Our live coverage has ended. Go here to read more about the impeachment trial of President Trump.
President Trump kicked off his Wildwood, New Jersey, rally tonight with an optimistic economic message, but quickly moved on to hit Democrats.
He cited the New Jersey unemployment rate, the phase one China trade deal, and the USMCA deal, which he will sign tomorrow at the White House.
Trump went on to tout the US military and the deaths of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and Iranian General Qasem Soleimani, which prompted “USA” chants from the crowd. He then slammed Democrats Bernie Sanders and Nancy Pelosi, whom, he claimed “opposed our action to saved American lives.”
Trump cited new, high poll numbers and suggested independent-minded voters are leaving the Democratic party in swarms.
He also repeated a favorite inaccurate claim about energy — saying he ended “the war on American energy” and that the US is “now” the world’s number one producer.
Facts First: The US has not just “now” become the world’s top energy producer, and it’s not true that “we weren’t number one”: the US took the top spot in 2012, according to the US government’s Energy Information Administration — under the very Obama administration Trump is accusing of perpetrating a “war” on the industry.
The US became the top producer of crude oil in particular during Trump’s tenure. “The United States has been the world’s top producer of natural gas since 2009, when US natural gas production surpassed that of Russia, and it has been the world’s top producer of petroleum hydrocarbons since 2013, when its production exceeded Saudi Arabia’s,” the Energy Information Administration says.
Trump also brought up health care saying, “We are protecting people with pre-existing conditions, and we will always will, the Republican Party, pre-existing conditions. We saved it.”
Trump, of course, did not “save” protections for people with pre-existing conditions, and nor did his party. The Republicans, backed by Trump, have repeatedly tried to pass bills that would have weakened these protections in Obamacare. They are currently fighting in court to get the entirety of Obamacare overturned.
Trump then told his usual story about how he had come up with the concept of the Veterans Choice health care program himself in 2016, thinking he was “so smart,” but was told others had unsuccessfully tried to get such a program passed for “45 years.” He claimed he managed to get it passed himself.
In fact, it was signed into law by President Barack Obama in 2014. Trump signed a law in 2018, the VA MISSION Act, that expanded and modified the program.
Sen. John Barrasso, the third ranking Republican in the Senate and the chairman of the Senate Republican conference, said Democratic leader Chuck Schumer is “not right at all” when he says he believes there are “10 to 12 senators” in the Republican conference that could be open to voting for witnesses.
On reports tonight that Mitch McConnell is saying that he doesn’t have the votes to block witnesses, Barrasso said, “I think there are members who want to spend time — and we will eight hours tomorrow and eight hours the next day” listening to the question-and-answer sessions.
Asked tonight on CNN if what Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is saying about not having the votes to block witnesses is accurate or if he is using a scare tactic to motivate his caucus, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said, “I think it’s a little bit of each.”
On how confident he is that Republicans will join Democrats and he’ll be able to push through a vote for witnesses, Schumer said, “I think it’s up in the air” and “an uphill fight”
“I wouldn’t do any joy dances now,” Schumer added.
Schumer said that by his count there are “10 to 12 Republicans who have never said a bad word about witnesses or documents who are know in their hearts it’s the right thing to do.”
He continued: “But they have to weigh that against the pressure, the twisting of arms, that Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell will put on them. So, I think it’s up in the air right now. Are we feeling better today than we did a few days ago? Absolutely.”
Judge Paul Oetken denied Lev Parnas’ request to have his GPS device removed effectively denying the indicted Rudy Giuliani associate’s bid to attend the Senate impeachment trial.
Senate rules do not permit any electronic devices into the gallery.
What’s this about: Earlier Tuesday Joseph Bondy, an attorney for Parnas, asked the judge to modify Parnas’ bail conditions, which requires him to wear a GPS monitoring ankle bracelet and confines him to his home in Florida, so he could sit in the Senate chamber and observe the proceedings.
Bondy notified the judge that pre-trial services said Parnas would first have to travel to NY to have the GPS ankle device removed to enter the Senate gallery and then travel back to NY to have the ankle bracelet replaced.
He said prosecutors did not object to Parnas attending the trial but do object to removing the tracking device.
About Parnas: He has been cooperating with the House impeachment inquiry and provided documents, text messages and an audio recording from an April 2018 dinner that captured President Trump ordering the removal of Marie Yovanovitch, the US ambassador to the Ukraine.
Bondy has been trying to get Parnas to be called as a witness in the impeachment trial and has tweeted individually at senators.
Bondy told CNN he is going to witness the trial and hopes to secure a meeting with Schumer later that afternoon. He added that he does hope they call witnesses.
