Biden remembered those who were killed and called for unity going forward.
Former President Donald Trump's historic second impeachment trial ended with a 57-43 vote to acquit in the Senate. He faced a single charge of incitement of insurrection over his actions leading up to the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, objected to evidence raised in the House managers closing arguments on the timing of a phone call between Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., and Trump to Lee's phone on Jan. 6.
The trial was paused for a quorum call, so the Senate could move to resolve the issue.
House impeachment manager Rep. David Cicilline, D-Calif., in closing arguments, focused on the looming question of what Trump knew and when, and argued Trump was well aware that his vice president was in danger for his life on Jan. 6. but refused to call the violence to a stop.
"Again, let me ask you: Does it strike you as credible that nobody, not a single person, informed the president that his vice president had been evacuated? Or that the president didn't glance at the television or his Twitter account, and learn about the events that were happening?" Cicilline said.
Focusing in on a timeline of phone calls Trump shared with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., along with images broadcast on national television, Cicilline argued that Trump couldn't have been ignorant to the intensifying violence at the Capitol and continued to tweet attacks on Pence as the situation deteriorated.
"Senators, the president knew this was happening. He didn't do anything to help his vice president or any of you or any of the brave officers and other employees serving the American people that day. His sole focus was stealing the election for himself," he said.
"He chose retaining his own power over the safety of Americans. I can't imagine more damning evidence of his state of mind," Cicilline said.
"If you believe that he willfully refused to defend us and law enforcement officers fighting to save us, and if he was delighted by the attack, and that he saw it as a natural result of his call to stop the steal, and that he continued to incite and target violence as the attack unfolded, we respectfully submit you must vote to convict and disqualify -- so that the events of Jan. 6 can never happen again in this country," he said.
After the Senate decided it will not call any witnesses, lead House manager Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., was the first to speak during closing arguments. He reiterated the prosecution's case, calling for the conviction of Trump.
"It was suggested by defense counsel that Donald Trump's conduct during the attack, as described in Congresswoman Beutler's statement, is somehow not part of the Constitutional offense for which former President Trump has been charged," Raskin began. "I want to reject that falsehood and that fallacy immediately. After he knew that violence was underway at the Capitol, President Trump took actions that further incited the insurgents to be more inflamed and to take even more extreme, selective, and focused action against Vice President Mike Pence."
Raskin went on to use his time to describe Trump's months-long campaign to discredit the 2020 election results by spreading misinformation, which he argued laid the groundwork for deadly events of Jan. 6. He went on to claim that the former president assembled the mob, incited it and then sent it off to the Capitol during his speech. At every point, Trump sided with the insurrectionists rather than the Congress, Raskin said.
Once when the violence began, Raskin declared that Trump ignored the violence and further incited it by aiming the attacks on his own vice president.
"There has never been a greater betrayal by the president of the United States of his office, and of his oath to the Constitution."
Raskin then took a moment to suggest the GOP used "cancel culture" against one of its leaders, Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., who voted to impeach Trump in the House.
"Liz Cheney is a hero for standing up for the truth, and resisting this retaliatory cancel culture that she was subjected to."
Raskin emphasized his gratitude toward the Capitol Police, and finished his argument by saying convicting Trump is a vote for the "security of our democracy."
"They attacked this building, they disrupted the peaceful transfer of power, they injured and killed people, convinced that they were acting on his instructions, and with his approval, and protection," Raskin finished. "And while that happened, he further incited them, while failing to defend us. If that's not ground for conviction, if that's not a high crime and misdemeanor against the republic in the United States of America then nothing is. President Trump must be convicted for the safety and security of our democracy and our people."
Half of the four impeachment trials of U.S. presidents belong to Trump, and he is the only president to not have witnesses heard from at his trials.
Witnesses at the four impeachment trials of presidents:
Andrew Johnson in 1868: 41
Bill Clinton in 1999: 3
Donald Trump in 2020: 0
Donald Trump (after he left office) in 2021: 0
-ABC News' Chris Donovan
