WASHINGTON _ Senators get a second chance to ask questions of the House prosecutors and White House lawyers Thursday, in one of their last chances to sway moderate and vulnerable senators on whether to call witnesses in the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump.
The lingering question remains: Will four Republicans join Democrats to vote in favor of subpoenaing witnesses? A resolution to that question is expected Friday. If witnesses are rejected, a rapid acquittal of Trump could soon follow.
The House voted to impeach Trump in December on two articles. The first, abuse of power for withholding military aid and a coveted White House meeting unless Ukraine announced investigations into his Democratic rivals, and the second, obstruction of Congress for preventing federal employees and agencies from complying with subpoenas for testimony and documents during the House investigation.
On Thursday, questions will go back and forth between Republicans and Democrats all day, read aloud by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., the trial's presiding officer. The House managers and the White House have spent six days laying out their respective cases as the Senate weighs whether to acquit Trump or to convict him and remove him from office.
So far it's unclear whether the 93 questions asked on the first day of questioning, many of which were aimed at letting each side restate their arguments over and over, changed the minds of any senators.
"I've never been more optimistic that we're in a good spot," said Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who's been one of the president's most aggressive attack dogs throughout the proceedings. "I'm in the room, and I'm becoming more optimistic _ but we'll probably know tonight or tomorrow."
The pool of potential yes votes appeared to shrink as several senators who were publicly undecided on witnesses, like vulnerable Colorado Republican Cory Gardner, told reporters Wednesday they didn't think witnesses were necessary.
Still, Democrats said Thursday that they are hopeful they will get the votes necessary to call witnesses, such as former national security adviser John Bolton, who has said he will comply with a Senate subpoena. Trump has indicated he will try to block Bolton from testifying.
"I listened for some glimmer of hope from the Republican side, certainly from the three that we're watching most closely," said Sen. Richard J. Durbin, D-Ill. "The questions asked and style of the questions led us to believe that they are still open-minded on the issue. I can't tell you there were many others that fit in that category. But I haven't given up."
Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Mitt Romney, R-Utah, have both said they support hearing from witnesses. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska Republican and third potential vote for witnesses, was coy about her position Wednesday after meeting with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
If the Senate chooses to not hear from witnesses, it will be the first time a presidential impeachment trial does not include witnesses. The previous impeachments both included new witnesses who did not testify as part of the House investigation.
One Trump lawyer, Alan Dershowitz, attempted Thursday morning to walk back a standout argument from Wednesday's questioning that drew widespread derision from Democrats.
"If a president does something that he thinks will help him get elected, in the public interest, that cannot be the kind of quid pro quo that results in impeachment," Dershowitz said on the Senate floor.
Dershowitz tweeted Thursday morning that cable news outlets misconstrued what he was trying to say.
"They characterized my argument as if I had said that if a president believes that his reelection was in the national interest, he can do anything. I said nothing like that, as anyone who actually heard what I said can attest." He added in a second tweet that he meant a president should not be impeached if he has mixed motives for his behavior.
Democrats jumped on his argument.
That logic "would unleash a monster, more aptly, it would unleash a monarch," Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., told reporters Thursday.
