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Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
National
Jennifer Haberkorn

Closing arguments delivered in Trump's impeachment trial

WASHINGTON _ President Donald Trump's lawyers and House impeachment managers issued their closing arguments Monday, with Democrats arguing the Senate has a "duty" to convict Trump and the president's legal team saying senators would "vindicate" the right to vote by leaving the matter to voters in November.

Both parties did their best to limit defections from their side of the aisle and pick off votes from the other.

"Is there one among you who will say: 'Enough'?" asked Rep. Adam B. Schiff, the lead House impeachment manager, telling GOP senators that even a single vote for conviction from one of them would make an important statement.

He said that anyone who doesn't vote to convict Trump will see their name "tied to his with a cord of steel for all of history."

"A man without character or ethical compass will never find his way," said Schiff, D-Calif. "You are decent. He is not who you are."

Trump's lawyers reiterated that Trump didn't do anything wrong and condemned the House for imposing a partisan impeachment on the country, playing a video of some House Democrats calling for impeachment shortly after the president was elected in 2016.

"The president has done nothing wrong and these types of impeachments must end," said White House counsel Pat Cipollone. "You'll vindicate the right to vote. You'll vindicate the Constitution. You'll vindicate the rule of law by rejecting these articles."

Friday's vote to block subpoenas for witnesses and documents was the most significant point of suspense in the two-week impeachment trial. Republicans blocked that motion, meaning there is nothing left to do but wind down the trial and hold the final vote on whether the president should be removed from office.

"Your duty demands that you convict President Trump," Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., another House manager, said. "Today you have a duty to perform with fidelity, not without a sense of surrounding dangers, but also not without hope."

Trump's lawyers focused in on the idea that the Senate should leave the decision of Trump's fate to the voters, tapping into the conclusion reached by Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn.

Alexander, who was considered a possible swing vote on the question of witnesses, said on "Meet the Press" on Sunday that Trump's actions amounted to "crossing the line." But he also said the conduct did not rise to the level of removing the president from office.

"Our founding documents provide for duly elected presidents who serve with 'the consent of the governed,' not at the pleasure of the United States Congress," Alexander said in his statement Thursday. "Let the people decide."

Following closing arguments Monday, senators will have time to give speeches on the Senate floor to explain their vote. The final vote on conviction or acquittal won't take place until Wednesday afternoon.

The conclusion of the trial was delayed for the Iowa caucuses on Monday, the State of the Union on Tuesday and the fact that many senators want time to deliver a speech.

The four senators who are also running for the Democratic presidential nomination rushed from Iowa back to Washington for the closing arguments and are planning to get back to the Hawkeye State by the time the caucuses begin Monday evening. All were in attendance Monday for the arguments.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., admitted that she would have been crisscrossing the state over the last two weeks if she wasn't sitting in the trial in Washington. She refused to say whether she thought it would have any effect on her placement in Iowa.

"Obviously, the last week I would have been the (candidate) that would have been on some crazy schedule to every small town in Iowa. And I couldn't do that. But we'll let the chips fall where they may," she said.

The Constitution requires 67 votes to convict the president and remove him from office _ a high bar considering there are 53 Republicans in the Senate. It remains unclear whether any Democrats will break ranks to vote for acquittal or any Republicans will vote for conviction.

Sen. Doug Jones of Alabama, a Democrat representing a state where Trump won substantially in 2016 and one of those remaining swing votes, said he's still undecided.

"I'm getting there. I'm going through all of my notes. I'm going through everything," he said. "I really do want to hear arguments and conversations from colleagues."

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, who was also a swing vote on witnesses but decided against issuing subpoenas, told reporters she had decided how she would vote on acquittal but declined to reveal it publicly.

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