Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Maanvi Singh in San Francisco (now) and Joan E Greve in Washington (earlier)

Trump impeachment: Schiff says Trump tried to 'cheat' way to re-election – as it happened

In this image from video, the House impeachment manager Zoe Lofgren speaks during the impeachment trial.
In this image from video, the House impeachment manager Zoe Lofgren speaks during the trial. Photograph: AP

Live reporting of the impeachment trial continues on Thursday’s blog:

Summary

That wraps up the second full day of Donald Trump’s impeachment trial. Catch up on The Guardian’s coverage:

  • Read today’s key takeaways...
  • ...And The Guardian’s analysis of today’s arguments.
  • Review the trial’s peculiar rules.

Report: Tomorrow, the Trump administration is expected to finalize a rule to strip away environmental protections for streams, rivers, and wetlands.

Under the new regulations, for the first time in decades, landlords and businesses will be allowed to dump pollutants and pesticides directly into bodies of water.

Per the New York Times, which broke the story:

From Day 1 of his administration, President Trump vowed to repeal President Barack Obama’s “Waters of the United States” regulation, which had frustrated rural landowners...

“I terminated one of the most ridiculous regulations of all: the last administration’s disastrous Waters of the United States rule,” Mr. Trump told the American Farm Bureau Federation’s annual convention in Texas on Sunday, to rousing applause. He added, “That was a rule that basically took your property away from you.”

His administration had completed the first step of its demise in September with the rule’s repeal.

His replacement on Thursday will complete the process, not only rolling back 2015 rules that guaranteed protections under the 1972 Clean Water Act to certain wetlands and streams that run intermittently or run temporarily underground, but also relieves landowners of the need to seek permits that the Environmental Protection Agency had considered on a case-by-case basis before the Obama rule.

Lindsey Graham to Adam Schiff: ‘Good job’

Reporters spotted an unexpected exchange between Senator Lindsey Graham, a staunch defender of Donald Trump, and Congressman Adam Schiff, the lead impeachment manager advocating for removing the president from office.

Graham served as an impeachment manager during Bill Clinton’s trial.

Updated

Senator Dianne Feinstein’s reportedly left early because she was feeling under the weather.

Feinstein is far from the only senator to bend the rules. The Guardian’s Tom McCarthy and Lauren Gambino report that several lawmakers, “visibly frustrated at the long hours of the trial, appeared at times to be on the verge of mild mutiny, openly flouting rules requiring them to remain at their desks and instead circulating in a cloakroom off the Senate floor”

Senator Lindsey Graham reportedly spent up to 30 minutes away from his seat, and at one point 15 Republican seats and 12 Democratic seats were empty, according to CNN. Lawmakers stood to stretch their legs, or headed into the cloakroom to check their phones.

Before the trial ended, Democrats asked for a classified piece of evidence to be made available for Senators to review.

Senate trial ends for the day

Senate leader Mitch McConnell said the trial will resume at 1pm ET tomorrow. He and minority leader Chuck Schumer also thanked the Senate pages on the penultimate day of their term. Senators gave the pages a standing ovation.

Winding down today’s arguments, Schiff said the impeachment managers will be back tomorrow to present their first article of impeachment against Donald Trump: abuse of power.

The asked senators to consider the risks that Trump administration officials took in testifying in the impeachment inquiry. “They risked everything — their careers,” Schiff said. “If they could show the courage, so can we,” he told lawmakers.

Updated

Adam Schiff holds redacted documents as he speaks during the impeachment trial against Donald Trump.
Adam Schiff holds redacted documents as he speaks during the impeachment trial against Donald Trump. Photograph: AP

Referring to heavily redacted documents obtained by a FOIA yesterday, Adam Schiff said: “I’m sure if you could read under those redactions, it would be a very perfect email.”

The documents, which Schiff held up before the Senate, were released by the White House Office of Management and Budget after the watchdog group American Oversight made a “request for directives and communications that may relate to any effort to pressure the Ukrainian government to investigate one of President Trump’s political opponents as part of an effort to give the president an electoral advantage.”

Senate Democrats brought an amendment yesterday to subpoena the OMB, but it was voted down along party lines — as was every other efffort to subpoena evidence.

Updated

Schiff once again played a clip of Donald Trump publicly calling for Ukraine and China to investigate Joe Biden and Hunter Biden. “Give him credit for being so obvious,” Schiff said of the president.

This is the second time Schiff has played that clip today, emphasizing that Trump’s own words are part of the case House Democrats have built against Trump.

