WASHINGTON – Never-before-seen footage of lawmakers and staff fleeing a mob attacking the U.S. Capitol was the centerpiece of House managers’ prosecution during President Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial.
Democrats show previously unseen security video from Jan. 6 during Trump impeachment trial
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The footage took Americans, and Senators who were jurors in the trial, through the Jan. 6 attack at the U.S. Capitol in short snippets. The Democrats’ presentation pieced together months of Trump’s tweets and remarks, aiming to tie Trump directly to the riot that left multiple people dead.
Trump was acquitted of the charge that he directly incited the insurrection. But the new videos, and who created them, marked a key flashpoint in the week-long proceedings. Trump’s legal team repeatedly questioned who was behind the video production, even claiming a movie company had been utilized.
DOAR, a trial strategy consulting firm, was brought in to help the House impeachment managers by Barry Berke, a criminal defense attorney who served as chief impeachment counsel during the proceedings. The company helps develop and test trial strategies, along with crafting visual presentations that aim to persuade juries. The firm has been involved in several high-profile cases, including Martha Stewart’s stock trading trial and efforts to recover funds for victims of convicted Ponzi scheme mastermind Bernie Madoff.
Lead U.S. House Impeachment Manager Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) departs after the day’s proceedings in the impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump at the U.S. Capitol on February 10, 2021 in Washington, DC. House impeachment managers will make the case that Trump was responsible for the January 6th attack at the U.S. Capitol and he should be convicted and barred from holding public office again.
Trump attorney David Schoen (R) walks with an aide during a break in the impeachment trial of former US President Donald Trump, on charges of inciting the deadly attack on the US Capitol, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, February 10, 2021.
Congressman Jamie Raskin (D-MD), second from right, and other House Managers walk through the United States Capitol rotunda on the way to the Senate Chambers to begin the second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump on Feb 9, 2021.
A video projection near Union Station in Washington, DC displays scenes from the Jan. 6 Capitol Hill insurrection on the first day of the second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump on Feb. 9, 2021.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., leads the final vote of the impeachment of President Donald Trump, for his role in inciting an angry mob to storm the Congress last week, at the Capitol in Washington, Jan. 13, 2021.
President Trump speaks during a rally protesting the electoral college certification of Joe Biden as President in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021.
Pro-Trump rioters stand on the West front of the U.S. Capitol building during the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection.
Police with guns drawn watch as pro-Trump rioters try to break into the House Chamber at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington.
People gather at the base of the U.S. Capitol with large IMPEACH and REMOVE letters on Jan. 12, 2021 in Washington, DC. The group is calling on Congress to impeach and remove President Donald Trump on the day that Democrats introduced articles of impeachment in response to Trump’s incitement of a mob entering the U.S. Capitol Building on Jan. 6.
Photographer take pictures of the article of impeachment against President Trump during an engrossment ceremony after the House of Representatives voted to impeach him at the Capitol, Jan. 13, 2021, in Washington, DC.
Impeachment managers (L-R) Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-PA), Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA), Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI), Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) and others walk through Statuary Hall while heading to vote to impeach President Trump for the second time in little over a year in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol Jan. 13, 2021 in Washington, DC. The House voted 232-197 to impeach Trump on the charge of Òincitement of insurrection” after a mob attacked the U.S. Capitol where Congress was working to certify the Electoral College victory of President-elect Joe Biden on Jan. 6. 10 Republicans voted to impeach.
Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) (R) and Assistant Speaker Katherine Clark (D-MA) (L), alongside House Impeachment Managers (from L) Representatives Joe Neguse (D-CO) and Eric Swalwell (D-CA), look on as Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) prepares to sign the article of impeachment during an engrossment ceremony after the US House of Representatives voted to impeach President Trump at the US Capitol, Jan/ 13, 2021, in Washington, DC.
An image on a monitor shows House Speaker Nancy Pelosi holding the articles of impeachment, as another monitor (R rear) shows President Trump speaking in a video, in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, DC on Jan. 13, 2021.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) leads other House impeachment mangers to the Senate floor as they prepare for the trial of former US President Donald Trump on Capitol Hill Feb. 8, 2021, in Washington, DC. Donald Trump committed the “most grievous constitutional crime” of any US president when he incited supporters to storm the Capitol last month, Democratic prosecutors said Monday on the eve of his Senate impeachment trial.
Congressman Jamie Raskin (D-MD), second from right, and other House Managers walk through the United States Capitol rotunda on the way to the Senate Chambers to begin the second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump on Feb 9, 2021.
Congressmen Jim Jordan (R-OH), left, Andy Biggs, (R-AZ), center, and Mike Johnson, (R-LA), right, walk through the United States Capitol rotunda on the way to the Senate Chambers to begin the second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump on Feb. 9, 2021
Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-VT, presides over the second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump in the Senate on Feb. 9, 2021.
Lead House impeachment manager Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-MD, speaks during the second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump in the Senate on Feb. 9, 2021.
House Impeachment manger Rep. Joe Neguse, D-CO, speaks during the second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump in the Senate on Feb. 9, 2021.
