President Donald Trump’s legal team is expected to conclude their arguments Tuesday in the Senate impeachment trial, as Republicans wrestle with the question of whether to allow witnesses.
The impeachment trial is expected to resume at 1 p.m. Watch live coverage below courtesy of PBS NewsHour.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5iLZh1pwm0
During the trial, Senators will determine whether to convict or acquit Trump of two articles of impeachment — abuse of power and obstruction of Congress — that the House of Representatives approved in December.
The attorneys representing Trump have argued over the past two days that the president did “absolutely nothing wrong” and that Democrats have omitted key evidence that favors Trump.
The defense and House managers, seven Democrats chosen by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to argue for Trump’s removal, were given 24 hours over three days to make their cases. The Trump team has opted not to use all of that time, hoping concise arguments will be more favorable to their case.
When the defense concludes, senators will be given 16 hours over two days to question both the House managers and Trump’s attorneys. Senators will then debate and vote on whether to call witnesses.
Some moderate Republican senators, including Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) have become more convinced that witnesses are necessary after The New York Times reported that John Bolton’s forthcoming book indicates Trump told him that he wanted U.S. aid to Ukraine to be withheld until Ukraine announced it would investigate the Bidens.
Trump on Monday dismissed Bolton’s account as “false.”
The Bolton revelations distracted from hours of arguments Monday by Trump's lawyers, who declared anew that no witness has testified to direct knowledge that Trump's delivery of aid was contingent on investigations into Democrats. Bolton appeared poised to say exactly that if summoned by the Senate.
“We deal with transcript evidence, we deal with publicly available information," Trump attorney Jay Sekulow said. “We do not deal with speculation."
Trump's attorneys, including high-profile lawyers Ken Starr and Alan Dershowitz, launched a historical, legal and political attack on the entire impeachment process. They said there was no basis to remove Trump from office, defended his actions as appropriate, and assailed Joe Biden, who is campaigning for the Democratic nomination to oppose Trump in November.
