Donald Trump refused Thursday to testify in his looming impeachment trial (File)
Washington:
Former president Donald Trump refused Thursday to testify in his looming impeachment trial after being called by House prosecutors to give evidence, branding the process unconstitutional.
Trump s lawyers ridiculed the request in a letter by lead House prosecutor Jamie Raskin to answer questions over the January 6 attack on the US Capitol as a public relations stunt. Your letter only confirms what is known to everyone: you cannot prove your allegations against Trump, attorneys Bruce Castor and David Schoen said in their reply.
While the attorneys did not say whether he would testify, a senior advisor to Trump, Jason Miller, said flatly that he would not.
“The president will not testify in an unconstitutional proceeding,” Miller told AFP.
– Trial opens Tuesday –
The refusal came five days before the trial of the former US leader on one charge of “incitement to insurrection” opens in the US Senate.
In his unprecedented second impeachment trial
, Trump is accused of fomenting the attack by his supporters on the US legislature one month ago, forcing a halt to proceedings to certify opponent Joe Biden’s victory in the November presidential election.
Raskin said the trial will prove “Trump’s conduct was indefensible.”
“His immediate refusal to testify speaks volumes and plainly establishes an adverse inference supporting his guilt,” he said in a statement.
Parler, a veritable breeding ground of far-right extremists, has arguably come under the most fire for its part in the Capitol riots, but let’s not forget that the internet is a big place, and violent radicalization on the scale we saw on Jan. 6 doesn’t develop in a bubble. Case in point: The Federal Bureau of Investigation said this week that a group of far-right militia members used Facebook Messenger to coordinate their actions during the siege on the Capitol Building.