Impeachment trial of President Trump

By Meg Wagner, Mike Hayes and Fernando Alfonso III, CNN

Updated 5:35 p.m. ET, February 4, 2020
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11:51 a.m. ET, January 30, 2020

Pelosi: Trump will not be truly acquitted if his trial has no witnesses

From CNN's Clare Foran and Haley Byrd

Mario Tama/Getty Images
Mario Tama/Getty Images

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi argued that if the Senate does not pursue witnesses in the impeachment trial, President Trump will not be truly acquitted even if the Senate votes to do so.

“He will not be acquitted,” she said when asked if she thinks Trump will be chastened or emboldened by the impeachment ordeal after the Senate votes to acquit him. “You cannot be acquitted if you don't have a trial, and you don't have a trial if you don't have witnesses and documentation and that.”

She urged Senate Republicans to vote for new witnesses: “I just pray that the senators will have the courage and the ability to handle the truth instead of blocking the truth,” she said. 

Pelosi also slammed Trump’s defense team, saying they are “there to dismantle the Constitution.”

She singled out Alan Dershowitz’s argument that a president who believes his presidency is good for the country cannot be impeached for quid pro quos that would help his reelection campaign because he believes it is in the public interest. 

“Imagine that you would say — ever — of any President, no matter who he or she is or whatever party, if the President thinks that his or her presidency — in this case his presidency — is good for the country, then any action is justified,” she said.

11:34 a.m. ET, January 30, 2020

Key GOP senator says he's still undecided on witnesses

From CNN's Lauren Fox and Ellie Kaufman

Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP
Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP

Sen. Lamar Alexander, a closely watched Republican, told CNN that he still has not made up his mind on how he will vote on witnesses.

He said he is prepared to listen to the process and the rest of the question-and-answer session.  

He is now in his Capitol hideaway — in other words, his private office on the Hill. 

Why Alexander's vote matters: At least 51 senators are needed to pass a motion. If all 47 senators who caucus with the Democrats vote to have witnesses, at least four Republicans need to deflect and join them.

Only two GOP senators — Mitt Romney and Susan Collins — have suggested they're ready to vote in favor of witnesses.

11:28 a.m. ET, January 30, 2020

White House says it's "absolutely not" trying to stop Bolton book publication

From CNN's Allie Malloy 

Deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley said he did not know what information in former national security adviser John Bolton's book was being deemed classified — but said the White House was "absolutely not" attempting to stop Bolton's book from being published. 

What this is about: The White House issued a formal threat to Bolton to keep him from publishing his book, "The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir," sources familiar with the matter tell CNN. Reports from The New York Times suggest that Bolton's book details a time last August when the President directly linked $391 million in security aid to Ukraine with that country's government launching investigations into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter.

Gidley did not know of any outreach specifically to Republican senators who could possibly vote for witnesses — including Bolton — during the trial, but said the legislative affairs team is in "constant contact" with all members. 

He also said President Trump did not currently have plans for how he would mark a possible acquittal — but added we will certainly hear from Trump. 

11:22 a.m. ET, January 30, 2020

Schumer: Trump lawyer's logic "would unleash a monarch"

Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images
Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer criticized Trump lawyer Alan Dershowitz, who argued yesterday that a politician trying to win re-election is acting in the national interest — and therefore a quid pro quo aimed at boosting re-election chances cannot be impeachable.

Schumer called the logic "a load of nonsense" that could created a monarchy in the US.

"By Dershowitz's logic, President Nixon did nothing wrong in Watergate. He was breaking into the DNC to help his re-election, which, of course, is in the public interest according to Dershowitzian logic," Schumer said.

He added:

"The Dershowitz argument would unleash a monster. More aptly, it would unleash a monarch."
11:05 a.m. ET, January 30, 2020

Meanwhile, here are today’s top stories other than impeachment

President Trump’s impeachment trial continues 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:

  • Coronavirus: More than 170 people have died from the virus. More than 7,700 people worldwide have been infected, and Russia has taken the unprecedented step of closing its border with China. A further 6,000 people are being held on a cruise ship in Italy as two passengers are tested for the virus.
  • Benjamin Netanyahu meets Vladimir Putin: Israel’s Prime Minister spent the day in Moscow, where he met with President Putin. Netanyahu announced that Moscow had released an American-Israeli woman from a Russian prison.
  • Mike Pompeo in London: The US Secretary of State has met with Boris Johnson in the British capital. The UK’s decision to allow China’s Huawei to help build the country’s new 5G network will have been top of the agenda.
  • US economy: America’s economy grew at a rate of 2.1% in the final quarter of last year, according to preliminary data from the Commerce Department. 

Watch more:

10:53 a.m. ET, January 30, 2020

Key GOP senator won't comment on her thinking ahead of witness vote

From CNN's Phil Mattingly and Ted Barrett

Mario Tama/Getty Images
Mario Tama/Getty Images

Sen. Susan Collins did not comment when CNN asked her about her feelings heading into tomorrow, when senators could vote to a motion to hear from witnesses at the impeachment trial.

She was also asked whether she was dissatisfied with the House Manager’s response to her question about bribery last night. 

"I'm not going to be commenting further," Collins said. "I look forward to today’s Q&A. I thought yesterday’s Q&A was very interesting.“

At least 51 senators are needed to pass a motion. If all 47 senators who caucus with the Democrats vote to have witnesses, at least four Republicans need to deflect and join them.

Collins is one of two Republicans who have suggested they could vote for witnesses.

10:36 a.m. ET, January 30, 2020

McConnell: "We will see what tomorrow brings"

From CNN's Ted Barrett

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell just got to his office.

Asked if he has the votes to defeat a motion for witnesses at the trial, and if the final vote on the articles will take place Friday — as other members of the GOP leadership say they expect — he had a short answer.

"We will see what tomorrow brings," he said.
10:31 a.m. ET, January 30, 2020

There's nearly 8 hours of questions left

There are 7 hours and 54 minutes left for senator questions, per GOP leadership aides.

We should expect senators to use most, if not all of it. 

Senators will begin asking questions when the trial resumes at 1 p.m. ET

10:28 a.m. ET, January 30, 2020

Democratic senator wants John Roberts to break possible 50-50 tie vote on witnesses

From CNN's Manu Raju

Senate TV/AP
Senate TV/AP

It’s widely expected around the Capitol that Chief Justice John Roberts would not vote if there was a 50-50 tie on a motion to have witnesses — meaning it would fail.

But some Democrats are calling on Roberts to break a tie if the vote to subpoena witnesses and documents is deadlocked.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal said moments ago:

“I think that the interests of justice — which ultimately are his responsibility, the responsibility of the Chief Justice, as well as ourselves — make a powerful argument for his breaking the tie”