Trump’s lawyers: Trial is “theater”

Spring opening is targeted as e-bikes continue to surge

WASHINGTON» The Senate launches Donald Trump’s historic second impeachment trial on Tuesday, with lawyers for the former president insisting he is not guilty of inciting mob violence at the Capitol to overturn the election while prosecutors say he must be convicted of the “most grievous constitutional crime” even though he’s gone from the White House.

Trump faces a sole charge of incitement to insurrection over the Jan. 6 Capitol siege, an attack that stunned the nation and the world after he encouraged a rally crowd to “fight like hell” for his presidency. Rioters stormed the building trying to stop the certification of President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.

No witnesses are expected to be called, in part because the senators sworn as jurors will be presented with graphic videos of the scenes they witnessed that day, forced to flee for safety. Under COVID-19 protocols senators will distance for the trial, some even using the visitors’ galleries. Holed

up at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, Trump has declined a request to testify.

The first president to face charges after leaving office and the first to be twice impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors, Trump continues to challenge the nation’s civic norms and traditions even in defeat. Security remains extremely tight at the Capitol. While acquittal is likely, the trial will test the nation’s attitude toward his brand of presidential power, the Democrats’ resolve in pursuing him and the loyalty of Trump’s Republican allies defending him.

“In trying to make sense of a second Trump trial, the public should keep in mind that Donald Trump was the first president ever to refuse to accept his defeat,” said Timothy Naftali, a clinical associate professor at New York University and an expert on Richard Nixon’s impeachment saga.

“This trial is one way of having that difficult national conversation about the difference between dissent and insurrection,” hesaid.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Monday that Biden will be busy with the business of the presidency and won’t spend much time watching the televised proceedings. “He’ll leave it to his former colleagues in the Senate,” she said.

In filings Monday, lawyers for the former president lobbed a wide-ranging attack against the House case, dismissing the trial as “political theater” on the same Senate floor that was invaded by the mob.

Trump’s defenders are preparing to challenge both the constitutionality of the trial and any suggestion that he was to blame for the insurrection. They suggest that Trump was simply exercising his First Amendment rights when he encouraged his supporters to protest at the Capitol, and they argue the Senate is not entitled to try Trump now that he has left office.

“While never willing to allow a ‘good crisis’ to go to waste, the Democratic leadership is incapable of understanding that not everything can always be blamed on their political adversaries,” the Trump lawyers say.

House impeachment managers filed their own document Monday, asserting that Trump had “betrayed the American people” and there is no valid excuse or defense.

“His incitement of insurrection against the United States government — which disrupted the peaceful transfer of power — is the most grievous constitutional crime ever committed by a president,” the Democrats said.

The trial will begin Tuesday with a debate and vote on whether it’s constitutionally permissible to prosecute the former president, an argument that could resonate with Republicans keen on voting to acquit Trump without being seen as condoning his behavior.

Under an agreement between Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Republican leader Mitch McConnell, the opening arguments would begin Wednesday at noon, with up to 16 hours per side for presentations.

The trial was set to break Friday evening for the Jewish Sabbath at the request of Trump’s defense team, and resume Sunday. But Trump attorney David Schoen told senators in a letter late Monday he was concerned about a delay and withdrew the request. The schedule will likely be adjusted, according to a person granted anonymity to discuss the planning.

A presidential impeachment trial is among the most serious of Senate proceedings, conducted only three times before, leading to acquittals for Andrew Johnson, Bill Clinton and then Trump last year.

Typically senators sit at their desks for such occasions, but the COVID-19 crisis has upended even this tradition. Instead, senators will be allowed to spread out, in the “marble room” just off the Senate floor, where proceedings will be shown on TV, and in the public galleries above the chamber, to accommodate social distancing, according to the person familiar with the discussions.

Trump’s second impeachment trial is expected to diverge from the lengthy, complicated affair of a year ago. In that case, Trump was charged with having privately pressured Ukraine to dig up dirt on Biden, then a Democratic rival for the presidency.

This time, Trump’s “stop the steal” rally rhetoric and the storming of the Capitol played out for the world to see. The trial could be over in half the time.

The Democratic-led House impeached the president swiftly, one week after the most violent attack on Congress in more than 200 years. Five people died.

