While speaking to reporters, House impeachment manager Adam Schiff brushed off a question about whether his team would use the full 24 hours to present their case for Trump’s removal from office, as the proposed trial rules would allow.
Just asked Schiff if they actually need 24 hours to make case or if they'll go through night, and he said: "That will be a decision that the house should make, not that the senators should prescribe to go late into the evening. Look there is a wealth of evidence to present here" pic.twitter.com/gmD3a6IWJT
Republican senator John Cornyn previously downplayed Democrats’ complaints that the proposed rules from Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell could allow arguments to stretch into the early hours of the morning.
Cornyn told a CBS News reporter, “I think some of the hyperventilating over the possibility that we would extend to the wee hours of the morning, I think we’ll work all that out.”
Schiff: McConnell's proposed rules make it 'impossible to have a fair trial'
House impeachment manager Adam Schiff warned that Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell’s planned rules for the impeachment trial make it “impossible to have a fair trial.”
The California Democrat added that if McConnell’s rules are adopted and Trump is acquitted, the proceedings will not have proven the president innocent.
Instead, Schiff argued, the trial would only be a display of the Senate’s willingness to help the president cover up the truth.
Speaking to reporters on Capitol Hill, House impeachment manager Adam Schiff again criticized Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell’s resolution outlining rules for Trump’s impeachment trial.
“We can see why this resolution was kept from us and the American people,” the California Democrat said.
Schiff outlined the differences between McConnell’s resolution and the rules observed during Bill Clinton’s impeachment trial, which the Senate leader claimed he would use as a model for his proposal.
“This is not the process for a fair trial,” Schiff said. “This is the process for a rigged trial.”
Jerry Nadler, another House impeachment manager, then took the microphione to say, “This fixation on the Clinton trial is weird.”
The New York Democrat argued the focus should not be on a past impeachment trial. “The question is, should you have a fair trial now?” Nadler said.
He added that any senator who supports McConnell’s proposed rules would be “complicit in the cover-up of the president.”
A solid majority of Americans believe the impeachment trial should include new testimony from witnesses who did not appear during the House inquiry, according to a new poll.
The CNN poll found that 69% of Americans, including 48% of Republicans, say the trial should feature new witness testimony. The poll also concluded that 51% of Americans support the Senate voting to remove Trump from office, compared to 45% who oppose it.
But despite half of the country pushing for his ouster, Trump’s approval rating remains unchanged at 43%, compared to 53% who disapprove.
So it appears that nearly everyone who disapproves of Trump’s job performance also believes he should be removed from office.
Speaking to reporters at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Trump dismissed the importance of the impeachment trial as Democrats cried foul over the proposed rules for the proceedings.
“That whole thing is a hoax,” Trump said. “It goes nowhere because nothing happened. The only thing we’ve done is a great job.”
During his speech at the forum this morning, Trump ignored impeachment and instead focused on taking credit for the growth of the US economy.
“America is thriving; America is flourishing, and, yes, America is winning again like never before,” Trump said.
Former Democratic senator Claire McCaskill, who served in the Senate for 12 years before she lost her reelection race in 2018, predicted Susan Collins would be the only Republican senator to split with her party on allowing new witnesses to testify during Trump’s impeachment trial.
. @Clairecmc predicts Susan Collins "will break" from Republicans today on impeachment witnesses, but that she will be the only one from a tough state to do so.
Democrats need to pick off at least four Republican senators to get changes to the proposed rules approved, so Collins’ potential vote would not be enought to move the needle.
Collins faces a difficult reelection race later this year in her home state of Maine.
Impeachment managers raise ethical concerns about Trump's lawyer
The House impeachment managers have issued another statement warning of potential ethical concerns about White House counsel Pat Cipollone, who will represent Trump during the Senate trial.
“In preparation for the trial of Donald J. Trump before the Senate, we write to notify you that evidence received by the House of Representatives during its impeachment inquiry indicates that you are a material witness to the charges in both Articles of Impeachment for which President Trump now faces trial,” said the managers, who are Adam Schiff, Jerrold Nadler, Zoe Lofgren, Hakeem Jeffries, Val Demings, Jason Crow and Sylvia Garcia.