One senator bowed out early: 86-year-old Senator Dianne Feinstein of California has reportedly left the Capitol. Senators are expected to remain for the entirety of arguments, but as the oldest member of the Senate Feinstein may get a pass for seeing herself home an hour the presentations are scheduled to end.

It’s unclear the extent to which the hours of presentations. Yesterday, an average of 11m viewers tuned in during afternoon hours, and more than 7.5m watched during prime time, according to Nielsen Media Research.

The Washington Post adds context:

For further perspective: the first day of the House impeachment hearings in November drew an average of 13.1 million viewers on the six networks. special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s testimony before Congress in July attracted 12.97 million.

The big TV winner was Fox News, which led all networks during late afternoon and prime time on Tuesday. Its audience peaked at 3.8 million between 9 and 10 p.m.

The relatively strong audience interest belied comments from some Trump supporters that the coverage — which relied primarily on static cameras controlled by the Senate — was “boring.”

Updated

Taking over from Adam Schiff, Zoe Lofgren thanked the senators for their patience. “This is a lot of information,” she said.

Then, the picked up where Adam Schiff left off, reconstructing a timeline of events that lead Congress to open an impeachment inquiry. Lofgren has caught us up till November 2019.

If you’re a bit lost, look up The Guardian’s timeline of key events:

Referring to ambassador Gordon Sondland’s notes of his phone call with Bill Taylor, the top US diplomat in Ukraine, Adam Schiff told senators: “They’re yours for the asking.”

“Demand those notes’ Schiff said. “Demand to see the truth.”

He continued: “Maybe those notes say no quid pro quo. Maybe those notes say it’s a perfect call. I’d like to see them.”

Schiff reviewed what House investigators do know, and read out text messages between Sondland and Taylor. When Taylor grew worried about why the US was withholding congressionally-approved military assistance to Ukraine, he texted Sondland.

“Are we now saying that security assistance and WH meeting are conditioned on investigations?” asked Taylor.

“Call me,” Sondland replied.

Updated

Lead impeachment manager Adam Schiff once again appealed to senators to call more witnesses — especially national security adviser John Bolton.

“What did Bolton know about the freeze in aid?” Schiff asked, rhetorically. “He’s there for your asking.”

Schiff also contested claims by Donald Trump and his allies that Ukraine never felt any pressure to announce an investigation.

“We’re to believe they felt no pressure? Folks, they’re at war, and they’re being told you’re not getting $400m in aid,” Schiff said. “That’s $400m of pressure.”

A reminder that Gordon Sondland, whose testimony is being heavily featured in Adam Schiff’s presentation, is still the US ambassador to the European Union

In a public hearing, Sondland said Trump had conditioned a White House meeting with the Ukranian president on him making an announcement that Ukraine was investigating Trump’s political rivals, including Joe Biden. “Was there a quid pro quo?” Sondland testified. “The answer is yes.”

The trial has resumed after a brief dinner break.

Impeachment manager Adam Schiff said he expects to continue for another two or two and a half hours. He has begun by reviewing events following the July 25 phone call between Donald Trump and Voldodmyr Zelensky, detailing efforts by Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani to pressure Ukrainian officials.

Updated

More than five hours of hearing impeachment managers presenting their case against Donald Trump has not compelled Republican senators to subpoena witnesses and testimony.

The impeachment brief “says the information is overwhelming, the facts are overwhelming,” said John Barrasso, a Republican senator from Wyoming. “Then present it and let’s vote.” Speaking to reporters in the basement of the Capitol, Barrasso said there’s no need to consider any new evidence.

Senator Ted Cruz, a Republican from Texas, said he would want to hear from one additional witness: Joe Biden’s son Hunter. “The need for the senate to hear the testimony of Hunter Biden... has become all the more relevant,” he told reporters.

But the same senators who denied the need to subpoena any additional evidence complained that the impeachment managers’ were repeating themselves. Barrasso said he heard “nothing new” presented today. Cruz echoed: “Just a few hours into their opening argument, they’re already repeating the same point for 13 hours yesterday.”

Updated

Bad news for some peacocks, pigs, hamsters - and cats

Thr trial has paused for a 30-minute dinner break.

This other news: the Department of Transportation is proposing a ban on emotional support animals on planes, except for dogs.

In the pecking order of feathered and furry friends, it seems canines win out for a space in the cabin, rather than being in the hold or left at the gate.

Airlines would no longer be required to accommodate travelers who want to fly with emotional support animals such as pigs, cats and rabbits, under new rules proposed by the US DoT today, the Washington Post has just reported.

