Highlights From Senate Impeachment Trial (Friday, January 31, 2020)

What happened Friday?

The Senate on Friday night agreed to hold a final vote on the impeachment articles facing President Donald Trump next week, capping a day of uncertainty over the trial’s endgame.

The Senate will vote at about 4 p.m. Wednesday, and he’s sure to be acquitted.

The move toward delivering a verdict in Trump’s trial came after the Senate voted against hearing additional witnesses. The 51-49 vote was a victory for Senate Majority Mitch McConnell and Trump, who both fought to keep testimony from former national security adviser John Bolton and others from prolonging the trial.

But Bolton still managed to find his way into Friday’s news. Trump denied a new allegation from Bolton’s unpublished manuscript that he coordinated with staffers earlier than previously known to pressure Ukraine to investigate his rivals.

What’s happening Monday?

The Senate is taking a much-needed break over the weekend. The trial will resume on Monday, with closing arguments scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. and last four hours.

Senators will then have until Wednesday’s votes to offer speeches on the trial.

Here are the most noteworthy moments from the tenth day of the trial

> Nadler to miss ‘conclusion’ of Trump’s trial to be with wife
> Klobuchar on trial going into next week: ‘Bring it on’
> Schumer: Lamar Alexander acknowledged Trump acted inappropriately

Why four key Republicans split — and the witness vote tanked

When Lamar Alexander and Lisa Murkowski met privately in his third-floor Capitol hideaway on Thursday night, Alexander broke the news: He was going to vote against bringing in new witnesses in President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial.

The Tennessee Republican explained the rationale to his Alaska colleague: That the House managers had proven their case against the president but that it still wasn’t impeachable conduct and therefore more information was unnecessary, according to a person familiar with the exchange. But Alexander did not lobby Murkowski to join him.

Alexander also forwarded his statement announcing his decision to Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who would soon send her own press release in favor of hearing from witnesses, a position shared by Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah).

The four Republican senators have been the crucial swing votes to help shape Trump’s trial, and they’ve been in constant communication for weeks. They banded together to devise holding the vote on witnesses in the first place, a deal that helped seal unanimous GOP support for the rules of the impeachment trial. And they were texting and calling each other with increasing regularity as Trump’s trial began in earnest

There’s LOTS MORE HERE and follow links below to other sources:

WSJ: Trump’s Impeachment Trial—Live Analysis

AXIOS: Live updates: Trump on track for acquittal

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