President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial entered a new phase Wednesday, with senators getting their first opportunity to ask questions of the defense and Democratic House managers.
Here are the most noteworthy moments from the eighth day of the trial
< Demonstrators converge on Capitol to urge for witnesses
> Cory Gardner opposes bringing in witnesses
> Lev Parnas visits Senate trial
> Toomey appears unlikely to back witnesses
> Manchin: ‘I really do’ think Hunter Biden is relevant
McSally ready to close up shop
Sen. Martha McSally (R-Ariz.), who faces a competitive race this year, said Wednesday it’s time to end the Senate impeachment trial.
“I have heard enough. It is time to vote,” McSally said in a statement. “A dangerous precedent will be set if we condone a rushed, partisan House impeachment with no due process that shuts down the Senate for weeks or months to do the House’s work.”
She added that it’s time for the Senate to focus instead on other priorities, like the cost of prescription drugs and infrastructure.
McSally’s statement comes before a crucial vote Friday on whether to bring in additional witnesses and arrives hours after Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo), who also faces a competitive race, said he would not vote for additional witnesses.
Democrats have called for the Senate to subpoena four witnesses, including former national security adviser John Bolton. But so far, they’re still short the Republican votes.
The moments that mattered
Amid nearly eight hours of largely political theater, a few crucial moments stood out in the senatorial question-and-answer.
The most critical question remains whether to call witnesses — like John Bolton — over allegations Trump abused his power to solicit Ukraine’s interference in the 2020 election. Later, an attorney for Trump laid out a conception of executive power so startlingly broad, it outstripped even the president’s fiercest defenders. And two key Republican senators hinted that they are skeptical about a central tenet of Trump’s defense against the impeachment articles. Read the full story. — Kyle Cheney, Andrew Desiderio and Darren Samuelsohn
Roberts shuts down Rand
Chief Justice John Roberts has communicated to senators that he will not read aloud the alleged Ukraine whistleblower’s name or otherwise publicly relay questions that might out the official, a move that’s effectively blocked Sen. Rand Paul from asking a question.
In a behind-the-scenes fight, Paul, a Kentucky Republican, has composed questions that violate Roberts’s edict, according to several Republicans familiar with the dynamics.Paul — who has strongly opposed the impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump — has been floating the alleged whistleblower’s name in media interviews for months.
But Roberts signaled to GOP senators on Tuesday that he wouldn’t allow the whistleblower’s name to be mentioned during the question-and-answer session that started the following day, said the sources.
Robert was allowed to screen senators’ questions before they were submitted for reading on the Senate floor, the sources noted. And Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and other top Republicans are also discouraging the whistleblower’s identity from being disclosed.
There’s lots more HERE and follow links below to other sources:
WSJ: Trump’s Impeachment Trial—Live Analysis
AXIOS: Senators get their turn for questions
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