Trump's second impeachment will be prosecuted as 'violent criminal' case: House aides

House Democrats will prosecute Donald Trump more like a "violent criminal" than a politician during his second impeachment trial.

Top congressional aides told Politico that House impeachment managers will construct a "succinct" narrative of the Jan. 6 insurrection starting with the former president's efforts to overturn his election loss to Joe Biden, and they'll use compelling visual evidence to remind senators of the violent threat they faced during the riot.

"It'll be more like a violent crime criminal prosecution, because that is what it is," said one adviser. "It will tell the story, the full story of … how the president incited it. Jan. 6 was the culmination of that incitement with his conduct leading up to it giving meaning and context to his words."

The Senate trial will begin Tuesday at 1 p.m. with a four-hour debate over the constitutionality of the proceeding against a president who has left office, and most Republican senators are expected to vote that it's unconstitutional.

House impeachment managers are confident the case will proceed from there, and they'll work to persuade GOP senators that Trump used false claims to inflame supporters over his election loss and then urged them to march on the U.S. Capitol knowing that some of them had violent intentions.