The proposed rules, years in the making, narrow the definition of service animal to dogs that have received individualized training to do work or perform tasks for a person with a disability, the Post continues.

There is time allocated now for public comments to the government - I’m sure they can expect a cacophony of barking, yowling, howling, squeaking and shrieking, as well as purring from passengers who don’t want a kitty under the seat next to them.

This could lead to fewer accounts of unfortunate experiences for individuals such as Pebbles the hamster, Dexter the peacock or Flirty the mini horse, and others.

A protestor briefly interrupted the trial

Here’s what the senators are up to

As impeachment managers carry on, taking turns laying out a detailed case against Donald Trump, the senators are taking notes — or not. They’re sitting at their desks, they’re pacing, they’re drinking milk and filling crossword puzzles.

The rules also say lawmakers should refrain from talking, but reporters at the trial have spotted a few whispered conversations.

Another convention, if not an explicit rule, is that senators can’t eat, but can drink water or milk while in the chamber. Senator Tom Cotton seems to be making the most of it (milking it, we could say).

Among the senators that seem to be sitting tight are progressive presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. But there appears to be a subtle philosophical difference between the two liberal 2020 competitors.

Warren seems to have a system for her notes:

Sanders isn’t big into note-taking:


Updated

From across an ocean, Trump announces controversial new plans and policies

As the impeachment managers carry on, presenting their case against Donald Trump, the president has announced all sorts of new plans, policies, and programs that on any other day, may have dominated the news cycle.

Speaking with reporters at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Trump announced that he intends to expand his controversial travel ban. “We’re adding a couple of countries to it. We have to be safe,” he said. “You see what’s going on in the world. Our country has to be safe.” According to the AP, anonymous officials familiar with the matter said seven countries were added to a draft of the proposed restrictions: Belarus, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Nigeria, Sudan, and Tanzania. “It’s going to be announced very shortly. Okay?” the president teased.

In an interview with CNBC, Trump actively reached for what has long been the third rail of politics, indicating a willingness to revamp Social Security and Medicare. Trump said that entitlement programs are “ the easiest of all things” to tackle.

The president also revealed plans to speak at an anti-abortion demonstration on Friday, organized by the group March for Life. He will be the first president to attend a March for Life event — though this isn’t the first time he’s endorsed the group. He addressed anti-abortion demonstrators via telecast in 2018.

Donald Trump put out 132 tweets and retweets as of 4:45 pm ET today, setting a record for the most of any single day since he became president.

Most of the messages were retweets from supporters, including Fox News’ Sean Hannity, the GOP, and senators Ted Cruz and Rand Paul.

Updated

Evening summary

That’s it from me today. My west coast colleague, Maanvi Singh, will take over the blog as the impeachment trial continues.

Here’s where the day stands so far:

  • House impeachment managers began presenting their opening arguments, with lead manager Adam Schiff speaking for two and a half hours on the Senate floor. He accused Trump of “abusing the power of his office to seek help from abroad to improve his re-election prospects at home... In other words, to cheat.”
  • The House intelligence committee chairman argued the trial represented a battle for the soul of American democracy.
  • Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer said Democratic senators were not considering leveraging potential testimony from Joe Biden or his son, Hunter, to hear from Trump administration officials, like former national security adviser John Bolton.
  • Biden similarly said he would not participate in a witness swap, arguing that such a move would turn the impeachment trial into “some kind of political theatre”.
  • Trump and his allies expressed wariness about having Bolton testify, citing executive privilege.
  • The DC attorney general has sued Trump’s inaugural committee for alleged misuse of funds at the president’s Washington hotel.

Maanvi will have more updates and analysis to come, so stay tuned.

Updated

Trump is still tweeting away, using his favorite social-media platform to amplify his allies and belittle the Senate impeachment trial as a “sham.”

Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia has concluded speaking for now, and fellow impeachment manager Jason Crow has taken the Senate floor to continue presenting his side’s opening arguments.

Of the seven impeachment managers, Crow is the only one who faces an arguably difficult reelection later this year.

The freshman congressman won his race in 2018 by 9 points, defeating Republican incumbent Mike Coffman.

Campaigning in Iowa, Joe Biden threw cold water on the possibility of testifying in the Senate trial if Trump administration officials, such as former national security adviser John Bolton, also agreed to do so.

“This is a constitutional issue, and we’re not going to turn it into a farce, into some kind of political theatre,” Biden said. “I want no part of being any part of that.”

