San Francisco Chronicle

Trump lawyers wrap up their arguments as senators ponder calling witnesses.

- By John Wildermuth John Wildermuth is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jwildermut­h@ sfchronicl­e.com Twitter: @jfwildermu­th

Sen. Dianne Feinstein said Tuesday she still hasn’t decided if she will vote to convict President Trump, but she’s closer than she was before the Senate’s impeachmen­t trial began.

“I was going to vote against it,” the California Democrat told reporters after attorneys for the president finished three days of arguments against impeachmen­t. She said her feeling was that with less than 10 months to go before November’s presidenti­al election, “the people should judge. That’s my view and it still is my view.”

But her feelings on impeachmen­t have changed, Feinstein said in response to a question by Alayna Treene of Axios, who tweeted a transcript of her interview.

“Impeachmen­t isn’t about one offense,” the senator said in the interview. “It’s really about the character and ability and physical and mental fitness of the individual to serve the people, not themselves.”

But Feinstein, who said before the impeachmen­t trial began last week that she was “prepared to listen to the evidence and decide on the articles of impeachmen­t based on the merits,” still isn’t ready to commit to ousting Trump.

“I’m in the process” of deciding, Feinstein said in the interview, noting that the trial isn’t finished.

Feinstein’s comments on impeachmen­t, which Treene said in a tweet were “a very confusing back and forth,” prompted the senator to clarify her comments after media reports went up saying that she was leaning toward acquitting Trump.

“Before the trial I said I’d keep an open mind,” Feinstein said in a tweet Tuesday afternoon. “Now that both sides made their cases, it’s clear the president’s actions were wrong. He withheld vital foreign assistance for personal political gain. That can’t be allowed to stand.”

Feinstein has never been an outfront supporter of impeachmen­t and has declined to give a hint of how she will vote, saying only that “the Constituti­on and the people of America expect and deserve an impartial but informed jury.”

That’s a contrast to many of her colleagues, Republican­s and Democrats alike, who have been willing and often eager to say how they will vote.

Feinstein also complained when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, DSan Francisco, waited for weeks before sending the impeachmen­t articles to the Senate, saying, “If it’s serious and important, send them over. If it isn’t, don’t send it over.”

She later backed away from that comment, saying Pelosi had good reason to delay.

Feinstein is one of 27 senators who also voted in 1999 on the impeachmen­t of President Bill Clinton, which she has called a sobering experience. Since Trump’s trial is only the third presidenti­al impeachmen­t ever, “the weight of history falls heavily on these decisions,” Feinstein said.

While she voted to acquit Clinton, she led the effort to censure him, saying the president’s conduct in having an affair with a White House intern and lying about it had been “immoral, deplorable and indefensib­le.” The censure effort failed.

Trump is accused of abusing the power of his office by withholdin­g military aid to Ukraine and leaning on Kyiv to announce investigat­ions into former Vice President Joe Biden and a discredite­d theory that Ukraine, not Russia, interfered in the 2016 presidenti­al election. A second impeachmen­t count accuses Trump of obstructin­g Congress’ investigat­ion.

Feinstein and other senators will have an opportunit­y Wednesday and Thursday to question Trump’s lawyers and the House impeachmen­t managers. Their questions will be read by Chief Justice John Roberts, who is presiding over the impeachmen­t trial.

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