“You must disclose all facts and information as to which you have first-hand knowledge that will be at issue in connection with evidence you present or arguments you make in your role as the President’s legal advocate so that the Senate and Chief Justice can be apprised of any potential ethical issues, conflicts, or biases.”
In a longer letter explaining their concerns, the managers cited this Wall Street Journal story from November, which said that John Eisenberg, the general counsel for the National Security Council, told Cipollone about concerns regarding Trump’s July phone call with the Ukrainian president.
Pelosi calls McConnell's impeachment trial a 'sham proposal'
Echoing Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer, House speaker Nancy Pelosi has issued a statement slamming Mitch McConnell’s resolution outlining rules for Trump’s impeachment trial as a “sham proposal.”
Leader McConnell’s plan for a dark of night impeachment trial confirms what the American people have seen since Day One: the Senate GOP Leader has chosen a cover-up for the President, rather than honor his oath to the Constitution. https://t.co/qPHy84MRhe
“Leader McConnell’s process is deliberately designed to hide the truth from the Senate and from the American people, because he knows that the President’s wrongdoing is indefensible and demands removal,” Pelosi said in the statement.
“No jury would be asked to operate on McConnell’s absurdly compressed schedule, and it is obvious that no Senator who votes for it is intending to truly weigh the damning evidence of the President’s attacks on our Constitution. ...
“Duty, honor and country are at stake. Every Senator who supports this sham process must be held accountable to the American people.”
House impeachment managers slam trial as 'White House-driven and rigged process'
In response to the rules proposed by Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell for the impeachment trial, the House impeachment managers issued a statement slamming the resolution as an unfair attempt to acquit the president without scrutiny.
“A White House-driven and rigged process, with a truncated schedule designed to go late into the night and further conceal the President’s misconduct, is not what the American people expect or deserve,” said the managers, who are Adam Schiff, Jerrold Nadler, Zoe Lofgren, Hakeem Jeffries, Val Demings, Jason Crow and Sylvia Garcia.
The managers also dismissed arguments from McConnell that the proposed rules mirrored those of Bill Clinton’s impeachment trial in 1999.
“In the Clinton case, the President provided all of the documents — more than 90,000 pages of them — before the trial took place. McConnell’s resolution rejects that basic necessity,” the statement read.
“And in the Clinton case, all of the witnesses had testified before the Senate trial began, and the only issue was whether they would be re-called to testify once more. The substance of what they would say was already known. Here, McConnell is trying to prevent the witnesses from ever testifying, and the public from ever finding out what they have to say.”
Democrats prepare to argue against proposed impeachment trial rules
Good morning, live blog readers!
It has been more than a month since the House voted to impeach Donald Trump for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, and the matter is finally advancing to a Senate debate over the rules of a trial to determine whether he should be removed from office.
The Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, released his proposed rules for the trial last night, and the resolution immediately sparked outrage from Democrats, who argued the president’s allies were trying to rush to an acquittal.
According to the rules, the White House counsel and House impeachment managers will each be allowed 24 hours over two days each to make opening arguments. Those opening arguments will be followed by 16 hours of questioning and a four-hour debate before the ultimate vote on whether to remove Trump from office.
The Senate minority leader, Chuck Schumer, called the proposal a “national disgrace,” as many other Democrats complained that the timetable could force arguments to stretch into the early hours of the morning and thus minimize public attention on the proceedings.
But with Republicans holding the majority of Senate seats, Democrats will need to convince some of their colleagues across the aisle to push back against the proposal in order to secure changes. They will get the chance to do so today at 1pm ET, when the trial will pick up again and the Senate will get the chance to debate the resolution.
Donald Trump delivers the opening remarks at the World Economic Forum. Photograph: Evan Vucci/AP
Here’s what else the blog is keeping its eye on:
Trump is attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, where he delivered a speech early this morning.
Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg are campaigning in Iowa today, with less than two weeks to go until the caucuses.