The presidential candidate added he was focused on defeating Trump at the ballot box. “The Senate’s job is now to try him,” Biden said. “My job is to beat him.”

Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer similarly said during the last trial recess that the idea of a witness swap was “off the table”.

Updated

Impeachment manager Jerry Nadler has finished speaking (for now), and he has ceded the Senate floor to another member of the House team, congresswoman Sylvia Garcia.

The impeachment managers have been presenting their opening arguments for a collective three hours or so now, leaving them 21 hours to finish making their case.

Speaking on the Senate floor, impeachment manager Jerry Nadler incorporated tweets from Trump and his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr, to argue the president and his allies participated in a “smear campaign” against Maria Yovanovitch, the former US ambassador to Ukraine.

During the recess, Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer spoke to reporters and praised the performance of lead impeachment manager Adam Schiff.

Schumer also dismissed the possibility of “trading” the testimony of Hunter Biden, the former vice president’s son, for the testimony of John Bolton, Trump’s former national security adviser.

“I think it’s off the table,” Schumer said when asked about the potential witness swap.

Nadler begins speaking for impeachment managers

The recess has ended, and impeachment manager Jerry Nadler, the chairman of the House judiciary committee, has taken the Senate floor to continue presenting his side’s opening arguments.

Outrage over Trump downplaying troop injuries

While there’s a brief recess in the impeachment trial, we can bring you the development that a leading New York expert in traumatic brain injuries has criticized Donald Trump for downplaying the injuries suffered by US military personnel in Iraq during Iran’s missile attacks on bases where they were stationed earlier this month.

Michael Kaplen, chair of the New York State Traumatic Brain Injury Services Coordinating Council and past president of the Brain Injury Association of New York State said that he was “shocked at the ignorant statement” made by Trump at a press conference earlier today discussing traumatic brain injuries.

Though Trump initially said no US troops were harmed in the 8 January attack on two Iraqi bases housing them, the Pentagon announced last week that 11 service members had been flown to medical hospitals in Germany and Kuwait to be “treated for concussion symptoms from the blast”, my Middle East correspondent colleague Michael Safi reports.

Asked about the discrepancy on Wednesday, Trump said he learned about the injuries “numerous days later”.

“I heard that they had headaches and a couple of other things, but I would say and I can report it is not very serious,” he told a news conference in Davos, Switzerland. “I don’t consider them very serious injuries relative to other injuries I have seen.”

But Kaplen vigorously disagreed.

“To equate traumatic brain injuries as just a headache is insulting and disrespectful to the thousands of military service members suffering from the signature wound of the Iraq/Afghanistan conflict,” he said.

He added that the condition, also known as TBI, is a “life altering” injury.

“It’s physical, cognitive, emotional, and behavioral consequences affect every aspect of an individual’s life,” he said. “A brain injury is only ‘mild’ if it is someone else’s brain. There is nothing “mild” about a mild brain injury.”

Schiff concludes floor presentation

Lead impeachment manager Adam Schiff has concluded his presentation after speaking on the Senate floor for about two and a half hours.

Once Schiff stepped away from the podium, Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell called for a roughly 20-minute recess.

Schiff concluded his presentation by quoting the oft-repeated line from Benjamin Franklin. On the final day of the 1787 constitutional convention, Franklin was asked whether America would have a monarchy or a republic. “A republic, if you can keep it,” Franklin replied.

It appears Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell is ready for lead impeachment manager Adam Schiff to wrap up his presentation.

Schiff said several minutes ago that 10 minutes remained in his presentation. “So the end is in sight,” he added.

Schiff conveys impeachment trial as a fight for democracy

As lead impeachment manager Adam Schiff neared the end of his two-hour presentation, the House intelligence committee chairman laid out what he believes is at stake in the Senate trial.

Schiff pointed to the rise of autocratic leaders around the world to argue that democracy is not “immutable” and that Americans must fight to defend their system of government.

“There’s nothing immutable about this,” Schiff said. “Every generation has to fight for it. We’re fighting for it right now. There’s no guarantee that this democracy that has served us so well will continue to prosper.”

Lead impeachment manager Adam Schiff has been speaking on the Senate floor for more than two hours, and the congressman just said he still has 10 minutes to go, at which point the Senate will likely call a brief recess.

Schiff said each of the other House impeachment managers -- Jerry Nadler, Zoe Lofgren, Hakeem Jeffries, Val Demings, Jason Crow and Sylvia Garcia -- would present part of the team’s opening arguments.

The president, who is traveling back to Washington from the World Economic Forum in Davos, appears to be watching the Senate impeachment trial from Air Force One.

