Oust Trump or he’ll betray again — Dems
‘He is who he is’
WASHINGTON (AP) — Closing out their case, House Democrats warned in US President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial that he would persist in abusing his power and endangering American democracy unless Congress intervenes to remove him before the 2020 election.
They then implored Republican senators to allow new testimony before rendering a final verdict.
“Give America a fair trial,” Rep. Adam Schiff, the lead Democratic impeachment manager, said on Friday. “She’s worth it.”
Schiff delivered Democrats’ final remarks in the Senate trial after three days of methodical and impassioned arguments detailing charges that Trump abused power by asking Ukraine for politically motivated probes of political rivals, then obstructed Congress’ investigation into the matter.
The president’s lawyers got their first chance to defend him yesterday, and were expected to argue that he acted appropriately.
The opening arguments appeared to have done nothing to shake Republicans’ support for Trump or persuade enough centrist GOP lawmakers to call for new witnesses, including Trump’s former national security adviser John Bolton.
In his final appeal to lawmakers and a divided nation, Schiff argued that a guilty verdict in the Senate is the only remedy left to curb what he called the “imminent threat” posed to the nation by Trump’s unconstitutional impulses.
“He is who he is,” Schiff declared. “You know it’s not going to stop ... It’s not going to stop unless the Congress does something about it.”
The moment of history was apparent – only the third impeachment trial of a US president, as were the partisan views of the Trump presidency and the effort to end it.
When Schiff cited a news story with someone close to Trump saying any Republican voting with Democrats would have their “head on a pike,” GOP senators in the chamber began murmuring, “That’s not true.”
The House impeached Trump last month, accusing him of abusing his office by asking Ukraine for politically motivated probes of Biden and other matters while withholding military aid from a US ally that was at war with bordering Russia.
A second article of impeachment accused him of obstructing Congress by refusing to turn over documents or allow officials to testify in the House ensuing probe.
“We’re going to rebut and refute, and we’re going to put on an affirmative case tomorrow,” Trump attorney Jay Sekulow said.
Republicans are defending Trump’s actions as appropriate and are casting the impeachment trial as a politically motivated effort to weaken him in his re-election campaign.
Republicans hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate, and eventual acquittal is considered likely.
Before that, senators will make a critical decision next week on Democratic demands to hear testimony from top Trump aides, including Bolton and acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, who refused to appear before the House.
It would take four Republican senators to join the Democratic minority to seek witnesses, and so far the numbers appear lacking.
“This needs to end,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Trump confidant, said.