Trump Team Denies Pre-Riot Speech ‘Had Anything to Do’ with Capitol Violence in Impeachment Filing

Attorneys for former President Donald Trump on Tuesday filed a response to the “incitement of insurrection” impeachment charge he faces, arguing that their client’s January 6 speech did not incite the violence that followed at the Capitol impeachment.

“It is denied that the phrase ‘if you don’t fight like hell you’re not going to have a country anymore’ had anything to do with the action at the Capitol as it was clearly about the need to fight for election security in general,” Trump’s lawyers wrote.

The attorneys further argued that impeachment “requires that a person actually hold office.”

The response comes one week before Trump’s second Senate impeachment trial is set to begin. The House passed a single article of impeachment against the former president, accusing him of inciting rioting at the U.S. Capitol on January 6 while Congress met to certify President Joe Biden’s election victory.