Trump told CNBC earlier today that he managed to watch some of the proceedings yesterday.

“I had a busy day yesterday, as you know,” Trump said. “But I did get to see some of it. It’s a hoax. It’s a total hoax.”

Lead impeachment manager Adam Schiff made clear that Americans should not “get over” how the Trump administration allowed political calculations to affect foreign policy, as acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney argued in October.

The latest clip that lead impeachment manager Adam Schiff played on the Senate floor included Mick Mulvaney, the acting White House chief of staff, acknowledging a quid pro quo in connection to the freeze on Ukraine’s military assistance.

“The look back to what happened in 2016 certainly was part of the thing that he was worried about in corruption with that nation,” Mulvaney said in October.

“Did he also mention to me in the past the corruption that related to the DNC server? Absolutely, no question about that,” Mulvaney continued. “But that’s it. That’s why we held up the money.”

Asked about the concern that political calculations were affecting foreign policy, Mulvaney told White House reporters, “We do that all the time with foreign policy … I have news for everybody. Get over it. There is going to be political influence in foreign policy. Elections have consequences.”

Lead impeachment manager Adam Schiff is still speaking on the Senate floor, delivering his team’s opening arguments for why Trump should be removed from office.

The California Democrat argued Trump’s misconduct stretched far beyond his July call to the Ukrainian president to include his efforts before and after the call to push for investigations into his political enemies.

As opening arguments continue, congressional reporters have raised additional concerns about the press restrictions imposed during the impeachment trial.

Reporters on Capitol Hill are generally allowed relatively free rein, giving them many opportunities to pose questions to lawmakers in hallways, but the restrictions have made that more difficult.

Like yesterday, lead impeachment manager Adam Schiff is playing clips of Trump that he says proves the president’s abuse of power.

One of the clips that Schiff just played was this interview Trump gave on the White House lawn in October:

“If they were honest about it, they would start a major investigation into the Bidens,” Trump said at the time, when asked what he wanted the Ukrainian president to do.

“I would say President Zelenskiy, if it was me, I would start an investigation into the Bidens.”

Updated

Inside the Senate chamber, congressional reporters said senators looked visibly exhausted as they heard the House impeachment managers present their opening arguments.

Yesterday’s debate over the impeachment trial rules stretched past 2 a.m. ET, and senators were back on Capitol Hill this morning.

As the House impeachment managers present their opening arguments, the White House appears to be pushing back against the allegations in real time, sending out email blasts defending Trump.

Even though Senate Democrats’ multiple efforts to force new witness testimony failed yesterday, lead impeachment manager Adam Schiff used the beginning of his team’s opening arguments to emphasize the need to hear from administration officials.

“You will hear their testimony at the same time as the American people — that is, if you allow it,” Schiff said.

Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer has pushed for subpoenas of four Trump administration officials: acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney; former national security adviser John Bolton; Robert Blair, a senior adviser to Mulvaney; and Michael Duffey, associate director for national security at the office of management and budget.

Shortly before taking the Senate floor, lead impeachment manager Adam Schiff dismissed a report that some Democratic senators have weighed leveraging the testimony of Hunter Biden, the former vice president’s son, in order to hear from John Bolton, Trump’s former national security adviser.

“This isn’t like some fantasy football trade,” Schiff said just before the impeachment trial resumed. “Trials aren’t trades for witnesses.”

Campaigning in Iowa, Joe Biden also denied that Senate Democrats were considering such a proposal. “No, they’re not,” the presidential candidate said when asked about the report.

But one of the Washington Post reporters who spoke to Democratic officials about the proposal insisted the denials simply showed how sensitive the discussions were:

Echoing his earlier comments, lead impeachment manager Adam Schiff argued Trump’s actions toward Ukraine and House investigators prove the president believes he is “above the law.”

The House intelligence committee chairman applauded the administration officials who testified during the public impeachment hearings, but he insisted other officials -- including former national security adviser John Bolton and acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney -- should be asked to testify for the Senate trial.

Schiff argued the documents that Trump was “unable to suppress” clearly “expose the president’s scheme in detail.”

The House impeachment managers now presenting their opening arguments will have 24 hours, spread over three days, to make their case, but it’s unclear whether they will use the full 24 hours.

The focus will then shift to Trump’s legal team, who will also get 24 hours to present their opening arguments. The president’s lawyers have so far kept mum on how much of their 24 hours they intend to use.

