitutional protects against turning the country into a monarchy. 

Only one of the four witnesses opposed impeachment.

All the witnesses said they were relying on the House investigation's evidentiary record in drawing those conclusions at the committee's first impeachment hearing, with only one concluding it did not rise to the level of impeachment. 

Committee Republicans offered up procedural motions in an effort to delay the hearing, but chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) kept the testimony moving by either shutting them down or speeding roll call votes.  

Harvard Law professor Noah Feldman said the President's conduct in seeking the aid of a foreign power to investigate a political rival clearly constituted a high crime and misdemeanor.   

He said abuse of office is clear when a President uses the power of his office not to serve the American public but for his own partisan political interest.  

Pamela Karlan of the Stanford Law School, agreed, saying that the President had committed an abuse of power that struck at the heart of the nation to which he swore allegiance. 

Karlan said the President had "doubled down" on violating his oath to protect and defend the Constitution. 

Three of the professors sounded more like prosecuting attorneys offering up summations, particularly Karlan, who began by taking issue with Republican suggestions she did not care about the facts of this particular case--she said she had read all the testimony--then delivered an impassioned condemnation of the President's conduct. 

Michael Gerhardt of the University of North Carolina Law School, who referred to the other two witnesses as friends, agreed that the record showed the President had committed impeachable offenses, and said there were actually four of them--bribery, abuse of power, obstruction of justice and obstructing Congress.  

Gerhardt said the President had misused his office for personal gain, and went so far as to say he was convinced the President had attacked each of the safeguards against turning American democracy into a monarchy. 

He said if Congress fails to impeach this President, impeachment has no meaning. 

Jonathan Turley, of George Washington, pointed out he had testified in the impeachment hearing of Bill Clinton two decades ago. 

He said he was not a supporter of Trump, and voted against him, but that that had no bearing on his testimony, which appeared to be the case since, as the lone Republican witness, he was the lone voice against impeachment. 

Turley said he was concerned about lowering the standards for impeachment, rushing to judgment, or creating a "trapdoor" crime to justify impeachment, as he said happened with Andrew Johnson. 

He said there is no compelling evidence that the President committed a crime. "I get it, you're mad," he said, as are my wife, and my kids and even my dog, a golden-doodle, which he said generally don't get mad. 

But Turley said this impeachment was wrong not because the President was right, or because it was an election year. He said it was wrong to impeach a President on this incomplete record and based more on rage than reason. 

Impeachment is not "some impulse-buy Nike sneaker," he said.

Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.) had a made-from-TV moment during the made-for-TV (and online video) impeachment hearing Friday (Nov. 14). 

He commented on the fact that hearing witness and fired Ukrainian ambassador Marie Yovanovitch had landed at a prestigious university after being canned by the President: "Madam ambassador, it's like a Hallmark Movie. You ended up at Georgetown. This is all OK," he joked to laughter from the hearing audience. "But it wasn't your preference seven or eight months ago [to be fired and the subject of a smear campaign from the White House], correct?," he added. Yovanovitch agreed it was not. 

Quigley finished his thought: "It's not the end of a Hallmark movie. It's the end of a really bad reality TV show brought to you by someone who knows a lot about that."  

That would be the former Apprentice star and current President. 

The House Intelligence Committee began its public impeachment hearings with Republicans echoing the President's charges that it was vendetta against him by Dems with the aid of the media, or what Rep. Devin Nunes, ranking member, called "the corrupt media."

Nunes, in his opening statement in the first hearing, dismissed the impeachment inquiry as a damaging spectacle and "carefully orchestrated media smear campaign," merely a "low rent" Ukrainian sequel to the Russia collusion investigation that found no evidence that the President was a "Russian agent."

He called that a pitiful finale to the attempt by the Democrats and "corrupt media" to overturn the 2016 election, the "spectacular implosion of their Russia hoax," he said.

Nunes talked of one-sided leaks to new media and "secret depositions" in a cult-like atmosphere in the basement of the Capitol, followed by "highly staged" selective leaks of transcripts. He talked of "false stories" and "preposterous allegations" in a scorched earth Democratic strategy and a "carefully orchestrated media smear campaign." He also said the Dems made-for-TV witnesses had essentially been given a closed-door audition via those closed hearings.

Committee chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) made it clear he did not agree with assessment of the inquiry as a weak second act to the collusion investigation drama.

"The President has instructed the State Department and other agencies to ignore congressional subpoenas for documents," Schiff said. "He has instructed witnesses to defy subpoenas and refuse to appear. And he has suggested that those who do expose wrongdoing should be treated like traitors and spies. These actions will force Congress to consider, as it did with President Nixon, whether Trump’s obstruction of the constitutional duties of Congress constitute additional grounds for impeachment."

The hearing witnesses are Bill Taylor, former top Ukraine diplomat, and George Kent, deputy assistant secretary in the European and Eurasian Bureau at State.

President Donald Trump, whose tweets have been declared officials statements by the President, was in fighting form Monday with a string of tweets attacking his critics.  

He asked whether Rep. Adam Schiff should be arrested for treason, said that the Bidens (his likely Democratic opponent, former VP Joe Biden and son, Hunter) were corrupt, and said the media, perhaps his favorite target, might be even more corrupt than the Bidens. 

[embed]https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1178643854737772545[/embed][embed]https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1178671715624394757[/embed]

The President also tried to explain why he was seeking Ukraine's help in investigating the Bidens over to-date uncorroborated allegations of corruption:

[embed]https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1178670564879343619[/embed]

Schiff (D-Calif.) is chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and a leader in the impeachment inquiry into President Trump over his conversation with the president of Ukraine, as revealed by a complaint by a government whistleblower. 

The President also lit into the whistleblower, calling him "fake," as he does the mainstream media. 

[embed]https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1178641557097975809[/embed]

The Washington Post was reporting Sunday that Schiff said he had a deal to hear testimony from the whistleblower.

In a video posted on Twitter Saturday (Sept. 28), 

[embed]https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1178055467987275776[/embed]

President Trump called the impeachment inquiry "the single greatest scam in the history of American politics" and said Democrats were trying to take away "everything," including  Americans' freedom and their vote.