Trump betrayed national interests, Dems say
House makes abuse of power argument
WASHINGTON — For the second consecutive evening, as House Democrats commanded primetime viewing in the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, they once again turned to the fretting of career U.S. diplomats.
Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, a top specialist on Ukraine on the National Security Council, spoke up at a meeting of that body.
Mr. Trump had been trying to extract a public announcement from Ukraine that it was investigating Vice President Joe Biden and a debunked theory of Ukrainian interference in the 2016 presidential election, Mr. Vindman recalled in sworn testimony before the House Intelligence Committee in November.
“I said that these requests to conduct … these investigations were inappropriate and had nothing to do with national security policy,” Mr. Vindman testified in a video clip that was shown on the floor of the U.S. Senate on Thursday.
The second round of arguments from the team of six House impeachment managers brought a deep dive into the legal meaning of presidential abuse of power and why senators should vote to remove Mr. Trump from office. The House of Representatives impeached Mr. Trump in December on two charges: abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
Democrats argued that Mr. Trump abused his power by freezing nearly $400 million in security aid and withholding a coveted White House meeting in an attempt to pressure Ukraine into announcing the investigations that would implicate Mr. Biden, who is a candidate to run against Mr. Trump in this year’s presidential election.
Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., began the day with a lengthy history of impeachment, arguing the president does not need to commit a crime to be impeached and removed. “He must not remain in power one moment longer,” Mr. Nadler said.
But it was the final session, after senators returned to the chamber from a rushed 30-minute dinner, that Democrats closed out with a detailed presentation of how Mr. Trump’s requests rankled American officials, including Lt. Col. Vindman.
Democrats hoped to establish a key point: that Mr. Trump’s actions diverged from official U.S. foreign policy.
Mr. Trump betrayed the stated U.S. national security interests, they said, by bullying an American ally, Ukraine, in desperate need of American aid while fighting in a protracted war with an American adversary, Russia.
Instead of following established policy, Mr. Trump was on a personal mission to help his re-election prospects, working through his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, who wielded power over the U.S. officials, they said.
“This was not about foreign policy,” said Rep. Sylvia Garcia, D-Texas, after showing the clip of Lt. Col. Vindman’s testimony.
“A White House meeting would only be scheduled if Ukrainians announced the investigation that everyone, including the Ukrainians, understood would be purely political effort that benefited the president,” Ms. Garcia said. “The only way to come to a different conclusion is to ignore the evidence.”
Democrats rolled video of Bill Taylor, former acting ambassador to Ukraine, describing how Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy resisted naming Burisma, the Ukrainian energy company that counted Mr. Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, among its board members.
“President Zelenskiy certainly understood,” Mr. Taylor testified. “He didn’t want to get involved in these types of activities.”
Ms. Garcia also rolled video of Lt. Col. Vindman’s emotional message to his father in his opening statement.
“You made the right decision 40 years ago to leave the Soviet Union and come here to the United States of America in search of a better life for our family,” Mr. Vindman said. “Do not worry. I will be fine for telling the truth.”
Laying out their case with such emotional, human appeals appeared part of the strategy for the Democrats, who are well aware their audience goes well beyond the room of 100 senators sitting silently.
Democrats, with one day left to present their case, attempted to build public pressure on key senators to support calling witnesses and issue subpoenas. Debating the trial’s ground rules on Tuesday, the Senate repeatedly voted against Democrats’ efforts to call witnesses before arguments.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., told reporters during an afternoon break in the trial he is “more hopeful than ever” that four “brave, conscientious” Republicans will eventually come forward to support such a measure. He said he was speaking with senators in both parties but declined to discuss those conversations.
A vote on witnesses would likely come late next week, after the White House presents its case and senators have 16 hours to ask questions of both sides.
Pennsylvania senators were split on the issue of calling witnesses, and on Thursday had different views of the evidence.
Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., told reporters House Democrats had showed texts and testimony that “connected directly to the basic charges in the case.”
Sen. Pat Toomey, a Republican, said he had yet to hear anything that “rises to the level of removing a sitting president from office.”
There were moments that Democrats tried to ease the tension.
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, DN.Y., managed to elicit chuckles from some senators with quite possibly the trial’s first and only joke.
Mr. Jeffries said a fellow New Yorker had stopped him this morning to ask about “the latest outrage.” Thinking it was related to the president, Mr. Jeffries asked the man to elaborate.
“Someone voted against Derek Jeter on his Hall of Fame ballot,” the man told him. “But perhaps we can all agree — subpoena the Baseball Hall of Fame to try to figure out who out of 397 individuals, one person, goes against Derek Jeter.”
Mr. Jeffries then segued back to a deep dive into the Latin meaning of “quid pro quo.”
Rep. Adam Schiff, DCalif., wrapping up the day at about 10:30 p.m., made the case for senators to vote to remove the president from office. The president trusted operatives like Mr. Giuliani over his own intelligence officials and invited foreign actors to interfere in the United States.
“That makes him dangerous to us, to our country,” Mr. Schiff said. “The American people deserve a president they can count on to put their interests first.”
He addressed the senators directly.
“It’s abundantly clear that you are listening with an open mind,” Mr. Schiff said. “That’s all that we can ask for.”