TAKE with里克·克莱因
甚至是一个情感起诉和一个混乱的辩护可能不会改变参议院的数学。
尽管如此许多事实大约在第二周弹劾对前总统的审判唐纳德·特朗普都解决了，a关键问题正在出现那可以超越定罪的最终投票。
关于暴徒做了什么，他们为什么这样做，甚至特朗普对他说了什么，所有这些都是既定的似乎鼓励他们当时的总统在几个小时内袭击仍在进行是本案的关键由众议院经理召集。
1月6日下午，特朗普发布了一段迟来的、半心半意的视频。美国东部时间当晚6点01分，他的总统任期内最重要的——也是最后的——推文是这样写的:“这些事情和事件发生在神圣的压倒性胜利之时选举胜利被如此毫不客气地剥夺了…永远记住这一天！"
特朗普的律师周二明确表示没有人会辩护那一天发生的暴行，确实令人记忆犹新。他们的法律简报称，特朗普立即被国会大厦的事件“吓坏了”，尽管那天他的心态和行为是众所周知的。
他们还承认特朗普在选举中输给了总统乔·拜登，什么的特朗普自己没有做到现在——和他在暴乱发生那天谎称的正好相反。
从那以后已经过了一个多月了，短暂的记忆现在被审判唤醒了。即使在审判结束后，确立特朗普行为的事实也很重要。
的纲要亚里沙·威尔斯马
分屏时刻在政治上经常发生，周二在华盛顿也不例外。作为前总统的法律团队开始展示他们的案例在特朗普的继任者白宫进行的历史性的第二次弹劾审判中几乎不承认诉讼。
“看，我以前告诉过你。当被问及是否会观看审判时，乔·拜登总统说。总统重申他的主要工作是帮助美国人渡过难关他关上了任何一扇门关于的未来评论弹劾程序。
“参议院有他们的工作。他们就要开始了。我相信他们会表现得很好。这就是我对弹劾的全部看法，”拜登说。
拜登不愿参与特朗普的弹劾审判，这与他保持繁忙日程的计划是一致的。这样做，拜登是有效的向公众展示他对特朗普遗产的看法，而不是在弹劾的背景下口头评论。这一距离也标志着对拜登政治团结目标的尊重，这对于在审判结束后很久实现他的许多政策目标至关重要。
除了正在进行的流行病救援谈判白宫称总统优先考虑的计划访问五角大楼和美国国立卫生研究院，解决与冠状病毒和国家安全。他还准备在下周二前往威斯康辛州，进行他总统任期内的第一次正式访问。威斯康辛州是2020年拜登赢得的战场州，特朗普对其选举结果进行了争夺。
小费肯德尔·胡炬雄
在华盛顿的边界之外，那里是参议院的议事程序测试耐用性关于特朗普对自己政党成员的控制，这位前总统的共和党成员获得了早日赢得权势在深红色的阿肯色州。
前白宫新闻秘书萨拉·哈克比·桑德斯上任两周之后宣布投标作为她父亲曾经领导过的州的州长，曾在前总统乔治·沃克·布什的白宫工作的副州长蒂姆·格里芬周一退出竞选，将注意力转向竞选司法部长。
这是特朗普在2009年背书的力量的标志仍然是特朗普友好的领土去年秋天，他以将近30个百分点的优势赢得了这个州。桑德斯在发起竞选几小时后赢得了前老板的支持，这在很大程度上源于特朗普的文化战争策略和极右言论。“我们热爱美国的一切都岌岌可危。现在激进左翼分子控制了华盛顿，你们的州长是你们最后的防线，”她在公告视频中说。
格里芬离开后，桑德斯现在发现自己有了更强的基础来赢得提名。但这还不是定局，司法部长莱斯利·拉特利奇(Leslie Rutledge)没有显示出她准备退出的任何迹象。拉特利奇是另一位作为前总统的坚定支持者争夺特朗普主义衣钵的竞争者。
Trial focuses on what Trump wanted and when he wanted it: The Note
The TAKE with Rick Klein
Even an emotional prosecution and a mess of a defense may not change the Senate math.
But while so many of the facts around the second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump are settled, a key question is emerging that could matter beyond final votes on conviction.
For all that is established about what rioters did, why they did it and even what Trump said to seemingly encourage them, what the then-president did in the hours that the attack was ongoing is a key piece of the case being assembled by House managers.
There's the belated and half-hearted video Trump released on the afternoon of Jan. 6. There's also what might be the most consequential -- and one of the final – tweets of his presidency, from 6:01 p.m. ET that evening: "These are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously & viciously stripped away… Remember this day forever!"
Trump's attorneys said explicitly Tuesday that no one will defend the atrocities of that day, which indeed is being well-remembered. Their legal brief claimed that Trump was immediately "horrified" by the events at the Capitol, notwithstanding what's publicly known about his mindset and actions that day.
They also conceded that Trump lost the election to President Joe Biden, something Trump himself has failed to do now -- and the exact opposite of what he was falsely claiming on the day the riot took place.
It's been a long month-plus since then, with short memories revived now by the trial. Establishing the facts of Trump's actions will matter even after the trial is complete.
The RUNDOWN with Alisa Wiersema
Split screen moments happen frequently in politics and Tuesday in Washington was no exception. As the former president's legal team began presenting their case in his historic, second impeachment trial, at the White House, Trump's successor barely acknowledged the proceedings.
"Look, I told you before. I have a job," President Joe Biden said when asked if he would watch the trial. The president reiterated his main job is to help Americans pull through the pandemic and he closed the door on any future comments about impeachment proceedings.
"The Senate has their job. They're about to begin it. I'm sure they're going to conduct themselves well. And that's all I'm going to have to say about impeachment," Biden said.
Biden's reluctance to weigh in on Trump's impeachment trial parallels his plans to keep a busy schedule. In doing so, Biden is effectively showing the public what he thinks of Trump's legacy rather than verbally commenting on it in the context of impeachment. The distance also signals a deference to Biden's goal of political unity, which will be crucial in achieving his many policy goals well after the trial concludes.
In addition to the ongoing pandemic relief negotiations, the White House says the president plans to prioritize visits to the Pentagon and the National Institutes of Health to address challenges related to the coronavirus and national security. He's also preparing to make the first official trip of his presidency next Tuesday when he heads to Wisconsin, a 2020 battleground state Biden won and whose election results Trump contested.
The TIP with Kendall Karson
Beyond the boundaries of Washington, where the Senate proceedings are testing the durability of Trump's grip on members of his own party, the former president's wing of the GOP scored an early win over the establishment in deep red Arkansas.
Two weeks after former White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced a bid for governor in the state her father once led, Lt. Gov. Tim Griffin, who worked in former President George W. Bush's White House, exited the race on Monday to turn his attention to running for attorney general.
It's a sign of the power of a Trump endorsement in still Trump-friendly territory, where he won the state by nearly 30 points last fall. Sanders earned the endorsement of her former boss hours after she launched her campaign, which is heavily rooted in Trump's culture war tactics and far-right rhetoric. "Everything we love about America is at stake. With the radical left now in control of Washington, your governor is your last line of defense," she said in her announcement video.
Sanders now finds herself on stronger footing to earn the nomination after Griffin's departure. But it's not a lock just yet, with Attorney General Leslie Rutledge -- another contender vying to claim the mantle of Trumpism as a staunch supporter of the former president -- not showing any signs she's ready to bow out.