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., leaves the chamber at the close of the first day of the impeachment trial of former President Trump, as the Republican joined Democrats by voting for the trial to continue, at the Capitol in Washington, Feb. 9, 2021. Cassidy said he voted the way he did because Democratic impeachment managers deftly presented their case — and Trump’s lawyers didn’t.
A protester dressed as former President Trump holds a sign before the second day of former US President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial before the Senate on Capitol Hill Feb. 10, 2021, in Washington, DC.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell arrives on Feb 10, 2021 during the second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump as it continues at the Capitol.
David Schoen, lawyer for former President Donald Trump, talks to the media as he arrives prior to the start of arguments in the second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump, at the Capitol, Feb. 10, 2021 in Washington.
Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) arrives as the second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump continues at the Capitol on Feb. 10, 2021.
Rep. Joe Neguse, D-CO, presents evidence during the second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump in the Senate on Feb. 10, 2021.
Trump attorney Bruce Castor is seen during a break in opening arguments in the impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump, on charges of inciting the deadly attack on the US Capitol, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, Feb. 10, 2021.
House impeachment manager Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-PA) arrives as the second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump continues at the Capitol on Feb. 10, 2021.
Del. Stacey Plaskett of the U.S. Virgin Islands speaks during the second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump in the Senate on Feb. 10, 2021.
House impeachment manager Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX) arrives on the third day of former U.S. President Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial at the U.S. Capitol on Feb, 11, 2021 in Washington, DC.
Capitol Police are seen before the third day of former US President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial on Capitol Hill Feb. 11, 2021, in Washington, DC.
Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., one of the House impeachment managers, arrives as arguments are presented in the second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump, at the Capitol in Washington, Feb. 11, 2021.
House impeachment manager Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Colo., walks through the Capitol Rotunda from the Senate as the third day of the second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump concludes on Capitol Hill in Washington, Feb. 11, 2021.
With the U.S. Capitol in the distance, a sign saying, “Convict Or Be Complicit” hangs on a bridge over North Capitol Street on Feb. 12, 2021 in Washington, DC.
Bruce Castor, left, and Michael van der Veen, lawyers for former President Donald Trump, arrive at the Capitol on the fourth day of the second impeachment trial of Trump in the Senate, Friday, Feb. 12, 2021, in Washington.
Lead U.S. House impeachment manager Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) arrives at the US Capitol on February 13, 2021 in Washington, DC. House impeachment managers will make the case that Trump was singularly responsible for the January 6th attack at the U.S. Capitol and he should be convicted and barred from ever holding public office again.
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The company also assisted the House managers during Trump’s impeachment trial last year, something the company never publicized and hadn’t been reported in the media
Paul Neale, CEO of DOAR, told USA TODAY in an interview that the company typically doesn’t boast about their work in trials, usually keeping work confidential, but decided to step forward after Berke mentioned them in an interview.
“We really weren’t planning to publicize it at all,” he said, noting the politics of acknowledging their role in two impeachments and explaining this was different since it targeted a former president. “Given the circumstances that led up to the second impeachment and the evidence and our review of, you know, how compelling it was, we’re much more comfortable … being associated with that political position.”
Throughout the trial, Trump’s legal team hammered Democrats over the videos, calling it both offensive and an entertainment package crafted by a movie production company. They argued the videos weren’t new, only a different vantage point of things the public already knew.
“When you bring in a movie company and hire a large law firm to make a professional product, that takes things out of context and presents it as an entertainment package,” David Schoen, one of Trump’s lawyers, told Fox News during the trial. “This isn’t a blood sport. It’s not about entertainment. It’s about reporting the facts to the American people.”
‘We are listening to Trump,’ impeachment prosecutors use rioters’ own words as evidence
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The video montages showed rioters brawling with police outside the Capitol, smashing windows to climb inside, and rampaging through the halls with bats and poles. House managers played new security footage of staffers rushing to safety, locking themselves in rooms just minutes before rioters entered House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s offices, and videos showing how close Vice President Mike Pence and lawmakers were to the mob.
Neale noted it was difficult to watch members of Trump’s legal team criticize the presentation, though he admitted hearing his team’s work being compared to a movie company was flattering, if unexpected.
“I felt like, ‘Wow, we’re getting kind of a lot more attention, without anyone knowing who we were, than we expected to,'” Neale said. He added that typically, members of his team only tell close friends and family about their role in trials and wouldn’t have spoken out.
“Until someone else identified us as the company behind the evidence, we could not say anything,” he said. “During the trial and certainly since the trial, it’s you know, I was on the edge of my seat, you know, I would love to be able to talk about this.”
Neale said about 10 members of his team went through about 3,500 hours of footage, both from U.S. Capitol security cameras and thousands of online clips they compiled from rioters, sometimes having to use Web archives to find evidence like Trump’s tweets due to his account being disabled. They worked for more than 1,000 hours, he said, adding the work was pro bono as was their work in the first impeachment trial.
Neale said the criticisms from Trump’s team boiled down to a David vs. Goliath argument, something trial attorneys use to gain sympathy.
“It’s not atypical in a legal case either for an adversary to take a kind of David and Goliath approach where, oh, you know, ‘a big company’s spending a lot of money on consultants, production value, and we’re the disadvantage ones because we didn’t go up and take those steps,'” he said. “And that’s just a poor trial strategy.”