House manager Adam Schiff said tonight on CNN that he thought that President Trump’s team “made a powerful case for calling John Bolton” as a witness.
On Trump attorney Jay Sekulow’s argument today that what happened with the withholding of the Ukraine aid was just a policy difference, Schiff responded, “This was the President withholding military aid from an ally at war in order to coerce an ally into conducting investigation into his political opponent. That’s not policy. That’s corruption.”
Asked about the repeated attacks against him personally by Trump’s team, Schiff called it “tactic” meant to distract from a “weak” case by the defense.
Asked by CNN if there’s any situations where he would appear as a witness, Schiff said, “I don’t have anything to add.”
He added: “Why is it that the President can’t call anyone who worked around him in his defense? And the answer is they know he’s guilty. And so they want to throw up this false choice. Well, we’re just going to seek to inflict pain on the other side by calling Hunter Biden or irrelevant people like Adam Schiff. The American people can see through that.”
During a closed-door Republican lunch today, senators facing reelection in 2020 — including Sens. Joni Ernst of Iowa, Cory Gardner of Colorado, Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Martha McSally of Arizona — made it clear how impeachment is affecting their races back home.
The message was that voters back home are ready to move on, and a fight over witnesses could drag weeks or even months closer to their races.
Why this matters: Their message dovetails with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s message over the last month that the impeachment’s outcome is inevitable: President Trump won’t be removed.
But, in the meantime, Senate Minority Leader Schumer is trying to extract as many tough votes and campaign ad attacks as he can for members up for reelection. Republican leaders have tried to instill in the conference that sticking together could save the majority, and keep Schumer and the Democrats from using it as a cudgel to take back the Senate in 2020. He’s relied on individual members to make that case for themselves.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell made clear to senators in the closed-door meeting that the GOP doesn’t currently have the votes to block witnesses, but underscored that it is still a work in progress as several GOP senators remain noncommittal on their votes, a person in the room said.
But McConnell’s message underscored that the vote is still a work in progress for Senate GOP leaders and the White House, who are pushing hard to bring a quick end to the trial by the end of this week.
The numbers currently aren’t based on GOP senators who have made up their minds to support witnesses, but instead several that haven’t decided on way or the other yet, the source said.
Several people involved in the meeting said the case that was made reiterated McConnell’s perspective that witnesses would elongate the trial at a time when senators would prefer to do legislative work on the floor. Drawing out proceedings would be especially problematic given the end game is already known: the votes are not there to remove the President.
McConnell and several Republicans warned today in private that moving ahead with one witness could lead to a number of new witnesses — and there would be no clear path out of the trial, according to a source familiar with remarks. McConnell continues to express his opposition to moving ahead with witnesses, according to Senate Republicans.
A Senate GOP source in the meeting said the argument against witnesses was effective — and the leadership came away more confident now they can defeat the witness vote.
A lawyer for Lev Parnas, an indicted associate of Rudy Giuliani, has asked the judge overseeing the criminal trial for permission to have Parnas attend the Senate impeachment trial tomorrow.
In a letter to the judge, Joseph Bondy said he had received tickets from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer from New York for Parnas to attend. As part of his bail, Parnas is confined to his home in Florida and his travel is restricted.
“Earlier this afternoon, I received an e-mail from Amy Mannering, Director of Operations for Senator Chuck Schumer’s Office, informing that my request for tickets to the trial had been granted,” Bondy wrote. He said that they have tickets to attend tomorrow from 12:30 p.m. ET to 2:45 p.m. ET.
Bondy notified the judge that pre-trial services said Parnas would first have to travel to New York to have GPS ankle device removed to enter the Senate gallery and then travel back to New York to have the ankle bracelet replaced.
He said prosecutors did not object to Parnas attending the trial but do object to removing the tracking device.
Bondy has been trying to get Parnas to be called as a witness in the impeachment trial and has tweeted individually at senators.
“Tougher with Lev, who has an electronic device stuck to his ankle,” Bondy said. “Senate doesn’t allow them.”
A source on President Trump’s legal team could not definitively answer when pressed by CNN on whether the team has seen or been briefed on former national security adviser John Bolton’s manuscript.
Asked again whether the legal team has been briefed on the manuscript, the source said, “I’m not going to get into any details beyond that. No one on the legal team has reviewed the manuscript.”
The President’s lawyers are “prepared for any eventuality” as the Senate impeachment trial proceeds, including the possibility of hearing from witnesses, according to a source on the legal team who briefed reporters on Tuesday.
Still, the legal team does not believe the Senate should hear from new witnesses, including John Bolton, since the House did not hear from him during their investigation.
