Truth will come out
Washington trial starts with vow over Trump’s ‘dodgy’ dealing
THE truth about Donald Trump’s allegedly dodgy dealings with Ukraine will come out, his impeachment trial was told last night.
But as the long-awaited trial that will decide the President’s fate finally got under way, Mr Trump was 4,000 miles away at the World Economic Forum.
The two sides, Mr Trump’s Republicans and the rival Democrats, spent the day bickering about the rules that will guide the trial, only the third in US history.
But the President himself stayed away from Capitol Hill, giving a keynote speech at the Davos summit in Switzerland.
As the two parties traded insults, Adam Schiff, who led the probe into Mr Trump, caused a stir when he described the trial as ‘ass-backwards’ – an American slang term for something done illogically.
Furious Democrats have accused the Republicans of ‘rigging’ the hearing – not least over calling of witnesses.
Mr Schiff told the US Senate: ‘The truth will come out. The question is, “Will it come out in time?”’ Mocking Mr Trump’s supporters, he added: ‘We don’t want to talk about how, pardon the expression, assbackwards it is to have a trial and then ask for witnesses, and so we’ll attack the House managers.’ The President is due back in Washington today when the hearing’s opening arguments are set to commence.
Yesterday saw the two sides rowing over how the case will proceed. The US constitution gives little guidance on the impeachment process but the Republicans control the Senate, the upper house, and so can set the rules.
They wanted to force the house to sit for 12-hour sessions to truncate the trial. But hearings that finish as late as 3am would ‘conceal the President’s misconduct’, the Democrats argued.
Democrat Senate leader Chuck Schumer complained the trial would take place ‘literally in the dark of the night’.
Last night the rules were relaxed slightly, with three days now given for each side to outline their case, meaning sittings will finish at around 10pm. Mr Trump is accused of abusing the power of his office by asking Ukraine to investigate one of his main political rivals, Democrat Joe Biden, who could stand against him in this year’s election.
He withheld £300million in vital military aid unless Ukraine’s new president agreed to look into the activities of Mr Biden and his son, Hunter, it is claimed.
Then, when his pressuring of a foreign power was unearthed, he tried to obstruct justice, the charges say.
The Democrat-controlled House of Representatives voted to impeach Mr Trump but the Senate decides whether he is guilty and should be removed from office.
With a two- thirds majority needed to secure a conviction, and
Republicans outnumbering their rivals 53-47, it is widely expected the President will be acquitted.
Democrat Mr Schiff told the Senate last night: ‘Let me be very blunt. Right now a great many, perhaps even most Americans, do not believe there will be a fair trial.
They don’t believe that the Senate will be impartial. They believe that the result is precooked, that the President will be acquitted, not because he is innocent, because he is not, but because the Senate will vote by party and he has the votes.’
In a joint statement, Democrat prosecutors said: ‘A White Housedriven and rigged process... is not what the American people expect or deserve.’
The Democrats want to call witnesses, potentially including the President himself, but that will need a vote, probably next week.
The Senate can also vote on dismissing the charges straight away, but Republicans are wary of taking that path for fear of making it look like a cover-up.
Democrats have been accused of trying to string out the legal process so that it damages Mr Trump during this year’s presidential election campaign.
There is no requirement for Mr Trump, who denies any wrongdoing, to attend the trial and he branded it a ‘hoax’ from Davos.
Asked why he wasn’t in Washington,
he said: ‘We’re meeting with world leaders, the most important people in the world and we’re bringing back tremendous business. The other’s just a hoax. It’s the witch hunt that’s been going on for years and frankly it’s disgraceful.’
Bill Clinton was the last president to face an impeachment trial, in 1999. He was acquitted of perjury and obstructing justice after a sexual harassment scandal involving White House intern Monica Lewinsky. During his trial Mr Clinton visited Japan, South Korea, Israel and Palestine.
Andrew Johnson was also cleared of any wrong- doing in 1868. In 1974, Richard Nixon resigned before he could be impeached over the Watergate scandal, knowing a conviction was inevitable.
‘In the dark of the night’ ‘Frankly it’s disgraceful’