The crux of the Democrats’ case is the allegation that Trump tried to leverage a White House meeting and military aid, sought by Ukraine to combat Russian military aggression, to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to launch an investigation of former vice president Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden, as well as a probe of an unfounded theory that Kyiv conspired with Democrats to interfere in the 2016 presidential election.
●Pelosi says Trump is ‘impeached for life’ despite McConnell’s ‘gamesmanship,’ ‘coverup.’
●A pact with Trump on impeachment? McConnell’s Kentucky backers demand it.
●Showdown over Trump impeachment trial underscores power of Pelosi and McConnell.
Which senators support removing Trump | Which House members voted to impeach Trump | House resolution impeaching Trump | Other key documents
Sen. Paul says he supports calling both GOP and Democratic witnesses
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said Monday night that he backs calling both Republican and Democratic witnesses in Trump’s impeachment trial.
“My colleagues can’t have it both ways,” Paul said in a tweet. “Calling for some, while blocking others. If we are going to give a platform to witnesses the Dems demand, I look forward to forcing votes to call Hunter Biden and many more!”
Top Senate Republicans reject Trump’s renewed call for immediate dismissal of impeachment charges
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.
But over the weekend, Trump urged the Senate simply to dismiss the charges against him — without hearing arguments from House prosecutors or his own legal team.
Read more here.
Trump arrives in New Orleans
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.
Hoyer says impeachment managers will be appointed by end of week
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.”
Hoyer also said he has spoken with some senators about the scheduling aspect of the Senate trial but declined to reveal the specifics of his conversations.
Pelosi effectively helped Biden, Buttigieg by withholding articles, Sen. Cornyn claims
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.
“The longer Speaker Pelosi holds on to the articles of impeachment, the closer a trial gets to overlapping with those key dates,” Cornyn said. “Even a short two-week trial could mean literally dozens of events we won’t be able to go to.”
Cornyn mused that Biden, Buttigieg and other Democratic contenders who are not members of the Senate must be “glad the speaker sat on these articles for nearly four weeks.”
“Having your competitors stuck in Washington, literally in their seat, while you’re hitting the campaign trail? Well, that seems like a pretty good advantage to me,” he said.
Trump to hold Iowa rally Jan. 30
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.
“President Trump looks forward to celebrating the good news of the Trump economy and the vast accomplishments of his administration with the Hawkeye State,” Michael Glassner, chief operating officer of Trump’s 2020 campaign, said in a statement.
In floor speech, Sen. Harris says no president can disregard congressional oversight
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.”
She added: “And let us be clear: An order from this president to block evidence or witness testimony will itself be further evidence of his efforts to obstruct the United States Congress.”
‘History is not kind to parties that participate in coverups,’ Schumer says
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.”
He also blasted Republicans for declining to detail their argument against witnesses, likening GOP senators to “a broken Magic 8 Ball that keeps saying, ‘Ask again later.’ ”
Two-thirds of Americans want Bolton to testify, new poll shows
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.
Unsurprisingly, Democrats are most enthusiastic about the prospect of Bolton testifying, with 91 percent saying they would like for him to do so, compared with 71 percent of independents and 39 percent of Republicans.
Asked about Pelosi’s decision to withhold the articles of impeachment until she knew more about the contours of a Senate trial, 48 percent of those surveyed by Quinnipiac said they disapprove of the decision while 44 percent approve.
“While voters are divided on Speaker Pelosi’s decision to hold the articles of impeachment, two thirds want to see Bolton tell the Senate what he knows in the upcoming trial,” Quinnipiac University polling analyst Tim Malloy said in a statement.
The poll, which was conducted Jan. 8 through 12, surveyed 1,562 registered voters and has a margin of error of 2.5 percentage points.
McConnell accuses Pelosi of holding ‘one-woman blockade’ of impeachment trial
In remarks on the Senate floor Monday afternoon, McConnell accused Pelosi of having held a “one-woman blockade” of a Senate impeachment trial and said he was “glad the speaker finally realized she never had any leverage in the first place … and is giving in to bipartisan pressure to move forward.”
“In terms of influencing Senate procedure, this strange gambit has achieved absolutely nothing,” McConnell said, accusing Democrats of being “afraid of having the Senate judge the case they themselves voted on.”
McConnell also argued that by proceeding with the Senate trial, the chamber will “rise above short-term factional fever” as the founders intended.
“House Democrats have already done enough damage to precedent, to national unity, and to our institutions of government,” he said.
Trump was ‘too afraid’ to let aides testify, Pelosi says
Pelosi went on Twitter Monday afternoon to respond to Trump’s criticism of her, accusing the president of a coverup and of being “too afraid” to let members of his administration testify before Congress.
“In the Clinton impeachment process, 66 witnesses were allowed to testify including 3 in the Senate trial, and 90,000 pages of documents were turned over,” Pelosi said in a tweet. “Trump was too afraid to let any of his top aides testify & covered up every single document. The Senate must #EndTheCoverUp.”
Rubio holds open possibility that witnesses will be called
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) took to Twitter to push back against Democrats who have accused Republican senators of facilitating a coverup of Trump’s conduct toward Ukraine.
“Those claiming Senate GOP going to hold trial without witnesses is lying: We are using same rules used in Clinton trial,” Rubio tweeted.
In the 1999 trial of President Bill Clinton, no decision was made about calling witnesses until after both House impeachment managers and lawyers for the president had made opening statements.
“After initial phase Senate can hear additional witnesses if needed,” Rubio tweeted.
Grisham says Trump deserves dismissal of case because ‘he did nothing wrong’
White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham on Monday reiterated Trump’s desire to have the impeachment case dismissed, saying “he did nothing wrong.”
“The president shouldn’t have to go through this,” Grisham said during an appearance on Fox News. “He did nothing wrong. He released transcripts willingly because he did nothing wrong. So he’s made that clear all along. Obviously he would want a dismissal of everything but at the end of the day if it does go to the Senate for a trial, he does want it to be fair, which is all he deserves.”
The rough transcripts Grisham referenced were of two phone calls last year with Zelensky. During one call, Trump pressed Zelensky for investigations that could benefit him politically at a time when military aid to Ukraine was being withheld.
Grisham also defended Trump’s sharing of a tweet that included a doctored photo with Pelosi and Schumer in traditional Islamic clothing and standing in front of an Iranian flag.
“I think the president is making clear that the Democrats have been parroting Iranian talking points and almost taking the side of terrorists and those who were out to kill the Americans,” she said. “I think the president was making the point that the Democrats seem to hate him so much that they’re willing to be on the side of countries and leadership of countries who want to kill Americans.”
Trump mocks Pelosi’s call for a ‘fair trial’ in the Senate
Trump returned to Twitter to mock Pelosi’s call for a “fair trial” in the Senate, arguing that the proceedings in the House had not been fair to him.
“‘We demand fairness’ shouts Pelosi and the Do Nothing Democrats, yet the Dems in the House wouldn’t let us have 1 witness, no lawyers or even ask questions,” Trump said in a tweet. “It was the most unfair witch-hunt in the history of Congress!”
Trump declined an offer to participate in the House Judiciary Committee’s impeachment hearings, which would have allowed his attorneys to suggest witnesses and ask questions of witnesses called by Democrats.