The House invited Bolton to testify, but did not issue him a subpoena.
The source declined to get into the President’s legal team’s strategy should Bolton appear.
As the trial moves into the question-and-answer period, the source said the team was prepared to answer “whatever questions senators have for us.”
CNN’s Kaitlan Collins contributed to this report.
Republican senators just left a GOP meeting following the impeachment trial today.
Here’s what they said about the meeting and potential witnesses:
GOP Sen. John Cornyn was asked today following a meeting with Republican senators if Majority Leader Mitch McConnell tried to work out an agreement to address witnesses that would sit well with the entire Republican conference.
Here’s how he responded:
Cornyn later added that they were discussing witnesses “with all the members.”
Some background: Earlier today, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House manager Adam Schiff called for more evidence and witnesses at the impeachment trial. Schiff urged Republican senators to bring in former national security adviser John Bolton to testify.
Two Republican senators, Mitt Romney of Utah and Susan Collins of Maine, have signaled they want to hear from witnesses, including Bolton. Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska says she is “curious” about Bolton’s testimony.
Remember: It takes 51 senators to pass a motion. If all 47 senators who caucus with the Democrats vote to have witnesses and documents, at least four Republicans need to join them in order to pass a motion.
This is the official Senate question form that will be used during the question-and-answer portion of the trial.
GOP Sen. John Barrasso provided some insight into what lawmakers are thinking following a meeting behind closed-doors with Senate Republicans.
A growing number of GOP senators are now acknowledging that President Trump may have leveraged US military aid to Ukraine in exchange for an announcement of investigations that could help him politically – but they contend that even that conduct does not warrant removal from office or hearing from additional witnesses.
What they are saying now: Republicans are now arguing that the latest reports — that former national security adviser John Bolton’s book manuscript reveals that Trump told him in August that he was withholding $391 million in aid until Ukraine announced a probe into the Bidens – are likely true but simply confirm what is already known.
And they are saying those new facts, first revealed by the New York Times, are consistent with the details laid out by House Democratic managers in their case that Trump used official acts to urge a foreign power to undercut a leading political rival in the 2020 presidential campaign.
But they say that nothing in there is impeachable — nor does it warrant the need to hear from new witnesses since it confirms what is already known, they say.
Sen. Kevin Cramer, a North Dakota Republican, also weighed in saying, “I think he sounds like a lot of the other witnesses, frankly. I don’t know that he’s got a lot new to add to it.”
“No,” Sen. Tim Scott said bluntly when asked if he thinks what Bolton is reportedly detailing amounts to impeachable conduct. “I don’t think it would be.”
Remember: Just four Republicans can give Democrats the votes they need — 51 in total — for witnesses to appear at the trial.
CNN’s Ted Barrett and Laurie Ure contributed to this report.
President Trump’s defense team wrapped up their last day of arguments today in the Senate impeachment trial.
In case you missed it, here’s what happened today:
Rep. Adam Schiff, one of the seven House impeachment managers, called on Republican senators to bring in former national security adviser John Bolton and other witnesses to testify.
He also questioned the idea of a closed-door deposition with Bolton.
He said a witness-for-witness arrangement with Senate Republicans isn’t a game they are interested in. Some Senate Republicans have said they want to hear Schiff testify about his team’s interactions with the whistleblower.
“I can tell you what my testimony is: He’s guilty, and he should be impeached,” the California Democrat said.
Asked about the House not subpoenaing Bolton during the impeachment inquiry, Schiff said, “It was very clear that John Bolton would tie us up in court for months or years.” He wouldn’t answer if the House would subpoena Bolton in the case that the Senate doesn’t.
“I’m not going to discuss what backup, fall-back position there is,” he said, arguing that nothing but a Senate trial with witnesses would be sufficient.
Democratic Sen. Ed Markey had a simple reaction to being cited in White House Counsel Pat Cipollone’s closing argument: “I was right then.”
Markey was one of several Democrats shown railing against the impeachment of President Bill Clinton on the House floor in 1998 as part of the defense counsel’s presentation. He dismissed the suggestion it had any bearing on President Trump’s impeachment.
“That case belonged in family court. This case belongs in the United States Senate,” Markley said. “The charge there was that he perjured himself in a domestic… more in a family court kind of situation. That’s not a crime against a state. That’s not a crime against the Constitution.”
Senate Republicans are meeting behind closed doors following today’s impeachment trial.
What we know: A source said the meeting would be focused on next steps, as well as the looming witness vote. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is planning to talk again about executive privilege and precedent concerns as it relates to subpoenaing witnesses as part of the trial.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said that Senate Democrats questions will be organized by his office to make sure the questions won’t be repetitive and will be in a logical order.
