The House impeachment managers including Representative Madeleine Dean of Pennsylvania, left, watch the proceedings on the trial’s first day. /Credit…Erin Schaff/The New York Times
By Yvonne Wingett Sanchez | Arizona Republic
House Democrats pointed to former President Donald Trump’s attacks on Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey and other public officials in the weeks leading up to the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol as evidence of a pressure campaign that they say he stoked into deadly violence.
During a daylong presentation of their evidence Wednesday, the House impeachment managers also referenced the pro-Trump protests outside of Maricopa County’s election center, where those gathered on election night, Nov. 3, and beyond demanded workers keep counting votes in the hopes that Trump would win the state.
Citing Trump’s own words, the managers contended that he provoked supporters to show up and march on the Capitol after instigating them for weeks ahead of the riot. Calling him the “inciter-in-chief,” they said Trump systematically worked to undermine confidence in the election by telling his supporters they needed to “stop the steal,” and “fight like hell” to make sure he won.
When that wasn’t enough, Trump slammed GOP elected officials who would not bend his way, including Ducey and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, House managers said, before desperately trying to persuade Georgia’s Republican secretary of state to “find” him enough votes to flip the election results there.