House prosecutors are expected to rely on videos from the siege, along with Trump’s incendiary rhetoric refusing to concede the election, to make their case. His new defense team has said it plans to counter with its own cache of videos of Democratic politicians making fiery speeches.

BikeSource is wheeling into

RiNo.

The Centennial-based bike shop chain signed a lease last month for a 3,118-square-foot space at 2628 Walnut St., according to Eric Truman, BikeSource’s Colorado market manager.

“We’re seeing an increased demand for e-bikes,” Truman said. “RiNo is the epicenter for people looking for an active lifestyle and who don’t rely on the convenience of a car to get around. So, we thought it would be the perfect spot to introduce e-bikes to a downtown clientele and demographic.”

Truman said BikeSource is targeting a spring opening date, but has not made any definite plans.

BikeSource’s unit was previously home to software company Pairin and Real Green Marketing and is located next to 10 Barrel Brewing.

The property is owned by Edens, which has spent about $75 million on real estate in the immediate vicinity since 2018.

BikeSource already has three year-round locations in Colorado: one along Colorado Boulevard in Denver, one in Highlands Ranch and one in southwest Littleton.

It also has a seasonal store at Winter Park Resort.

Outside Colorado, the company has shops in Columbus, Ohio, and Charlotte, N.C.

The company sells a wide range of bikes, including Santa Cruz, Raleigh electric bikes, iZip and Jamis.

Its locations also offer repair services, bike fittings and tradein programs.

“The demand for bikes, in general, has really skyrocketed, but of course we have faced some supply challenges on the manufacturing and retail side,” Truman said.

“We are seeing a lot of riders move toward e-bikes in order to get back into the sport without having to deal with the physical effort it takes to reintroduce yourself.”

The bike industry has seen a 40% to 50% increase in sales during the pandemic compared to 2019, and Truman said BikeSource has been no exception.

“Nobody expects it to maintain that trajectory in 2021,” Truman said.

“We may see a dip, but it won’t drop down to 2019 levels anytime soon.”

BikeSource will be joining two bike shops in RiNo: The Urban Cyclist and RiNoVelo, which builds custom bikes.

NEW YORK» Enrollment in Roman Catholic schools in the United States dropped 6.4% from the previous academic year amid the pandemic and economic stresses — the largest single-year decline in at least five decades, Catholic education officials reported Monday.

Among the factors were the closure or consolidation of more than 200 schools and the difficulty for many parents of paying tuition fees that average more than $5,000 for grades K-8 and more than $10,000 for secondary schools, according to the National Catholic Educational Association.

John Reyes, the NCEA’s executive director for operational vitality, said the pandemic has been an “accelerant” for long-standing challenges facing Catholic education.

Between the 2019-2020 school year and the current year, nationwide enrollment dropped by 110,000 to about 1.6 million students. Back in the 1960s, enrollment was more than 5 million.

With the recent wave of closures, there are now 5,981 Catholic schools in the United States, compared with more than 11,000 in 1970.

Reyes said they disproportionately impacted urban communities where significant numbers of

Black children, including many from non-Catholic families, attended Catholic schools.

Some of the largest enrollment losses were in big-city dioceses, including 12.3% in Los Angeles, 11.1% in New York and 8.2% in Chicago.

The only big-city dioceses that saw significant increases were in Western cities with large Hispanic populations: up 5.5% in Las Vegas, 4.6% in Denver and 2.4% in Phoenix.

Elementary and middle schools were harder hit with a collective enrollment decline of 8.1%, compared with a 2.5% decline for secondary schools. Pre-kindergarten programs saw the steepest drop, 26.6%

“Declines in enrollment at the primary grade levels may lead to a delayed but significant impact on secondary school enrollment within the next five to 10 years, proving potentially disastrous for secondary school viability,” the NCEA said in an analysis of the new data.

Reyes said tuition revenues do not fully cover the cost of Catholic schools’ operations, and yet they are still burdensome to many families. He said one-third of families with children in elementary school apply for financial assistance, and 47% of families with children in secondary school.

Reductions in professional staff — teachers and administrators — were more modest than the enrollment drop, with a 2.3% decline from the previous year. That enabled the nationwide Catholic system to maintain a student-teacher ratio of 11 to 1 — substantially lower than in most public schools.

Previously the largest one-year enrollment drop for U.S. Catholic schools was 5.8% in 1971.