He said the questions will be organized to give House Democrats the opportunity to rebut defense arguments.
What happens next: The question-and-answer part of the trial starts tomorrow. Senators will submit their questions to Chief Justice Roberts. He will ask both sides the questions during two 8-hour sessions on Wednesday and Thursday.
Lead House impeachment manager Adam Schiff said the question now that both sides have presented their case is: “Will there be a fair trial?”
Schiff said having a “fair trial” means hearing from witnesses and subpoenaing documents.
Senators will vote on the possibility of having witnesses and documents after the question-and-answer phase that begins tomorrow. Senators will have 16 hours to ask both the House managers and Trump’s legal team questions over the next two days.
“So the question that will now be before the senators — they’ll have questions for us in the next two days — but the question squarely before the senators is will there be a fair trial?” Schiff added. “Will there be a trial that Americans overwhelmingly want — those that are for or against the president overly want the trial to be fair, which means the calling of witnesses.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer reiterated his call for more evidence and witnesses at the impeachment trial.
“We want the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. That’s what witnesses and documents mean,” he said.
On Trump’s defense team’s arguments today against calling more witnesses, Schumer said, “They don’t want the truth.”
He pointed out that the witnesses that Democrats are seeking — like former national security adviser John Bolton and acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney — are “not anti-Trump people, they’re his own appointees.”
“We don’t know if what they say will be exculpatory or further incriminating, but let the chips fall where they may. Get the truth,” Schumer said.
He added that he doesn’t believe that Republicans have the votes to call Hunter Biden, even though they hold a majority.
After Trump’s defense team wrapped up their arguments, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell laid out what will happen over the the next two days of the trial: 16 hours of questioning, eight hours for each side.
McConnell went on to describe the process saying “the questions alternate between the majority and minority sides for up to eight hours” on both Wednesday and Thursday.
McConnell reminded senators that their questions must be in writing and will be submitted to Chief Justice John Roberts.
Roberts added the attorneys must answer the questions in five minutes or less. He then adjourned the trial until 1 p.m. ET Wednesday.
Watergate whistleblower John Dean is joining Anderson Cooper to answer your impeachment questions live at 4 p.m. ET.
Submit them here and tune in to get caught up on the impeachment trial. It will air at the top of your screen here.
White House Counsel Pat Cipollone just finished giving opening arguments for Trump’s legal team.
He urged senators to “come together on both sides of the aisle and end the era of impeachment for good.”
What happens next: The next phase of the impeachment trial is a question-and-answer period, where senators will have 16 hours to ask questions.
White House Counsel Pat Cipollone urged senators to reject the impeachment articles against President Trump and defend “our Constitution.”
“You know what the right answer is in your heart. You know what the right answer is for our country. You know what the right answer is for the American people,” he said.
Cipollone then raised the issue of the upcoming 2020 election, and implored senators to allow “every American to vote and to choose their president.”
The Senate impeachment trial is back from a short break. White House Counsel Pat Cipollone is delivering his closing arguments.
Earlier today, when Cipollone previewed how their arguments would play out, he indicated he’d be the last person on President Trump’s team to speak.
A Democratic official working on the impeachment trial said Jay Sekulow, the President’s lawyer, continues to make the case for former national security adviser John Bolton being called as a witness in the Senate trial.
During his arguments today, Sekulow addressed Bolton’s unpublished manuscript, which according to the New York Times, describes how President Trump in August told him that he wanted to continue holding military aid to Ukraine until the country helped with investigations into Democrats — including former Vice President Joe Biden.
In his arguments, Sekulow referenced Trump lawyer and Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz, who argued last night that Bolton’s accusations do not amount to an impeachable offense. “Let me repeat: Nothing in the Bolton revelations — even if true — would rise to the level of an abuse of power or an impeachable offense,” Dershowitz said last night.
He said impeachment is “not a game of leaks and unsourced manuscripts.”
The Senate impeachment trial will return following a 15-minute break.
Outside counsel for President Trump, Jay Sekulow, is using the remaining time of the team’s opening arguments to blast former FBI director James Comey and special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.
He also listed a series of issues from Christopher Steele’s infamous dossier, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court and the an affair between two former FBI officials.
“Now, if you did it, if you did it, manager Schiff, if you did it, manager Jeffries, if I did that, destroyed evidence, if anyone in this chamber did this, we’d be in serious trouble. Their serious trouble is they get fired. Bob Mueller’s explanation for it is, I don’t know what happened. I don’t know what happened, I can’t recall the conversations. You can’t view this case in a vacuum,” Sekulow continued.
