WASHINGTON _ House managers prepared to make their final impassioned arguments Friday for removing President Donald Trump from office, the last of three days _ and 24 hours total _ they were allotted to make their impeachment case.
The presentation is expected to focus on the House charge that Trump obstructed Congress by instructing his top aides and other administration officials to defy subpoenas during the House inquiry into the president's efforts to pressure Ukraine to investigate a Democratic rival.
"This presidential stonewalling of Congress is unprecedented in the 238-year history of our constitutional republic," Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., one of the impeachment managers, said in a preview of the Democrats' closing argument.
The issue goes to the heart of the separation of powers between the executive and legislative branches, and the outcome of the Senate trial _ only the third presidential impeachment trial in U.S. history _ could have a lasting impact on that balance.
Trump's legal team and his Republican allies have rejected the Democrats' charge of abuse of power, calling it "absurd" and saying the president has well-established authority to keep some material confidential.
The president's lawyers also said Trump "acted with extraordinary and unprecedented transparency" by releasing a White House summary of his July 25 call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a conversation at the center of the impeachment saga.
During the call, Trump asked Zelenskiy to open two investigations, the first into a debunked Russian-promoted conspiracy theory that Ukraine and not Russia interfered in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, and the second into former Vice President Joe Biden, who is running for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.
Biden's son served on the board of a Ukrainian gas company and Trump has argued without evidence that as vice president, Biden pushed for the firing of a Ukrainian prosecutor who was investigating the company to protect his son.
Democrats argue that Trump abused his power by withholding nearly $400 million in congressionally-authorized security aid to Ukraine, which is in a conflict with neighboring Russia, while he was pushing Zelenskiy to announce the two investigations.
Much of Democrats' presentation on Thursday argued that the allegations against Biden were baseless and irrelevant to Trump's misconduct. However, they're still expected to be a major part of the defense that Trump's legal team is scheduled to start laying out on Saturday.
Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., said Friday that House managers had set an impossibly high bar for Trump's lawyers to match.
"It was precise, it was dramatic, it was emotional," he said of the House managers' presentation. Schumer also reiterated his plea for the Senate to subpoena witnesses and documents that the White House had refused to release to the House inquiry.
"Our quest for the truth continues," he said. "This is one of the most solemn and sacred moments we face in the country."
Always obsessed with ratings, Trump made clear his dismay that his lawyers won't get to present his defense until Saturday morning, which he called "Death Valley in T.V." The timeline was set by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and members of his caucus.
Trump's Twitter feed was a fire hose on Friday morning, gushing with self-pity and criticism of Democrats.
"The Impeachment Hoax is interfering with the 2020 Election," he wrote. "But that was the idea behind the Radical Left, Do Nothing Dems Scam attack. They always knew I did nothing wrong!"
Trump is expected to speak at the anti-abortion March for Life rally in Washington on Friday afternoon, making him the first president to address the annual gathering in person.
