His rhetoric and actions were clearly intended to prevent a peaceful transfer of power. Even as Vice President Mike Pence was being evacuated to a safe location by Secret Service agents because the mob was approaching the Senate chamber, President Trump was calling Senators trying to block certification.

A president upholding his oath to “preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution” would have activated the National Guard and told rioters to go home at the first opportunity. President Trump did not, he waited two hours to ask rioters in the Capitol to leave. It is also unclear whether he was involved in the decision to activate the National Guard, but if he was the decision was delayed.

Rather than defending the Constitution, President Trump was actively subverting the peaceful transfer of power, which is a bedrock principle of the Constitution.

I voted to convict former President Trump because he is guilty. That’s what the facts demand.