Sekulow also went after Comey, who was fired by President Trump.
“The President of the United States, before he was the President, was under an investigation. It was called Crossfire Hurricane. It was an investigation led by the FBI, the Federal Bureau of Investigation. James Comey eventually told the President a little about the investigation and referenced the Steele dossier. James Comey, the then-director of the FBI, said it was salacious and unverified. So salacious and unverified that they used it as a basis to obtain FISA warrants. Members, managers here, managers at this table right here, said that any discussions on the abuse from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, utilized to get the FISA warrants from the court, were conspiracy theories,” he said.
Sen. John Cornyn, a Republican from Texas, says the status on votes for witnesses is “up in the air.”
“We’re talking to our colleagues. It’s up in the air,” he said.
Cornyn also believes the John Bolton revelations do not rise to the level of impeachment.
“I read the New York Times story. I don’t think anything the report adds anything new to what we already know. We know there were conversations that had to do with investigations. We know there were conversations about aid. But ultimately the President released the money before the end of the fiscal year and an investigation didn’t occur. I don’t see that Mr. Bolton adds anything to what we already know,” Cornyn said.
As the trial began today, Sen. Mitt Romney was spotted with a glass of chocolate milk on his desk.
Sen. Joe Manchin is also drinking a glass of milk this afternoon, but not chocolate milk, just regular milk.
Romney made short work of his chocolate milk – finishing the entire glass by about 1:20 p.m. ET, after which a page promptly removed it from his desk.
You can read more about why so many senators have been drinking milk during the trial here.
Jay Sekulow, one of President Trump’s lawyers, believes removing the President from office would “lower the bar of impeachment.”
Sekulow, speaking directly to senators, went on to say that legal scholars have weighed on the impeachment and they’ve have “a common theme with a dire warning: Danger. Danger. Danger.”
“To lower the bar of impeachment, based on these articles of impeachment, would impact the functioning of our constitutional republic and the framework of that Constitution for generations,” he said.
Trump’s lawyers have used a number of video clips during their opening arguments.
Here’s a breakdown of who we saw on video — and how many times — during yesterday’s arguments by the defense:
President Trump’s impeachment trial is continuing in Washington today, but The Brief’s Bianca Nobilo has been keeping track of the day’s headlines outside Capitol Hill.
Here’s what you need to know:
Watch more:
President Trump’s attorneys have been calling the Senate “a court” and “tribunal” during proceedings this week — but when they’re in federal court, the administration has tried to keep the House from getting potential evidence against the President by arguing the opposite.
The House general counsel highlighted this doublespeak to federal appellate judges today, in the latest filing in a closely watched and still undecided court case.
But in the case before the appellate court — where the Justice Department has attempted to keep secret grand jury material collected by special counsel Robert Mueller and sought by the House Judiciary Committee as it investigates Trump — “DOJ’s principal argument in this case is that a Senate impeachment trial is not a ‘judicial proceeding,’” Letter wrote. The House has argued that it should be able to see the typically confidential grand jury information, because it needs to determine whether Trump obstructed Mueller and should be impeached on additional counts.
How we got here: The House won access to the Mueller grand jury material at the trial-court level. The Trump administration appealed the decision — stopping the material from going to the House. The appeals court’s ruling could come any day.
“Because DOJ’s position in this case cannot be reconciled with President’s position in the impeachment, DOJ may wish to withdraw its argument that a Senate impeachment trial does not qualify as a judicial proceeding,” Letter wrote to the appeals court on Tuesday.
The Senate proceedings over the past week have prompted attorneys for the House to grasp onto several contradictions between Trump’s impeachment arguments and the Justice Department’s arguments in court.
Previously, the House notified the appeals court how the Justice Department doesn’t want the judiciary to decide its disputes with Congress, yet Trump’s attorneys told the Senate that the House impeachment votes should have waited for court decisions.
Separately from the court cases, the Trump administration has refused to turn over documents the House requested for its impeachment investigation and several top administration officials did not show up to testify, even when subpoenaed. The House largely chose not to sue over their thwarted subpoenas.
The two ongoing court cases — which began prior to the Ukraine impeachment inquiry, shortly after the Mueller investigation ended — could affect the impeachment proceedings.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democrat from Rhode Island, called the Republican idea to let the Bolton manuscript be reviewed in a classified setting as a “laugh out loud” proposal.
Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren told reporters today that she believes “the pressure is mounting on the Republicans to decide what they’re going to do about John Bolton.”
On whether she believes she should stay in DC if there are no witnesses, the Democratic presidential candidate said, “This is an impeachment trial, and I will be here as long as that trials going on.”
