WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Senate plunged into President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial
with Republicans abruptly abandoning plans to cram opening arguments
into two days but solidly rejecting Democratic demands for more
witnesses to expose what they deem Trump’s “trifecta” of offenses.
The
daylong session started Tuesday with the setback for Republican Senate
leader Mitch McConnell and the president’s legal team, but it ended near
2 a.m. Wednesday with Republicans easily approving the rest of the
trial rules largely on their terms. The result is Trump’s historic
trial, unfolding amid a watchful public in an election year.
“We
have a great case,” Trump said as he began his second day at a global
economic forum in Davos, Switzerland. He said he thought his legal time
was doing a “very good job.”
The trial is now on a fast-track with almost no signs of Republican resistance to the actions that led to his impeachment.
“It’s
about time we bring this power trip in for a landing,” said White House
counsel Pat Cipollone, the president’s lead lawyer, lashing out at the
House Democrats prosecuting the case.
“It’s a farce,” he said about the impeachment proceeding, “and it should end.”
Chief Justice John Roberts
gaveled open the session, with House prosecutors on one side, Trump’s
team on the other, in the well of the Senate, as senators sat silently
at their desks, under oath to do “impartial justice.” No cellphones or
other electronics were allowed.
As
the day stretched deep into the night, lawyerly arguments gave way to
more pointedly political ones. Tempers flared and senators paced the
chamber. Democrats pursued what may be their only chance to force
senators to vote on hearing new testimony.
After
one particularly bitter post-midnight exchange, Roberts intervened,
taking the rare step of admonishing both the Democratic House managers
prosecuting the case and the White House counsel to “remember where they
are.”
“I think
it is appropriate at this point for me to admonish both the House
managers and the president’s counsel in equal terms to remember that
they are addressing the world’s greatest deliberative body,” the usually
reserved Roberts said. He told them that description of the Senate
stemmed from a 1905 trial when a senator objected to the word
“pettifogging,” because members should “avoid speaking in a manner and
using language that is not conducive to civil discourse.”
Over
and over, Republicans turned back Democratic amendments to subpoena
documents from the White House, State Department, Defense Department and
budget office. By the same 53-47 party-line, they turned away witnesses
with front-row seats to Trump’s actions including acting White House
chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and John Bolton, the former national
security adviser critical of the Ukraine policy.
Only
on one amendment, to allow more time to file motions, did a single
Republican, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, join Democrats. But it, too,
was rejected, 52-48.
“It’s
not our job to make it easy for you,” Rep. Adam Schiff, the chairman of
the House Intelligence Committee leading the prosecution, told the
Senate. “Our job is to make it hard to deprive the American people of a
fair trial.”
As
the visitors’ gallery filled earlier with guests, actress-and-activist
Alyssa Milano among them, and Trump’s most ardent House allies lining
the back rows, the day that began as a debate over rules quickly took on
the cadence of a trial proceeding over whether the president’s actions
toward Ukraine warranted removal from office.
Cipollone
led the prosecution, scoffing that the House charges against Trump were
“ridiculous,” insisting the president “has done absolutely nothing
wrong.”
The
White House legal team did not dispute Trump’s actions, when he called
Ukraine and asked for a “favor,” which was to investigate Democrat Joe
Biden as the U.S. was withholding military aid the ally desperately
needed as it faced off with hostile Russia on its border. But the
lawyers insisted the president did nothing wrong. “Absolutely no case,”
Cipollone said.
Schiff,
the California Democrat, said America’s Founders added the remedy of
impeachment in the Constitution with “precisely this type of conduct in
mind — conduct that abuses the power of office for a personal benefit,
that undermines our national security, and that invites foreign
interference in the democratic process of an election.”
Said Schiff: “It is the trifecta of constitutional misconduct justifying impeachment.″
The
other lead lawyer on Trump’s team, Jay Sekulow, retorted, “I’ll give
you a trifecta,” outlining complaints over the House Democrats’
impeachment inquiry process.
The
impeachment trial is testing whether Trump’s actions toward Ukraine
warrant removal as voters are forming their own verdict on his White
House.
All four
senators who are presidential candidates were off the campaign trail,
seated as jurors. “My focus is going to be on impeachment,” Sen. Bernie
Sanders, the Vermont independent, told reporters.
McConnell
stunned senators and delayed the start of proceedings with his decision
to back off some of his proposed rules. He made the adjustment after
encountering resistance from Republicans during a closed-door lunch
meeting. Senators worried about the political optics of “dark of night”
sessions that could come from cramming the 24 hours of opening arguments
from each side into just two days.
Collins
and Sen. Lisa Murkowksi of Alaska, who often buck party leadership,
along with a substantial number of other Republicans, wanted to make the
changes, according to people familiar with the situation.
It
was only when the clerk started reading the dry language of the
resolution that the hand-written changes to extend debate to three days
became apparent. It also allowed the House impeachment record to be
included in the Senate.
The
turnaround was a swift lesson as White House wishes run into the
reality of the Senate. The White House wanted a session kept to a
shorter period to both expedite the trial and shift more of the
proceedings into late night, according to a person familiar with the
matter but unauthorized to discuss it in public.
“READ THE TRANSCRIPTS!” the president tweeted from overseas, at a global leaders conference in Davos, Switzerland.
That’s
the transcript of his phone call in which he asked new Ukrainian
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy for “a favor.” The Democrats cite that
transcript as solid evidence against Trump, though he repeatedly
describes it as “perfect.”
The
House impeached Trump last month on a charge of abuse of power for
pushing Ukraine to investigate Democratic rival Biden and his son Hunter
Biden as the White House was withholding military aid from Ukraine.
Trump also was impeached on a second charge, of obstruction of Congress,
in the House probe.
Trump’s
legal team, absent its TV-showcase attorneys, Alan Dershowitz and
Kenneth Starr who were not in the chamber, argued that in seeking new
evidence the House was bringing a half-baked case.
But
Rep. Zoe Lofgren of California, one of the House managers and the first
woman to argue for the prosecution in a presidential impeachment trial,
said the House wasn’t asking the Senate to do the job for them. “The
House is asking the Senate to do its job, to have a trial,” she said.
“Have you ever heard of a trial without evidence?″
The
White House had instructed officials not to testify in the House
inquiry, and refused to turn over witnesses or documents, citing what is
says is precedence in defiance of congressional subpoenas.
The
ambassadors and national security officials who did appear before the
House delivered often striking testimony, highlights that were displayed
on television screens during the Senate proceeding.
At one point, Democrat Schiff displayed video of Trump himself suggesting there should be more witnesses testifying.
One by one, the House managers made the case, drawing on their own life experiences.
Rep.
Val Demings, D-Fla., a former police chief, said she never saw anyone
take “such extreme steps to hide evidence.″ Rep. Jason Crow, a former
Army Ranger who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, seemed to capture
senators’ attention when he told them near he knew the hour was late,
but it was morning in Ukraine where soldiers were waking up to fight
Russia, depending on U.S. aid.
It
was when Rep. Jerrold Nadler, the House Judiciary Committee chairman
also leading the prosecution, said the White House lawyers “lie” that
Cipollone and Sekulow retorted that Nadler should be embarrassed and
apologize, leading to Roberts’ admonition.
No
president has ever been removed from office. With its 53-47 Republican
majority, the Senate is not expected to mount the two-thirds vote needed
for conviction.
___
Associated
Press writers Mary Clare Jalonick, Eric Tucker, Alan Fram, Laurie
Kellman, Andrew Taylor, Matthew Daly and Padmananda Rama in Washington,
Jamey Keaten in Davos, Switzerland and David Pitt in Des Moines, Iowa,
contributed to this report.
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