President Donald Trump gestures to the crowd as he arrives to speak at a campaign rally at Williams Arena in 2019. Photo / AP
President Donald Trump gestures to the crowd as he arrives to speak at a campaign rally at Williams Arena in 2019. Photo / AP
Donald Trump intends to use the end of his second impeachment trial as a launch pad for a return to the political stage, embarking on rallies to target those who tried to purge him, although that would not be "immediate", an adviser told The Sunday Telegraph.
The US Senate voted to acquit Trump on the charge of inciting last month's insurrection at the Capitol on January 6, concluding a historic second impeachment trial.
The former president is sitting on an election war chest of at least US$30 million, raised in the final months of his presidency. Even if he does not run for the White House again himself he intends to dominate the landscape, backing Republican candidates loyal to him in next year's congressional elections, both financially and in person.
Michael van der Veen, second from left, an attorney from former President Donald Trump, smiles at reporters on Capitol Hill. Photo / AP
Trump will probably also keep his profile high with lucrative paid speeches, which he is entitled to do as a private citizen, like Bill and Hillary Clinton before him. That could mean making appearances around the world.
He is also keen to look at new business ventures globally, including potentially new hotels.
But a plan for a television station was said to have been rejected for now in favour of promoting existing supportive ones.
Trump heeded advice to remain publicly silent during the trial.
He took some time for "relaxation" and allowed the process to take its course, an aide said. He watched some, but far from all, of the case on television. As the prosecution laid out its evidence he left Mar-a-Lago and went to play golf.
Trump, who was completely confident of being acquitted, did take time to negatively critique the performance of one of his own lawyers. He was also said to have become increasingly impatient and pushed for the trial to be over as quickly as possible.
As it edged toward a conclusion the case took a sensational last-minute twist.
A Republican congresswoman gave details of a phone call in which she claimed Trump sided with the mob during the invasion of the US Capitol on January 6.
In a public statement Jaime Herrera Beutler claimed that Kevin McCarthy, the Republican leader in the House of Representatives, had relayed to her an account of an expletive-ridden call he had with Trump while the attack was going on.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., with impeachment managers Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., and Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Colo., speaks to members of the media. Photo / AP
She said: "When McCarthy finally reached the president on January 6 and asked him to publicly and forcefully call off the riot, the president initially repeated the falsehood that it was Antifa that had breached the Capitol. McCarthy refuted that and told the president that these were Trump supporters.
"That's when, according to McCarthy, the president said: 'Well, Kevin, I guess these people are more upset about the election than you are'."
According to reports of the conversation McCarthy at one point told Trump that rioters were breaking into his office through windows.
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., departs after the Senate acquitted former President Donald Trump in his second impeachment trial. Photo / AP
As part of their case the prosecution argued that Trump knew what was going on inside Congress, and that politicians including his vice president Mike Pence were in danger, but did nothing for hours to stop the violence.
Jamie Raskin, the lead Democrat prosecutor, said: "Needless to say, this is an additional, critical piece of corroborating evidence further confirming the charges before you, as well as the president's wilful dereliction of duty."
Raskin said it was "truly astounding" and the former president had "sided with the insurrectionists".
He added: "It is now clear that Trump supported the actions of the mob."
Democratic House impeachment managers Rep. David Cicilline, D-R.I., Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., and Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Colo, walk out of the Senate Chamber. Photo / AP
After the congresswoman's account emerged the Senate voted 55-45 to allow witnesses in the trial.
Trump's lawyers responded by threatening to call hundreds of their own witnesses, including Kamala Harris and Nancy Pelosi.
His legal team said they had drawn up a list of 301 potential witnesses "so far".
Michael van der Veen, one of Trump's lawyers, said: "None of these depositions should be done by Zoom. These depositions should be done in person in my office in Philadelphia."
That caused laughter in the Senate chamber, to which he responded: "I don't know why you're laughing. That's how depositions are done."