White House counsel Pat Cipollone said at the beginning of the proceedings today that the defense team’s “goal is to be finished by dinnertime and well before.”
Cipollone said that Trump’s team have three presentations to go — first will be Pat Philbin, deputy white house counsel, then Jay Sekulow will give a presentation. After a break, Cipollone will finish the defense’s opening arguments.
This is the third day of the defense’s presentation.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said today’s session will go for several hours, and they’re only expecting one break.
Chief Justice John Roberts reminded President Trump’s lawyers that they have 15 hours and 33 minutes remaining to make their case — “though it will not be possible to use the remainder of that time before the end of the day,” he added.
Pat Cipollone and Jay Sekulow of Trump’s legal team are expected to make brief closing statements on their final day of arguments.
You can expect around two hours, a person familiar said. However, this timing could shift.
Sen. Tim Scott, a Republican from South Carolina, told reporters he hasn’t made up his mind about whether he wants to see the Bolton manuscript.
CNN also asked Sen. Pat Roberts, a Republican of Kansas, if he wants to see the manuscript from Bolton, to which he said “I don’t know yet.”
GOP Sen. Mitt Romney said he’d rather hear from former national security adviser John Bolton himself rather than just see a manuscript.
Yesterday, Romney said he has had discussions with his GOP colleagues, and it is “increasingly likely” that others would join his ongoing push for Bolton to testify.
When pressed by CNN whether she’d actually vote to subpoena Bolton’s testimony, Sen. Lisa Murkowski said, “We’re going to have an opportunity for that on probably Friday.”
When asked if she’d like to read his manuscript, Murkowski replied, “I think that Bolton probably has something to offer us. So we’ll figure out how we’re going to learn more.”
Why Murkowski matters: It takes 51 senators to pass a motion. If all 47 senators who caucus with the Democrats for witnesses, at least four Republicans need to join them in order to pass a motion.
Sens. Mitt Romney and Susan Collins yesterday suggested they might vote to have witnesses. If Murkowski joins them, the Democrats still need one more Republican to defect.
President Trump’s former chief of staff John Kelly says he believes former national security adviser John Bolton’s account and that he should be heard.
Kelly said Bolton “always gave the President the unvarnished truth” and is a “man of integrity and great character.”
“I mean half of Americans think this process is purely political and shouldn’t be happening but since it is happening the majority of Americans would like to hear the whole story,” Kelly said.
He added: “So I think if there are people that could contribute to this, either innocence or guilt … I think they should be heard. I think some of the conversations seem to me to be very inappropriate but I wasn’t there. But there are people that were there that ought to be heard from.”
Senate Republicans are planning meet behind closed doors after the White House closes its presentation today, according to two sources familiar. Senate Republicans are also meeting now behind closed doors at their daily lunch.
About the meeting: The members-only meeting is still in the planning stages, but would be about next steps, with a focus on the looming witness vote, one of the sources said.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is planning to talk again about executive privilege and precedent concerns as it relates to subpoenaing witnesses as part of the trial.
About the numbers: It takes 51 senators to pass a motion. If all 47 senators who caucus with the Democrats vote for witnesses at trial, at least four Republicans need to join them in order to pass a motion.
When the New York Times report on former national security adviser John Bolton broke Sunday night, the White House impeachment team was frantic.
They were immediately bombarded with calls from Republican senators demanding to know more. They met at the White House to triage. And as the night went on, their confidence in denying Democrats witnesses began to dwindle.
At one point, according to multiple people, there were discussions about potentially losing close to a dozen Republicans, when before they had only worried about three or four votes on witnesses.
Trump’s top aides were not feeling good going into yesterday’s arguments. Their main priority was damage control and aides worked overtime in reaching out to senators before 1 p.m. Other attorneys avoided addressing the allegations because they weren’t sure how to deal with it.
Then along came Alan Dershowitz, and his argument that even if what Bolton had written was true, it was not impeachable.
Trump had been complaining that his legal team was boring people, but he was very pleased after Dershowitz, one person said.
This is notable given Trump had been advised against bringing on Dershowitz given his ties to Jeffrey Epstein. And Dershowitz’s friends had cautioned him against getting involved.
Of course it’s still far from clear if witnesses will ultimately be called, and officials acknowledge the pressure has ramped up in recent days because of Bolton’s manuscript.
Sen. Mark Warner said he would like to hear from former national security adviser John Bolton — not just see the manuscript of his book.
An administration source familiar with White House conversations with Republican Senators tells CNN that the vote on witnesses is still tough, and that they are “working it hard.”
