WASHINGTON _ President Donald Trump on Wednesday hardened his opposition to allowing former national security adviser John Bolton to testify in his Senate impeachment trial, citing national security but adding a note of apprehension: "I don't know if we left on the best of terms.
"You don't like people testifying when they didn't leave on good terms," Trump said at a news conference before departing from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. "And that was due to me, not him."
Trump's comments about Bolton, whom he fired in September, suggested his heightened anxiety, just hours before formal arguments for removing him from office were to begin. The Senate, for only the third time in history, is sitting in judgment of an impeached president, considering whether Trump abused his office and obstructed Congress by bartering military aid for Ukraine's help against his political rivals. The Senate's Republican majority is expected to prevent his ouster, which would require a vote of two-thirds of the senators, but the rare indignity is certain to undermine his legacy.
Trump's lawyers did not file any motions before the Senate's 9 a.m. deadline, confirming that they will not seek a vote dismissing the charges against the president before opening arguments. Several Republican moderates had signaled they would oppose a dismissal. Those in reelection races this year, especially, did not want to appear to be ignoring their constitutional responsibility to conduct a trial.
On Tuesday, in a session that lasted until nearly 2 a.m. Wednesday, Republicans approved a rules package along party lines that punted decisions about calling new witnesses until the end of next week. Each side is to present opening arguments stretching over days. Afterward, senators have up to 16 hours to submit written questions to lawyers for both Trump and the Democratic House impeachment managers prosecuting the case against him.
Though Trump reiterated to reporters at Davos that he would love to call more witnesses, he has repeatedly directed administration officials to defy subpoenas for documents and testimony.
Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., excoriated Republicans for limiting House managers' ability to call witnesses and introduce evidence unavailable to the House before its impeachment vote in December. "They want it in the dark of night. They want as much of this hidden from the American people as possible," he said at a Wednesday news conference. But he said Republicans plainly feel pressure, citing the fact that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., was forced Tuesday to soften the trial rules and allow more days to present arguments.
Schumer said Democrats would negotiate with Republicans over witnesses but would resist efforts to call Joe or Hunter Biden as part of a deal. He did not rule it out completely. "You know, we don't need to have witnesses that have nothing to do with this that are trying to distract Americans from the truth," he said.
The level of bitterness between the parties increased amid the previous day's pretrial arguments, prompting a rare rebuke urging civility after midnight from Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., who is required under the Constitution to preside over the president's trial.
The admonition did not extend to Trump in Davos. The president repeatedly described Democrats including Reps. Adam B. Schiff of Burbank and Jerrold Nadler of New York as "corrupt" and "sleazebags," and he said his economic success had made them lose their minds.
"You know what's driven them crazy? All of these record numbers," Trump said, referring to economic indicators.
The Democratic managers, led by Schiff, telegraphed their case in the pretrial arguments Tuesday, and Trump's lawyers caustically answered them as senators sat wordlessly. Schumer mocked them, saying, "The arguments of the president's lawyers were like a Fox News show _ a lot of finger-pointing and nothing to do with the actual facts."
The president's legal team also made some false statements in their pretrial comments on Tuesday, claiming, for example, that Trump wasn't given a chance to defend himself in the House impeachment investigation and that House Republicans weren't allowed into the secure facility where witnesses testified. While many critics on social media cited the claims, Senate Democrats said they had no plans to formally object.
After months of briefs and depositions, the Democrats highlighted Trump's demands last year that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy announce investigations of Joe Biden, a front-runner for the Democratic nomination, and his son Hunter, who received money for serving on a Ukrainian corporate board while his father served as vice president.
Using video clips in the Senate chamber, Democrats have presented extensive comments by American diplomats and other top officials who have testified under oath that Trump wanted Ukraine to announce a corruption investigation of the Bidens before he would agree to release military aid to Ukraine or agree to a White House meeting with Zelenskiy. The new Ukrainian president sought both the aid and a meeting as crucial shows of U.S. support as his country fought Russian aggression.
Many of those who testified in the House proceedings said they believed that Trump's attempts to leverage government aid for his own political benefit had damaged the country and violated its values.
Republicans, following Trump's lead, have argued that the president's actions were within his authority and that he was broadly seeking to root out corruption. Echoing his lawyers, they have emphasized that the House has not alleged that Trump committed a crime, though most constitutional experts agree that impeachment does not require a violation of the criminal code, only evidence of an abuse of power. Republicans have sought to portray Democrats' case as part of a longstanding political vendetta against a president who has defied convention and already withstood a 22-month special counsel investigation.
Yet several Republicans have suggested they might break with him _ and with McConnell _ and allow Democrats to call witnesses who declined to testify in the House, including Bolton.
Bolton, according to other witnesses, was upset by Trump's pressure tactics against Ukraine, instructing other staffers to contact attorneys and avoid becoming complicit in what he derisively called Trump's "drug deal." He recently said he would testify if subpoenaed, but it remains unclear whether he would implicate Trump in the alleged wrongdoing.
Democrats are also hoping to call Lev Parnas, an associate of Trump's personal attorney, Rudolph W. Giuliani, who has said he worked under Trump's authority to cajole Ukrainian officials to investigate Biden and Democrats.
Trump is hoping for a relatively brief trial to expedite an acquittal, allowing him to claim exoneration in what he calls a "witch hunt."
The two sides' presentations in the Senate will be pivotal in determining whether the Senate votes to hear witnesses before voting on Trump's culpability.
