California delegation:
Sens. Feinstein and Harris were nearly invisible, like the other senators, as the chief justice read their questions aloud.
California Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris were virtually invisible Wednesday in President Trump’s impeachment trial, and that’s exactly the way the proceedings were designed.
The seventh day of the Senate trial was devoted to eight hours of questioning, but it was Chief Justice John Roberts who read the written questions provided by the senators and the House impeachment managers and the president’s legal team who provided the answers.
No fingerwagging, no thundering denunciations, no playing to the crowd, none of the rhetorical flourishes so beloved by political orators. Instead, just handwritten questions read in a monotone by the blackrobed and bespectacled Roberts.
For Democrats Feinstein and Harris, and the other 98 senators, the only chance to speak came when they stood up and told Roberts that they had “sent a question to the desk,” directed to one team or the other.
The lack of drama was no accident. Over the long day of backandforth, only occasionally did Democrats ask a question of the president’s team or the Republicans address the Democratic impeachment managers. Instead, they were largely content to lob softball questions to their own sides, repeating the points and arguments made over the past six days of the trial.
In the first hour of the hearing, for example, Feinstein asked the House team whether there was evidence that Trump had suggested to Ukraine’s leaders that they would get the arms assistance that had been approved by Congress only if they agreed to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, along with his son’s service on the board of a Ukrainian energy company.
That’s exactly what the House charged in its impeachment documents, and Feinstein’s question allowed the managers to highlight that concern again for the senators and, equally important, for the national television audience.
“There is in fact overwhelming evidence that the president withheld the military aid directly to get a personal political benefit to help his individual political campaign,” promptly answered Democratic Rep. Jason Crow of Colorado, one of the managers.
Crow also managed to get in a call for testimony from John Bolton, Trump’s former national security adviser. In a book due to be published in March, Bolton reportedly writes that Trump specifically said he wanted to withhold nearly $400 million in military aid to Ukraine until the country announced the investigations the president wanted.
“If you have any lingering questions about direct evidence, any thoughts about anything we just talked about anything I just relayed, or that we’ve talked about the last week, there is a way to shed additional light on it,” Crow said. “You can subpoena Ambassador Bolton, and ask him that question directly.”
In a question later in the afternoon, Harris had her chance to boost the Democrats’ case against Trump.
Pointing at the president’s statements that “when you’re a star ... you can do anything” — from the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape — and that Article II of the Constitution gives him “the right to do whatever I want as president,” Harris said they suggest the president sees himself as above the law.
“If the Senate fails to hold the president accountable for misconduct, how would that undermine our system of justice?” she asked.
Again, it was a question the House managers were eager to answer.
“I think this is exactly the fear,” said Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff of Burbank. “What you see is a president who identifies the state as being himself . ... The only way you can conceive of someone who reports wrongdoing as committing a crime against the country is if you believe you are synonymous with the country.”
With 100 senators each waiting a turn, there weren’t a lot of chances for individuals to weigh in. That’s one reason Feinstein joined with seven other senators to ask if any other president had blocked document requests and ordered presidential aides not to testify in the impeachment proceedings.
That was another welcome target for the proconviction side.
Trump has taken an extreme view of what he can do in response to congressional requests, said Rep. Zoe Lofgren of San Jose, one of the Democratic impeachment managers.
“Even (thenPresident Richard) Nixon allowed senior officials to testify under oath ... and answer all questions truthfully,” Lofgren said. Trump’s blanket refusal to allow testimony is clearly designed “to prevent Congress from doing its duty.”
Under the trial rules, Thursday will be another full day of questioning.