Schiff takes Senate floor to begin presenting opening arguments

Adam Schiff, the lead House impeachment manager, began his team’s opening arguments by thanking Supreme Court chief justice John Roberts for his handling of the trial yesterday.

As yesterday’s proceedings concluded, Roberts admonished both sides for engaging in attacks against each other. “Those addressing the Senate should remember where they are,” Roberts said.

Schiff then moved on to his team’s arguments, starting with a reading of an Alexander Hamilton quote that warned of “a man unprincipled in private life desperate in his fortune.”

Senate impeachment trial resumes to hear impachment managers' opening arguments

Supreme Court chief justice John Roberts has assumed his post, and Trump’s impeachment trial has officially resumed.

House impeachment managers will soon begin presenting their opening arguments for why the president should be removed from office.

The trial rules allows each side 24 hours, spread over three days, to present its opening arguments, but it’s unclear whether the managers will use the whole time.

Updated

As the House impeachment managers explained their plans for presenting their opening argument today, three Republican senators held a dueling press conference to defend Trump.

Lindsey Graham, one of the president’s closest Senate allies, said House Democrats are “on a crusade to destroy” Trump and accused reporters of being “complicit” in his impeachment.

“To my Democratic colleagues, you can say what you want about me, but I’m covering up nothing,” Graham said.

Schiff says impeachment managers will present 'factual chronology' of Ukraine controversy

Adam Schiff, the lead House impeachment manager, told reporters on Capitol Hill that his team would present “a factual chronology” of the events surrounding Trump’s impeachment.

The California Democrat also dismissed a suggestion that John Bolton, Trump’s former national security adviser, could be called in to testify in exchange for calling Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, to Capitol Hill.

“This isn’t like some fantasy football trade,” Schiff said. “Trials aren’t trades for witnesses.”

He concluded by offering a somber note about the managers presenting their case for Trump’s removal to the American public. “We’re trying this case to two juries: the Senate and the American people,” Schiff said.

Afternoon summary

The House impeachment managers will start presenting their opening arguments in favor of Trump’s removal from office in about a half an hour.

Here’s where the day stands so far:

  • Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer accused his Republican colleagues of trying to prevent a fair trial from taking place, saying the president’s legal team appeared “unprepared, confused and unconvincing” yesterday.
  • Early this morning, Supreme Court chief justice John Roberts, who is overseeing the trial, admonished both sides for their attacks on each other. “Those addressing the Senate should remember where they are,” Roberts said.
  • The DC attorney general sued Trump’s inaugural committee for alleged misuse of funds at the president’s Washington hotel.

The blog will be providing updates and analysis once the trial resumes, so stay tuned.

Trump and allies express wariness of Bolton testimony

Speaking to reporters in Davos this morning, Trump expressed some wariness about having his former national security adviser, John Bolton, testify during the Senate impeachment trial.

Bolton has said he would testify in the trial if he were subpoenaed by the Senate, which has become a pressing debate among the chamber’s members.

Trump said he would prefer to have Bolton and others testify but then added, “The problem with John is that it’s a national security problem. ... He knows some of my thoughts. He knows what I think about leaders. What happens if he reveals what I think about a certain leader and it’s not very positive and I have to deal on behalf of the country?”

The president also noted he and Bolton did not part on “the best of terms.” “You don’t like people testifying when they didn’t leave on good terms,” Trump said.

The president’s allies now seem to be echoing that argument. Congressman Mark Meadows, one of Trump’s impeachment advisers, told CNN today, “When we start to look at it, the executive privilege aspect of that, I don’t know if John Bolton has anything to add.”

The Democratic presidential candidates who are required to stay in Washington this week to participate in Trump’s impeachment trial -- senators Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Amy Klobuchar and Michael Bennet -- are finding creative ways to keep their Iowa campaigns going.

In addition to Klobuchar’s tele-town hall, the candidates have deployed high-profile surrogates across the first caucus state to campaign for them. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is meeting with voters in support of Sanders, and former housing secretary Julián Castro is campaigning for Warren.

But the candidates who are not required to be in Washington are making the most of their opponents’ absence. Joe Biden is in Iowa today and just announced he will be holding more events there over the weekend.

Chief justice John Roberts, who is overseeing the Senate impeachment trial and was on Capitol Hill past midnight for the rules debate, was back at the Supreme Court early this morning to hear oral arguments in a case regarding the separation of church and state.

The case, Espinoza v Montana Department of Revenue, centers on the constitutionality of a tax-credit program in Montana, which distributes scholarships that can be used at religious schools.

