House Democrats said the evidence was “overwhelming” that Donald Trump committed a “grievous betrayal of his oath of office”, while the former US president’s lawyers insisted he was merely exercising his right to free speech, ahead of his second impeachment trial.

Mr Trump was impeached last month in a bipartisan vote in the House of Representatives on a charge of inciting an insurrection in connection with the January 6 siege on the US Capitol, when a mob of his supporters stormed the legislative complex in an attack that left five people dead. Shortly before the siege, Mr Trump told the crowds: “If you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country any more.”

In a brief filed on Tuesday, House Democrats — who will act as impeachment managers, or prosecutors, in the Senate trial — said Mr Trump had “singular responsibility” for the “tragedy”.