Impeachment trial of President Trump

74 Posts
Sort byDropdown arrow
10:59 p.m. ET, January 30, 2020

Collins to vote in support of witnesses

Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, the moderate Republican, said late Thursday she would vote in support of witnesses in the impeachment trial.

"I will vote in support of the motion to allow witnesses and documents to be subpoenaed," Collins wrote in a statement.
11:01 p.m. ET, January 30, 2020

Murkowski: “I am going to reflect on what I’ve heard”

Zach Gibson/Getty Images
Zach Gibson/Getty Images

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a key Republican swing vote, says she will continue to reflect on the trial so far before making her views on witnesses known.

“I am going to go reflect on what I have heard, re-read my notes and decide whether I need to hear more," she wrote in a statement.

10:56 p.m. ET, January 30, 2020

Key Republican says he'll announce his decision on witnesses within the hour

Sen. Lamar Alexander,
Sen. Lamar Alexander, AP Photo/Steve Helber

Sen. Lamar Alexander said his statement will come within the hour. He said he has told Mitch McConnell his decision.  

Asked if it was a difficult decision, he said he will let it speak for itself.

10:52 p.m. ET, January 30, 2020

The senators asked 87 questions today

Senate TV
Senate TV

The senators asked 87 questions in today’s session.

They asked 93 questions yesterday, for a total of 180 questions asked over the two-day question-and-answer session.

The trial resumes Friday at 1 p.m. ET.

10:42 p.m. ET, January 30, 2020

The trial is adjourned

The question-and-answer portion of the trial has ended. The Senate has adjourned until 1 p.m. Friday.

10:49 p.m. ET, January 30, 2020

Nadler: House proved that Trump abused his power "beyond any doubt"

Senate TV
Senate TV

House manager Jerry Nadler closed out the question-and-answer portion of the trial by stating that there is "only one relevant question" for the senators to consider.

Nadler said:

"Did the president abuse his power by violating the law to withhold military aid from a foreign country, to extort that country into helping him — into helping his reelection campaign by slandering his opponent? That's the only relevant question for this trial. The House managers have proved that question beyond any doubt."

Nadler added that the President's team is "afraid of the witnesses" like John Bolton because they "will only strengthen the case" to remove Trump.

10:23 p.m. ET, January 30, 2020

Both sides respond to question about what relevant testimony Bolton would provide

Senate TV
Senate TV

Sen. Lindsey Graham and several other Republican senators — including closely watched GOP members Lisa Murkowski and Lamar Alexander — asked the President's team about what relevant testimony John Bolton might provide if he were called as a witness.

Here's how they worded their question:

Assuming for argument sake that Bolton were to testify in the light most favorable to the allegations contained in the articles of impeachment, isn't it true that the allegations still would not rise to the level of an impeachable offense, and that, therefore, for this and other reasons, his testimony would add nothing to this case?

Deputy White House counsel Patrick Philbin repeated the oft-talking point from the President's team that there was "no quid pro quo."

He said that even if you take everything Bolton alleges as true, his allegations "don't as a matter of law rise to the level of an impeachable offense" because the House has not "characterized them as involving a crime."

Philbin continued: "But taking for the sake of argument the question as phrased, even if Ambassador Bolton would testify to that, even if you assumed it were true, there is no impeachable offense stated in the articles of impeachment."

The House managers were next asked to respond to the President's team.

Senate TV
Senate TV

Rep. Adam Schiff said the White House's response to the senators' question was basically, 'Too bad, there's nothing you can do. That's not impeachable." 

Schiff added that the President's counsel's argument is: "'The President of the United States can withhold hundreds of millions of dollars in aid that we appropriated, can do so in violation of the law, can do so to coerce an ally in order to help him cheat in an election and you can't do anything about it...That's non-impeachable.'"

"I think our founders would be aghast," he added.

10:00 p.m. ET, January 30, 2020

Trump attacks Schiff: "He lies awake at night shifting and turning"

 Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images
 Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

As his impeachment trial continued into the night, President Trump in Iowa attacked Rep. Adam Schiff, the lead impeachment manager from the House.

"Shifty Schiff is a very sick person,” the President told the crowd in Des Moines.

“He lies awake at night shifting and turning. Shifting,” Trump said, turning his arm in circles. “Shifting and turning in his bed, sweating like a dog.”

Trump then launched into a very animated impression of Schiff, crying, “‘How am I going to get him? How am I going to get him, he didn’t do anything wrong!’”

“Oh what a sick guy he is,” the President said to cheers and laughs from the crowd.

9:56 p.m. ET, January 30, 2020

Schiff argues that it would take one week for witnesses in trial

Senate TV
Senate TV

In response to a question from Democrats asking what the Senate owes to the American public to ensure that all relevant facts are made known in this trial and not at some point in the future, Schiff reiterated his case to spend a week on witnesses.

Schiff said the Constitution gives the Senate "the sole power" to make the decision about witnesses.

"And under your sole power, you can say, we have made a decision. We're going to give the parties one week. We're going to let the chief justice make a fair determination of who is pertinent and who's not. We're not going to let the House decide who the President's witnesses are. We're not going to let the President decide who the House witnesses are. We will let them submit their top priorities and let the chief justice decide who is material and who's not. That is fully within your power."