Over in Davos, Donald Trump courted controversy this morning when he reacted to reports that more service members at US bases hit by Iranian rockets have suffered concussion-related injuries by saying the troops “had headaches and a couple of other things” which he deemed “not very serious”.

The strikes on bases in Iraq were carried out by Tehran in retaliation for the US assassination by drone of Gen Qassem Suleimani. Trump initially responded by saying no US troops had been hurt. But 11 US service members were flown out of Iraq in mid-January for examination of concussion-like symptoms, and about 10 more have followed in recent days.

“I heard they had headaches and a couple of other things ... and I can report it is not very serious,” Trump told reporters in Switzerland.

“No, I don’t consider them very serious injuries relative to other injuries that I’ve seen. I’ve seen what Iran has done with their roadside bombs to our troops. I’ve seen people with no legs and with no arms. I’ve seen people that were horribly, horribly injured in that area, that war.

“No, I do not consider that to be bad injuries, no.”

According to the Associated Press, most of the troops flown out of Iraq are “being treated for symptoms related to possible traumatic brain injury (TBI).

A smaller number may have been suffering from psychological trauma, according to two defence officials who discussed the matter on condition of anonymity. The exact nature and severity of the apparent brain injuries has not been publicly released.

The question of American casualties was especially significant … because Trump cited the fact that no Americans were killed or inured as driving his decision not to retaliate further and risk a broader war with Iran.

…Trump told reporters he was informed of the concussion issue ‘numerous days’ after the attack.

Trump’s dismissal of concussion-related injuries does not match official views. CNN reports that the Pentagon and Department of Veterans Affairs “announced last year … [funding of] up to $50m for new research on concussions.

“‘VA and DOD share an urgent, ongoing commitment to better understand the long-term impact of TBI,’ Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert Wilkie said at the time.”

Famously, Trump avoided the draft for Vietnam through four academic deferments and one for bone spurs in his foot. In congressional testimony in 2019, former fixer Michael Cohen said Trump told him he made up the problem, because: “You think I’m stupid, I wasn’t going to Vietnam.”

Chuck Schumer, the senate minority leader, said Donald Trump’s defense team appeared “unprepared, confused and unconvincing” during the first day of debate at the president’s impeachment trial on Tuesday.

At a press conference on Capitol Hill, before House impeachment managers were set to make their case in the Senate trial, Schumer assailed Republicans for rejecting the Democrats’ proposals to subpoena witnesses and documents.

“If there’s one thing we learned on the floor it’s that Leader McConnell and senate Republicans don’t want a fair trial,” Schumer said, adding: “The impeachment trial of president Trump begins a cloud hanging over it.”

That all but one Republican voted against the amendments offered by Democrats “revealed the charade” that they intended to seriously consider calling witnesses at a later stage in the trial, as provided for in a resolution setting the ground rules for the trial, which was approved by the Senate on a party line vote in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Schumer added that the last-minute changes to the that proposal, which McConnell made to accommodate moderates who were uncomfortable with the restrictions placed on the trial, showed that “Republicans can make this trial more fair if they want to.”

“It’s a question of conscience,” he said.

Updated

DC attorney general sues Trump's inaugural committee

The DC attorney general has reportedly sued Trump’s inaugural committee for its spending at the president’s Washington hotel.

The Washington Post reports:

D.C. Attorney General Karl A. Racine sued President Trump’s inaugural committee and business Wednesday, alleging that the committee violated its nonprofit status by spending more than $1 million to book a ballroom at Trump’s D.C. hotel that its staff knew was overpriced and that it barely used.

During the lead-up to Trump’s January 2017 inauguration, the committee booked the hotel ballroom for $175,000 a day, plus more than $300,000 in food and beverage costs, over the objections of its own event planner.

The committee was formed to organize the events around the inauguration, but Racine alleges it instead ‘abandoned this purpose and violated District law when it wasted approximately $1 million of charitable funds in overpayment for the use of event space at the Trump hotel.’

Sanders and Biden lead new national poll

A new national poll found Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden essentially tied for first, representing a significant spike for the Vermont senator with less than two weeks to go until the Iowa caucuses.

According to the CNN poll, Sanders has the support of 27% of Democratic primary voters, compared to Biden’s 24%. This marks the first time Biden has not held a solo lead in the outlet’s polling.

Biden held a small lead in two Iowa polls released in recent days, but the national trend line in Sanders’ favor will likely cause anxiety in the former vice president’s camp.

Trump calls Parnas a 'con man' who was 'sort of like a groupie'

Speaking to reporters in Davos, Trump mocked Lev Parnas, the former associate of Rudy Giuliani who claimed the president was fully aware of his personal lawyer’s efforts to have Ukraine investigate Joe Biden.

