Trump impeachment: senators kill Democratic efforts to subpoena more evidence – as it happened

Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell said he would move to table any amendments to the impeachment trial resolution focused on obtaining new evidence for Trump’s trial.

Minority leader Chuck Schumer has promised to introduce a series of amendments aimed at allowing new evidence and witness testimony to be uncovered in the course of the trial, but McConnell only needs a simple majority to kill those measures.

Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell is currently speaking on the floor in defense of his resolution outlining proposed rules for Trump’s impeachment trial.

McConnell said the measure already had the support of a majority of the Republican-controlled chamber. “That’s because it sets up a structure that is fair, evenhanded and tracks closely with past precedents,” the Kentucky Republican said.

Democrats have complained the resolution would force arguments to go into the early hours of the morning, when most Americans would not be watching the proceedings, and argued the rules do not mirror those of Bill Clinton’s impeachment trial, as McConnell had claimed they would.

21 Jan 202012.36 EST

Martin Pengelly

A little more on the growing political pressure on Susan Collins, the moderate Republican from Maine whom Senate Democrats hope might help them force the calling of new witnesses and admission of new information later in Trump’s trial.

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Earlier today, Planned Parenthood endorsed a Democratic challenger to Collins in November’s election.

As headlines go, “federal women’s health provider backs challenger to Republican” might sound a bit “dog bites man”, but Collins has defended Planned Parenthood against Republican attempts to cut its funding and as recently as 2017 she was honoured by the group as “an outspoken champion for women’s health”. The organisation endorsed her in 2002.

Here’s a taste of how the Associated Press reported Planned Parenthood’s move:

Sara Gideon, speaker of the Maine House of Representatives [and running for the nomination to face Collins], welcomed the endorsement from the Planned Parenthood Action Fund.

‘There’s never been a more important time to stand up for reproductive rights,’ she said, in the face of ‘systematic attacks on reproductive rights across the country.’

Collins … is facing perhaps the toughest re-election fight of her career. Critics have vowed they won’t forget her key vote for [Trump supreme court nominee Brett] Kavanaugh, whose nomination [in 2018] survived an accusation that he sexually assaulted someone in high school.

‘From her decisive vote to confirm Kavanaugh to her refusal to stop Republican attacks on our health and rights, it’s clear that she has turned her back on those she should be championing,’ said Alexis McGill Johnson, acting president and chief executive of Planned Parenthood, adding that Collins ‘has abandoned not only the people of Maine, but women across the country’.

Tuesday is the day before the 47th anniversary of the landmark Roe vs Wade supreme court ruling that made abortion legal across the US. Collins has said it is settled law and Kavanaugh would not rule to overturn it but many fear otherwise under a court tilted firmly right under Trump. Here’s Jessica Glenza on the growing threat to women’s reproductive rights and access to abortion:

Here’s where the day stands so far:

• Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer said he would introduce a series of amendements to majority leader Mitch McConnell’s impeachment trial resolution later today, with the goal of collecting new evidence for Trump’s trial.
• The House impeachment managers slammed the proposed trial rules outlined in McConnell’s resolution as “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.”
• The impeachment managers raised ethical concerns about White House counsel Pat Cipollone, who will represent Trump during the Senate trial. The House Democrats said Cipollone was a “material witness to the charges in both Articles of Impeachment for which President Trump now faces trial.”

The blog will have much more as the Senate debate over the impeachment trial rules gets underway, so stay tuned.

Bernie Sanders has issued a statement in response to Hillary Clinton’s comments that “nobody likes” him and “nobody wants to work with” him, insiting he is focusing on Trump’s impeachment trial.

“My focus today is on a monumental moment in American history: the impeachment trial of Donald Trump,” Sanders said. “Together, we are going to go forward and defeat the most dangerous president in American history.”

The comments, which were included as part of an upcoming documentary about Clinton, were first reported by the Hollywood Reporter.

“He was in Congress for years [and] had one senator support him,” Clinton said of her 2016 primary rival, calling him “a career politician” and criticizing the “culture around” the two-time Democratic presidential candidate.

“I feel so bad that people got sucked into it,” Clinton said.

Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer repeatedly declined to answer reporters’ questions about how many amendments Democrats would be introducing to the impeachment resolution.

There will be up to two hours of debate for each amendment, but they will not pass unless four Republicans support the Democrats’ proposals, which currently seems unlikely.

Senate Democrats need at least four of their Republican colleagues to cross the aisle to have their amendments to the impeachment resolution adopted, and that seems very unlikely to happen at this point.

If the amendments are not adopted, it would likely cut off senators from hearing new witness testimony during the impeachment trial.

Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer said he would introduce a number of amendments to majority leader Mitch McConnell’s resolution outlining proposed rules for Trump’s impeachment trial.

In addition to an amendment calling for a subpoena of White House documents related to the allegations, Schumer said he would introduce several other amendments aimed at calling new witnesses to testify.

“We have no intention to be dilatory,” Schumer said.

He closed by reminding senators of their constitutional responsibility. “This is a historic moment,” Schumer said. “The eyes of America are watching. Republican senators must rise to the occasion.”

Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer is holding a press conference on Capitol Hill and slamming majority leader Mitch McConnell’s resolution outlining proposed rules for Trump’s impeachment trial.

Echoing his earlier statement, Schumer said McConnell’s resolution was “nothing short of a national disgrace” and warned that its implementation would make the impeachment trial “one of the very dark days of the Senate.” He added that the resolution outlined an impeachment trial on “fast forward” mode.

The New York Democrat went on to say he would be introducing amendments to the resolution later today, starting with a proposal to subpoena White House documents related to the charges against the president.

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has canceled a planned rally at the University of Northern Iowa tomorrow because of the Senate impeachment trial.

But the Vermont senator has deployed one of his most high-profile surrogates, congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, to the first caucus state as he participates in Trump’s impeachment trial.

There are four Democratic senators currently running for president -- Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Amy Klobuchar and Michael Bennet -- whose campaigning plans will likely be complicated by the impeachment trial.

The proceedings come at a critical moment in the campaign, with less than two weeks to go until the Iowa caucuses.