Washington: House impeachment managers on Friday night concluded their argument before the Senate to remove US President Donald Trump from office, saying he misused his position and indulged in obstruction to the Congress.
The house managers closed their marathon 24-hour argument spread over three days with an impassioned plea that the trial be fair. The ruling Republican Party enjoys 53-47 majority in the 100-member Senate.
Democrats, who have majority in the House, have alleged that the Republican leadership in the Senate will be partisan during the trial. “I implore you — give America a fair trial. She’s worth it,” said Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Adam Schiff.
Trump is only the third president in American history to have been formally impeached by Congress. Trump’s attorneys would begin presenting their defense. Like the House managers they too have 24 hours over the next three days for their argument in support of the president. Trump has asked the Senate to dismiss both the charges against him. He argues that he has done no wrong.
In his concluding argument, Schiff outlined what he thinks Trump’s attorneys will say. “So what do all these defenses mean? What do they mean collectively when you add them all up? What they mean is under Article 2, the president can do whatever he wants. That’s really it, stripped of all the detail and all the histrionics, what they want us to believe is the president can do whatever he wants under Article 2, and there is nothing you or the House can do about it,” Congressman Schiff asserted.
Trump’s team would present their argument for three hours. “I guess I would call it a trailer, kind of coming attractions would be the best way to say it. Obviously, we have three hours to put it out so we’ll take whatever time is appropriate during those three hours, kind of layout with that case will look out like, but no, next week is where you’ll see the full presentation, but there will be plenty to see,” Trump’s personal attorney Jay Sekulow told reporters.
In an interaction with the media, he slammed Schiff. “Adam Schiff just said that this idea of the solicitation of foreign interference is deplorable,” he said. “I wonder if he thought that about the fact that the Clinton campaign had sought when it’s completely corroborated, it’s uncontested, that (the) Steele dossier who is utilising both supposedly assets that a former British spy had in Russia to get information on the president then candidate. Was that not foreign interference? Was that not an attempt for foreign interference?” he asked.