Democrat says prosecutors to focus on Trump’s intent

Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) said he is expecting the House Democratic prosecutors on Wednesday to try to prove former President Trump intended to incite thousands of his supporters to attack the Capitol on Jan. 6.  

“If I were to anticipate, you’re going to get a chronology of starting before the election, after the election, leading up to the Jan. 6 rally, the Jan. 6 rally, what the crowd did, and how President Trump reacted. I think that’s going to be the way to show intent,” Cardin told reporters in the Capitol before oral arguments were set to begin in Trump’s impeachment trial on Wednesday.    

“There’s no question that there was an insurrection. There’s no question that the president’s words motivated the crowd,” Cardin continued. “The question is the president, did he really intend for something like this to happen? And I think that’s an area that I expect them to spend a lot of their time on.”

Cardin is close to Rep. Jamie Raskin, a fellow Maryland Democrat who is serving as the Democrats’ lead impeachment manager. 

The Maryland senator also praised Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky for signaling to fellow Republicans that the vote to convict Trump is a vote of conscience.

“I was impressed by Mitch McConnell saying this is a matter of conscience, which I agree with him,” Cardin said, adding that winning over 17 Republicans to convict Trump is still extremely challenging. “Look, we recognize we operate in a political world and you can’t remove that. So I think we recognize it’s an uphill battle.”