Senate poised to acquit President Trump as historic impeachment trial nears end
Wednesday is decision day in the Senate impeachment trial of President Trump. The proceedings resume at 9:30 a.m. EST. Refresh this page for updates.The Senate impeachment trial will end Wednesday when senators, who have served as jurors through weeks of arguments and debate, vote on whether to acquit Trump on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, or to convict him and remove him from office.
But the result of the final vote has been anticipated for months, even before the House voted Dec. 18 to impeach Trump on two articles of impeachment: abuse of power for the alleged Ukraine pressure campaign and obstruction of Congress for directing his administration to defy subpoenas for witnesses and documents.
“We have an impeachment that is purely partisan and political. It’s opposed by bipartisan members of the House," said White House counsel Pat Cipollone. “It is wrong. There is only one answer to that, and the answer is to reject those articles of impeachment, to have confidence in the American people, to have confidence in the result of the upcoming election, to have confidence and respect for the last election and not throw it out.
But congressional Democrats wanted to hear from more witnesses, most notably former Trump National Security Adviser John Bolton after excerpts from his forthcoming book surfaced during the trial and appeared to counter the president's defense. The debate over whether to hear witnesses became a heated issue and was a crucial test of whether Democrats could bring Republicans to their side.
“We must vote to reject the House abuse of power,” McConnell said Tuesday on the Senate floor. “Vote to protect our institutions. Vote to reject new precedents that would reduce the framers’ design to rubble. Vote to keep factional fever from boiling over and scorching our republic. Vote to acquit the president of these charges.”
Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., said that it was inappropriate for Trump to ask a foreign leader to investigate his political opponent but that"the Constitution does not give the Senate the power to remove the president from office and ban him from this year’s ballot simply for actions that are inappropriate."
Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., whose state Trump won narrowly in 2016, said the White House engaged in a “systematic and unprecedented effort to cover up the scheme” in Ukraine.
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