WATCH: Democrat impeachment managers use fake news, memes as evidence against Trump

"The Impeachment Manager Mr. Cicilline (D-RI) correctly and accurately quoted a newspaper account which the distinguished senator has taken objection to. So we're happy to withdraw it, on the grounds that it is not true. We're going to withdraw it this evening without any prejudice to the ability to resubmit it if possible. But it's much ado about nothing because it's not critical in any way to our case," Congressman Raskin (D-MD) said during the impeachment proceedings on Thursday.

According to Plackett, whose posted memes stand for the record, the memes and posts should be taken as evidence that Trump incited the storming of the Capitol, arguing without clear evidence that they were inspired by a tweet from the former President.

One of the memes depicted an image of the Capitol Building overlaid with text which presented the presence of all incumbent lawmakers as "an opportunity." The meme had 12 comments on it, it is unclear how many people in total commented, and no evidence was presented that any of the people who interacted with it were involved in the storming of the Capitol, or in any way affiliated with the former president.

Plaskett also presented a number of posts which discussed plans to storm the Capitol. Similar to the meme presented, there is no evidence that anyone involved with the storming of the Capitol interacted with the post, and most of them received less than half a dozen comments or upvotes.

The impeachment manager claimed that the Trump administration actively monitored many of the online forums these memes and posts were uploaded to, asserting without evidence that the administration was aware of the plans as a result. While insiders within the Trump administration have acknowledged that these forums are monitored, it is unclear how closely.

Many of these online spaces have tens, if not hundreds of thousands of users. Plaskett presented no evidence that the posts advocating a storming of the Capitol accounted for a significant portion of the posts on these sites.

The FBI has previously said that they were aware of some users of online forums and social networks discussing plans to storm the Capitol, but that they intercepted these individuals prior to the riot on Jan 6.

Despite having already left office, Trump is facing an impeachment trial in the Senate after having been impeached by the House of Representatives for allegedly "inciting" the Capitol Hill riot on Jan. 6. However, given that a two thirds majority is required to convict a president in the Senate, it is unlikely that he will be convicted due to pushback from GOP lawmakers.

Many in the GOP argue that Trump's speeches and tweets were fully within the bounds of the first amendment and did not call for violence or rioting, and find it unreasonable that he could be held responsible for the storming of the Capitol as a result. They have also argued that since Trump has already left office, he cannot still be impeached, since impeachment, by definition, is a removal from office. Democrats, meanwhile, have argued that there is no reason that impeachment could not convict and sentence a person who is no longer in office.