No question about it.

The people who storm this building believed they were acting on the wishes and instructions of their president.

And having that belief was a foreseeable consequence of the growing crescendo of false statements, conspiracy theories and reckless hyperbole, which the defeated president kept shouting into the largest megaphone on planet Earth.

As just a story explained, the Senate, upon conviction, is bound in all cases to enter a judgment of removal from office.

Removal is mandatory upon conviction.

You know clearly, he explained, that mandatory sentence cannot be applied to someone who's left office.

The entire process revolves around removal.

If removal becomes impossible, conviction becomes insensible.

Impeachment conviction and removal are a specific intra governmental safety valve.

It is not the criminal justice system where individual accountability is the paramount goal.

We have a criminal justice system in this country.