Preparations accelerate this week for historic Senate trial of Trump

Top Senate Republicans on Monday rejected Trump’s call for outright dismissal of the impeachment charges against him, but they continued to grapple with the shape of the Senate trial, which could begin as soon as this week.

Most Senate Republicans are eager to stage a trial that ends with Trump’s acquittal and vindication on charges that he abused the power of his office in his dealings with Ukraine and obstructed a subsequent investigation in the House.

Trump arrived Monday night at the Superdome in downtown New Orleans, where he and first lady Melania Trump are scheduled to attend the college football national championship game between Louisiana State University and Clemson University.

The president did not speak to reporters as he arrived.

House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer said Monday that the House impeachment managers will likely be appointed by the end of the week.

“Do I have some ideas? Yes. But I’m not gonna share them. ... Do I know all the names? No,” Hoyer (D-Md.) told reporters at the Capitol. He added: “By the end of the week, you’re gonna know.”

A top Republican senator said Monday that Pelosi effectively boosted the chances of Democratic presidential contenders who are not members of the Senate — including Biden and former South Bend, Ind., mayor Pete Buttigieg — by not sending the articles of impeachment to the Senate sooner.

In a floor speech, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.) noted that the Iowa caucuses are just three weeks away, followed by the New Hampshire primary a week later.

Trump will headline a “Keep America Great” rally in Des Moines on Jan. 30, his 2020 presidential campaign announced Monday.

The rally at Drake University will take place four days before the Feb. 3 Iowa caucuses. It is also likely to occur as the Senate impeachment trial is underway.

Sen. Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.) took to the Senate floor late Monday afternoon to deliver an impassioned call for senators to “seek the truth and not cover up facts,” arguing that “we must say with one voice that no president can disregard the legitimate oversight authority of the United States Congress.”

“Let us ensure that this trial is a search for truth and that we follow the facts where they lead and come to a verdict based on all of the available evidence,” said Harris, who last month ended her 2020 presidential bid. “Let us do our jobs and insist that we hear from Mick Mulvaney, John Bolton and anyone with firsthand knowledge of the president’s misconduct.”

Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Monday continued to press McConnell to include key witnesses and documents in the Senate trial, taking issue with his Republican counterpart’s description of the Democratic requests as “political.”

“If seeking the truth is political, if doing our constitutional duty is political in the minds of our Republican colleagues, then the Republican Party is in trouble,” Schumer said. “History is not kind to political parties that fight to hide the truth. History is not kind to parties that participate in coverups.”

Two-thirds of respondents in a new Quinnipiac University poll want to see former national security adviser John Bolton testify in a Senate impeachment trial, while 51 percent of those surveyed say they approve of last month’s House vote to impeach Trump.

The release of the poll comes as the Senate is poised to launch its historic trial of Trump, and as Bolton has signaled that he would be willing to testify.