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Live updates: Impeachment managers to focus on Trump's role on day of Capitol attack

11 February 2021
 Dan Ackermann

House impeachment managers will wrap up their case against Donald Trump on Thursday by driving home the evidence they believe shows the former president committed the impeachable offense of "incitement of insurrection."

What we're hearing: Democrats plan to home in on the role the former president played in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, the harms that resulted from the siege, the president's "lack of remorse" and the legal issues that now lay before a divided Senate.

  • "At the end of the day today, I think many of the questions raised by the senators who spoke to the press last night will have been answered thoroughly and their duty to convict will be clear," said a senior aide working with the impeachment managers.
  • "Trials are easy when you have the goods," a second aide said. "We'll be bringing them home today."

Details: The managers have the remaining half of their 16 hours to conclude their case. They are not expected to use all of their allotted time today.

  • Democrats plan to continue to rely heavily on video and audio from Jan. 6, acknowledging it's more powerful for senators and Americans watching back home to see the evidence for themselves.

The big picture: It's still unlikely that Democrats will be able to convince at least 17 Republican senators to vote to convict Trump of inciting the Capitol siege.

  • But by overwhelming them with harrowing images of the danger that nearly consumed them, the managers are committed to making their vote as difficult as possible.

This story will be updated throughout the day.

Catch up quick:

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

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Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.

  • The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.

What the transcripts say:

  • Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
  • The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
  • Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.