Lawyers for Donald Trump have responded to his impeachment charges, saying that supporters of the former US president stormed Congress on 6 January of their own accord.
Mr Trump's trial in the Senate is due to begin on Tuesday after he was impeached for the second time by the House of Representatives last month.
He is charged with "inciting insurrection" in a speech to supporters in Washington DC ahead of the riot.
Mr Trump says he will not testify.
Five people, including a police officer, died when a mob of Trump supporters attacked the Capitol building, forcing politicians and staff to hide in offices.
In a pre-trial brief released on Monday, the former president's lawyers said that FBI documents had shown that the riot was planned days in advance, meaning that Mr Trump cannot have encouraged the violence.
They also insist the trial is unconstitutional because Mr Trump has left office and is now a private citizen.
They hit out at the nine "impeachment managers" - Democrats from the House of Representatives who will lay out the case for prosecution - accusing them of "intellectual dishonesty and factual vacuity" in the way they portrayed Mr Trump's address to his supporters.
"This impeachment proceeding was never about seeking justice," the lawyers wrote.
"Instead, this was only ever a selfish attempt by Democratic leadership in the House to prey upon the feelings of horror and confusion that fell upon all Americans across the entire political spectrum upon seeing the destruction at the Capitol on January 6 by a few hundred people."
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiM2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmJiYy5jby51ay9uZXdzL3dvcmxkLXVzLWNhbmFkYS01NTk4NzU2MNIBN2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmJiYy5jby51ay9uZXdzL2FtcC93b3JsZC11cy1jYW5hZGEtNTU5ODc1NjA?oc=5
2021-02-08 17:00:00Z
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