Congress Criminal Justice & the Rule of Law Democracy & Elections Executive Branch

House Impeachment Managers File Five-Page Memo Rejecting Trump Legal Team’s Arguments Ahead of Impeachment Trial

Rohini Kurup
Monday, February 8, 2021, 1:58 PM

The impeachment managers refuted Trump’s legal team’s claim that the former president engaged in free speech protected by the First Amendment when he claimed voter fraud and urged his supporters to “fight like hell.”

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In a five-page memo filed on Feb 8. replying to a brief filed by former President Trump’s lawyers, House impeachment managers rejected calls to dismiss the case. They refuted Trump’s legal team’s claim that the former president engaged in free speech protected by the First Amendment when he challenged the results of the presidential election and urged his supporters to “fight like hell” ahead of the Jan 6. insurrection at the Capitol. 

“The House did not impeach President Trump because he expressed an unpopular political opinion. It impeached him because he willfully incited violent insurrection against the government,” they wrote. 

The memo can be found here and below: 
 

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Rohini Kurup

Rohini Kurup

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Rohini Kurup is a J.D. candidate at the University of Virginia School of Law. Prior to law school, she worked as an associate editor of Lawfare and a research analyst at the Brookings Institution. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Bowdoin College.

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