What this is about: On Sunday, New York Times published a bombshell report that former national security adviser John Bolton’s draft manuscript says Trump told him US security assistance to Ukraine was conditioned on investigations into Democrats, including former Vice President Joe Biden.
The news has renewed Democrats’ push to have witnesses — such as Bolton — at the impeachment trial. Some Republicans have suggested they may consider voting to hear from witnesses.
If all 47 senators who caucus with the Democrats vote for witnesses, at least four Republicans need to join them in order to pass a motion.
Sen. Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican, said he expects more stories about Ukraine revelations to drop in the days ahead, but didn’t necessarily think it would move the conference as senators consider how they might vote on a motion for witnesses at trial.
Hawley said he didn’t have a read of where the conference is on the witness vote, but did reiterate that he’s drafted resolutions to call Vice President Joe Biden, Adam Schiff, the whistleblower and Hunter Biden if the witness vote is adopted.
“Where the conference is, if we had to vote today, I’m not sure. I don’t know. But I haven’t known throughout the proceedings. And that’s why I say that if we do call witnesses, then I think it’s important that we call a spectrum of witnesses. If we’re going to go out and rebuild the House’s record, that they plainly didn’t take the time to build, well, then we should do it thoroughly,” he said.
Remember: It takes 51 senators to pass a motion. If all 47 senators who caucus with the Democrats vote to have witnesses and documents, at least four Republicans need to join them in order to pass a motion.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer compared the “drip, drip, drip of information” coming out surrounding the articles of impeachment to the Watergate scandal that led to former President Richard Nixon’s resignation.
Schumer said these reports emphasize Senate Democrats’ request for relevant witnesses and documents at the impeachment trial.
On Sunday, New York Times published a bombshell report that former national security adviser John Bolton’s draft manuscript says Trump told him US security assistance to Ukraine was conditioned on investigations into Democrats, including former Vice President Joe Biden.
Sen. Mike Braun, an Indiana Republican, said he thought Trump defense attorney Alan Dershowitz’s presentation yesterday helped senators concerned about the allegations in former national defense secretary John Bolton’s draft book manuscript come to a conclusion that it was not impeachable conduct.
About Dershowitz’s comments: At the end of a long day of trial arguments on Monday that largely ignored the new Bolton drama, Dershowitz argued that even if Bolton’s reported claim was true, it would not amount to an impeachable offense. He made a case for expansive presidential power, saying that a quid pro quo alone does not amount to an abuse of power — the basis of the first article of impeachment — which he said was not sufficient in itself to justify ending a presidency.
Braun said that while he doesn’t see a need for Bolton’s testimony, if the Senate does call witnesses he says it has to be reciprocal.
“If you cross that threshold it has to be reciprocal, and I’m guessing Joe Biden would be the one individual you’d want to talk to,” Bruan said.
Asked to clarify if he wanted Joe or Hunter Biden, Bruan said: “Either one — or the whistleblower.”
“Reciprocity, is I think something, if that’s not there, there will be no interest from most of us in the Republican side,” he added.
GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham told reporters yesterday that he wants to see former national security adviser John Bolton’s manuscript, and indicated he would support a subpoena to obtain it.
Now, he just tweeted this:
CNN just asked House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer is the House should subpoena former national security adviser John Bolton if the Senate does not.
Hoyer said they will have a discussion at some point to figure out what the House “needs to do,” but right now the Senate is “hopefully going to do its job and hear all the evidence that is relevant to the disposition of the allegations in Article I and Article II.”
A source close to the legal team says lawyers for President Trump are “reasonably optimistic” there won’t be witnesses called even after the revelation of former national security adviser John Bolton’s manuscript — but it comes down to what the Senators will do.
Trump’s attorneys believe that they handled the Bolton issue yesterday and their calculation was only to mention him briefly at the trial, though the source did not rule out the chance the issue could resurface.
As for their knowledge of the book, the President’s lawyers maintain they did not know about its contents, the source insisted, explaining that the outside lawyers did not see it and “would have no basis to get it,” adding the manuscript went to the NSC and that the White House counsel’s office “did not touch it.”
Trump’s attorneys felt they were very methodical in how they laid out their case yesterday, despite not mentioning Bolton, the source said.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this post misquoted a source close to Trump’s legal team. The source said the team is “reasonably optimistic” there won’t be witnesses.
As Trump legal team wraps up its opening argument today, we’re looking ahead to the next phases of trial. First, there will be 16 hours for senator questions. After that, senators need to figure out how they will vote on whether to proceed to consider subpoenas for witnesses and documents.
Remember: It takes 51 senators to pass a motion. If all 47 senators who caucus with the Democrats vote to have witnesses and documents, at least four Republicans need to join them in order to pass a motion.