“He’s a con man,” Trump replied when asked about Parnas. “I don’t know him, other than he’s sort of like a groupie.”

Trump similarly denied knowing Parnas last week, but the former Giuliani associate said the president was “lying.”

“I welcome him to say that even more. Every time he says that I’ll show him another picture,” Parnas told CNN on Thursday. “He’s lying.”

Schiff reportedly mischaracterized text from former Giuliani associate

Lead House impeachment manager Adam Schiff is coming under fire for reportedly mischaracterizing a text message from Lev Parnas, a former associate of Rudy Giuliani.

Politico reports:

The issue arose when Schiff (D-Calif.) sent a letter to House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) last week summarizing a trove of evidence from Lev Parnas, an indicted former associate of Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani. In one section of the letter, Schiff claims that Parnas ‘continued to try to arrange a meeting with President Zelensky,’ citing a specific text message exchange where Parnas tells Giuliani: ‘trying to get us mr Z.’ The remainder of the exchange — which was attached to Schiff’s letter — was redacted.

But an unredacted version of the exchange shows that several days later, Parnas sent Giuliani a word document that appears to show notes from an interview with Mykola Zlochevsky, the founder of Burisma, followed by a text message to Giuliani that states: ‘mr Z answers my brother.’ That suggests Parnas was referring to Zlochevsky not Zelensky.

The apparent error will likely fuel Republican accusations that Democrats rushed to impeach Trump based on questionable evidence. The president himself tried to draw attention to the story in a morning tweet:

House impeachment managers and Trump's lawyers scolded by Roberts

Good morning, live blog readers!

It’s an important day in the Senate impeachment trial of Donald Trump, as House impeachment managers and the president’s legal team present their opening arguments for whether he should be removed from office.

But both sides started the day off with a scolding from the chief justice of the Supreme Court. John Roberts, who is overseeing the trial, advised the managers and the president’s lawyers to remember they are presenting before “the world’s greatest deliberative body.” “Those addressing the Senate should remember where they are,” Roberts said.

The admonishment came after impeachment manager Jerry Nadler and White House counsel Pat Cipollone engaged in a tense back-and-forth, during which Nadler accused Republicans of participating in a cover-up and Cipollone responded by saying the congressman “should be embarrassed.”

As the trial advances toward 24 hours of opening arguments from each side, there is some skepticism that Roberts’ “play nice” message will have much of an impact.

Donald Trump arrives to hold a news conference at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Donald Trump arrives to hold a news conference at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

Here’s what else the blog is keeping an eye on:

  • Trump is returning to Washington from Davos.
  • With 12 days to go until the Iowa caucuses, Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg, Andrew Yang and John Delaney are campaigning in the Hawkeye State.
  • The winter meeting of the US conference of mayors will be held in Washington.

That’s all still coming up, so stay tuned.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
I’m Shook Over The Historic Milestone Spider-Man: Brand New Day’s Trailer Just Hit
This is astounding!
Cinemablend
Cinemablend
Khloe Kardashian feared Lamar Odom reality show could 'jeopardise family brand'
Khloe Kardashian feared Khloe and Lamar could "jeopardise the family brand" but her then-husband pushed for the show.
BANG Premier
BANG Premier
“I laughed my head off! Like, ‘Oh my God, what have we spawned?’” Keith Richards shares his response to the Sunset Strip shredders of the 1980s
Richards never had any interest in becoming a lead player – and the early innovators of the shred movement did not change his mind
Guitar World
Guitar World
“A few years ago, I decided, ‘I'm just going to play trumpet every day, no matter what. And after a couple of years of doing it, I'm going to make a record’”: Flea covers Frank Ocean and explains why he’s scratching a long-standing itch on his new album
Watch him doing double duty on trumpet and bass in the company of Jimmy Fallon
MusicRadar
MusicRadar
Anna Kendrick And Kieran Culkin’s Reactions To An Interviewer’s Michael Cera Comment Are Going Viral Again
“I think the interview is projecting his own insecurities here.”
Bored Panda
Bored Panda
Nicki Minaj Sued Over $275K Unpaid Concert Production Costs — Firm Claims Bills Ignored for Years
Nicki Minaj is embroiled in a legal battle as a production company claims she owes over $275,000 for concert production costs. The lawsuit highlights financial risks in the entertainment industry.
International Business Times UK
International Business Times UK
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.
Download on the AppStore Get it on Google Play