Donald Trump's insurrection incitement charge is a "monstrous lie", defence lawyers said as they presented evidence in the US Senate.
Lawyer Michael van der Veen called impeachment proceedings against the former president a "politically motivated witch hunt" by the Democrats.
Mr Trump is accused of causing riots in the Capitol on 6 January which left five people dead. He denies the charge.
Most Republicans have indicated they will not vote to convict Mr Trump.
The defence team took less than four of its 16 hours, trying to move the impeachment trial to a speedy end.
After this, senators were given four hours to ask questions of the two sides.
Earlier, they sat through two days of minute-by-minute accounts featuring video and audio footage, as Democratic prosecutors sought to show that Donald Trump had a pattern of condoning violence, had done nothing on the day to prevent the riot, and had expressed no remorse.
They argued that an acquittal could see a repeat attack on Congress.
Photo BBC Caption: Former US President Donald Trump addresses supporters on 6 January