The yes votes: Sens. Mitt Romney and Susan Collins, long the two Republicans most likely to vote to consider witnesses, moved more firmly in that direction yesterday and are considered sure “yes” votes by Republicans.
The maybes: Sen. Lisa Murkowski told reporters she remains “curious” as to what Bolton would say and has also signaled openness to witnesses, but also very clearly hasn’t made up her mind. It’s frustrating to many, but by all accounts she is legitimately letting the trial play out for the time being.
Others that Senate Republicans are watching, per multiple senators and aides:
CNN caught up Sen. Mitt Romney, who wouldn’t say if he was still confident they could get to 51 votes on witnesses but said this:
When asked about trading one Democratic witness for one Republican witness, Romney said, “I think that is a measure that has fairness associated with it.”
When asked if he would be open to calling Hunter Biden, Romney said: “I wouldn’t tell either side who they ought to call.”
Romney yesterday said that he has had discussions with his GOP colleagues and it is “increasingly likely” that others would join his ongoing push for former national security adviser John Bolton to testify in the impeachment trial. Remember: If all 47 senators who caucus with the Democrats vote to have witnesses and documents, at least four Republicans need to join them in order to pass a motion.
A Republican source tells CNN that the plan right now is to begin senators’ question-and-answer period tomorrow. This is the net phase in the trial after Trump’s legal team wraps up their opening arguments.
Remember: Timing is fluid and it could change at a moment’s notice.
The question-and-answer period is given 16 hours, and Democrats have made clear they plan to utilize the whole thing.
After that, there will be four hours of debate, equally divided, between the House managers and White House Counsel on whether to move to consider witnesses and documents.
The Senate is continuing with the impeachment trial of President Trump, and the President’s legal team is expected to have its third and final day of opening arguments today.
Here’s a look at what we’re watching:
The Senate impeachment trial has entered perhaps its most fluid phase – one where the White House is still technically presenting its defense, but senators in both parties are maneuvering for what comes next.
New revelations seemingly appear daily, all as senators attempt to structure their questions for the looming question-and-answer period and, of course, figure out how they will vote on whether to proceed to consider subpoenas for witnesses and documents.
As of this morning, neither of those phases had definitive outcomes – and they are both coming soon.
Where the votes stand: At this point in time, 51 votes in favor of moving to consider witnesses and documents do not exist, according to multiple high ranking GOP aides and officials. That doesn’t mean they won’t at some point — even some time soon.
But the reality is many GOP senators are keeping their cards close, even from leaders. Again: things are fluid.
Remember: If all 47 senators who caucus with the Democrats vote to have witnesses and documents, at least four Republicans need to join them in order to pass a motion.
Pat Cipollone and Jay Sekulow are expected to make brief closing arguments starting this afternoon at 1 p.m. ET, when the Senate trial resumes.
Expect around two hours, a person familiar said. But they cautioned the timing could shift some.
It is unclear yet whether the Senate will then end for the day.
Today will be Trump’s legal team’s third and final day for opening argument (each side was given 24 hours over the course of three days to present their initial case).
A GOP official tells CNN the White House team does not plan to use all of its remaining time today. But what that means for what’s next is still TBD.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell could move to the next phase of the trial — a question-and-answer period — as soon as the defense team yields back, but that also remains fluid. It will largely depend on how long the White House goes and how senators are feeling about pushing forward.
When is the vote to proceed to witnesses? Sen. John Thune told CN the vote on whether or not to proceed to consideration of subpoenas for witnesses and documents will likely take place Friday or Saturday.
That would seem to imply the question-and-answer period won’t begin til Wednesday, but stay tuned.
When is the final vote to find Trump guilty or not guilty? We’re not sure. But here’s what we do know about the schedule:
In other words: Nobody knows when the trial will officially end.
President Trump’s former national security adviser upended the Senate impeachment trial on Monday.
Much of the attention on Capitol Hill focused on the Republican senators and how they are reacting to Sunday night’s New York Times bombshell that John Bolton’s draft manuscript says Trump told him US security assistance to Ukraine was conditioned on investigations into Democrats, including former Vice President Joe Biden.
Two key moderate Republicans said the Bolton news strengthened the case for having witnesses in the trial — and Republican Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah predicted it was “increasingly likely” that other Republicans would now join him in calling for Bolton to testify.
But other GOP senators, including in Republican leadership, downplayed or dismissed the developments.
President Trump’s defense team will continue their opening arguments today in the Senate impeachment trial.
A lot happened yesterday on Capitol Hill. In case you missed it, here are some of highlights:
