House managers are now expected to begin making the case that Trump’s actions violated the Constitution.
The House’s impeachment managers are led by Reps. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), the Democratic chairmen of the House Intelligence and Judiciary Committees, respectively. Trump has a legal team consisting of White House counsel Pat Cipollone, personal lawyer Jay Sekulow, Harvard professor Alan Dershowitz, former prosecutor Robert Ray, and more. The team did not take the opportunity on Wednesday to file a motion to dismiss the impeachment case. Chief Justice John Roberts, meanwhile, is presiding over the trial.
10:35 p.m. ET – Senate Wraps Up Day’s Hearing
The Senate around 10:35 p.m. concluded the second day of opening arguments from House managers. Throughout the day, House Democrats presented arguments pushing for the charge of abuse of power.
During the day, House managers argued that no crime is required for a president to be removed from office.
They characterized Trump’s seeking Ukraine’s cooperation in investigations into Burisma and the Bidens, as well as Crowdstrike, as being part of “quid pro quo” efforts for the president’s personal benefit. They said the president did so to gain advantage over Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election, and that the motivation was not to investigate corruption. They also alleged that such efforts have compromised U.S. national security.
In concluding remarks, Schiff thanked those sitting in the Senate chamber for their “empathetic listening” and their “listening with an open mind.”
“An open mind for us and an open mind for the President’s counsel. That’s all that we can ask for,” he said. “And having watched you now for three days, whether it is someone you are predisposed to agree with or predisposed not to, it is abundantly clear that you are listening with an open mind.
“And we can’t ask for anything more than that, so we are grateful,” he added.
The trial is set to resume 1 p.m. Friday when House Democrats are set to present arguments about obstruction of Congress.
7:30 p.m. ET – Graham “Not Going to Give In” to Pressure to Subpoena Bidens
As dinner wrapped up and senators headed back into the trial, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said he would resist calls to subpoena the Bidens, the whistleblower, and Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) to testify at the trial.
“I’m not going to give in to that pressure, because I don’t think it will serve the Senate and the country well. There’s ways to do this outside of this trial,” Graham told reporters, according to CBS.
When asked whether he had spoken to the president recently, Graham said that Trump is “having the reaction that a normal person would have if they thought they were being accused of something they didn’t do.”
Graham also said he “[doesn’t] know why” House Democrats chose to focus their arguments on debunking accusations against the Bidens on Thursday, according to Politico.
“I don’t know why they chose to do that,” Graham said. “Joe Biden—if he was not before going to have to answer questions, he sure will now because the way they’ve conducted this trial.”
6:30 p.m. ET – Trial on Break
The Senate is on break for 30 minutes for dinner, where there is also cake for Sen. Tom Carper’s (D-Del.) birthday.
The Senate will resume their arguments at 7 p.m. and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), one of the House managers, will continue his presentation.
Prior to the break, Jeffries claimed that Trump used a White House meeting to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky into making a public announcement that Ukraine was conducting an investigation into Burisma and the Bidens. To make his point, he referred to testimony from former and current administration officials, as well as messages that House Democrats collected during their impeachment inquiry.
4:30 p.m. ET – White House ‘Ready to Go’
Eric Ueland, the White House legislative director, told CNN that Trump’s defense will be “fully engaged” and “ready to go.”
“We’ll be fully engaged, ready to go, on Saturday,” Ueland said.
3:50 p.m. ET – GOP Senator Reads Book
Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) confirmed she was reading a book during the trial.
“It provides good insights into today’s proceedings. Second – busy mamas are the best at multi-tasking. Try it,” Blackburn wrote on Twitter.
First – I’m reading Resistance (At All Costs) by Kim Strassel. Read the chapter on obstruction. It provides good insights into today’s proceedings.
Second – busy mamas are the best at multi-tasking. Try it. https://t.co/AEHW19ZztL
— Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) January 23, 2020
The book is Kimberley Strassel’s “Resistance (At All Costs): How Trump Haters Are Breaking America.”
3:30 p.m. ET – Schiff Says Trump Sacrificed Security
The trial has resumed. Schiff is speaking and claims that Trump sacrificed security by allegedly withholding aid to Ukraine in light of Russia’s threats after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014 and annexed Crimea. He attempted to link Trump to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
3 p.m. ET – Break
Senators take a short break, according to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).
2:45 p.m. ET – Garcia Outlines Trump’s Alleged Motive
House manager Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-Texas) explained why Trump could want to criticize former Vice President Joe Biden.
“It wasn’t until Biden began beating him in polls that he called for the investigation,” Garcia claimed, alleging that he wanted Biden’s reputation damaged. “He had the motive, he had the opportunity, and the means to commit this abuse of power.”
2 p.m. ET – Trump Tweets About Trading Witnesses
Trump wrote on Twitter about trading witnesses shortly after the trial started.
The Democrats don’t want a Witness Trade because Shifty Schiff, the Biden’s, the fake Whistleblower(& his lawyer), the second Whistleblower (who vanished after I released the Transcripts), the so-called “informer”, & many other Democrat disasters, would be a BIG problem for them!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 23, 2020
“The Democrats don’t want a Witness Trade because Shifty Schiff, the Biden’s, the fake Whistleblower(& his lawyer), the second Whistleblower (who vanished after I released the Transcripts), the so-called ‘informer’, & many other Democrat disasters, would be a BIG problem for them!” the president wrote on Twitter.
Schiff and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) criticized the idea and said the Bidens wouldn’t be material witnesses. House managers are now expected to begin making the case that Trump’s actions violated the Constitution.
1:30 p.m. ET – Nadler’s Turn
Nadler attempted to argue that Trump’s actions were abuse of power.
“In contemporary terms, the founders had three specific offenses in mind. Abuse of power, betrayal of the nation through foreign entanglement, and corruption of elections. You can think of these as the ‘ABCs’ of high crimes and misdemeanors,” he said.
1 p.m. ET – Day 3 Begins
Chief Justice Roberts gaveled in the trial a few minutes after 1 p.m.
12:45 p.m. ET – Murkowski ‘Offended’ by Manager’s Charge
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), a key swing-vote senator, pushed back against the “cover-up” claim levied by Nadler earlier in the week.
“I took it as offensive,” she told reporters. “As one who is listening attentively and working hard to get to a fair process, I was offended.”
Her colleague, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), echoed her statement.
“I mean, that’s an extraordinary thing to say on the floor of the United States Senate, the middle of the trial, and that’s what drew the rebuke, and rightly so,” Hawley told reporters. “I can tell you, there was an open, open gasping on the Senate floor when Nadler was saying these things. I mean, it’s really, really extraordinary.”
11:45 a.m ET – Schumer Again Criticizes GOP
Schumer again criticized Republicans in a press conference—about two hours before the trial is slated to start—accusing them of “inventing shiny objects and so-called outrages.” He said Democrats “don’t know what the next one will be,” adding that the GOP is trying to deflect press attention.
Schumer again said he would push to call up witnesses and documents.
9:15 a.m. ET – Trump Pillories Schiff on Twitter
Trump dismissed Schiff’s arguments on Wednesday as “lies and misrepresentations,” adding that the Obama administration withheld aid to a number of countries.
“The Democrat House would not give us lawyers, or not one witness, but now demand that the Republican Senate produce the witnesses that the House never sought, or even asked for? They had their chance, but pretended to rush. Most unfair & corrupt hearing in Congressional history,” he also wrote.
9 a.m. ET – Update
Thursday’s impeachment trial session is slated to start again at 1 p.m. ET. House Democrats are expected to make their case for why Trump should be impeached. Wednesday was spent laying out the evidence, and House managers are now expected to begin making the case that Trump’s actions violated the Constitution.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
From The Epoch Times
