US President’s Defenders Donald Trump in impeachment proceedings have insistently demanded that the charges be quickly dismissed. The Democrats Trump’s leading lawyer Jay Sekulow said in his closing speech in the Senate that the impeachment proceedings against Trump only started because they rejected his policy, not because there were legally valid reasons for doing so. If this became the new standard for the impeachment of a US president, all future leaders would be “paralyzed before taking the oath of office,” said Sekulow. “The impeachment threshold cannot be set so low,” he said.
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The senators would have to reject the charges of the House of Representatives controlled by Democrats without any ifs and buts, Sekulow demanded. “That requires the constitution, and justice requires it,” he said. Sekulow also dismissed those described by many Democrats as stressful recent revelations from a manuscript from Trump’s former national security advisor John Bolton. Such accusations from a book by someone who is no longer responsible could not be a reason for impeachment, he said.
The head of the White House legal department, Pat Cipollone, compared the impeachment process only a few months before Presidential election in November with a coup. “It would change our country dangerously and weaken our democratic institutions forever,” said Cipollone. The impeachment corresponded to massive election manipulation, he said. “The Senate must not allow that,” said Cipollone. The process must be brought to an end “as soon as possible”, said Cipollone.
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Will the hearing of witnesses be voted again?
On Thursday and Friday, the senators can write questions to the prosecutors and defense lawyers. They will then be answered in a maximum of five minutes, said Chief Justice John Roberts, who presides over the proceedings in the Chamber of Parliament. Following the questions, there could also be a renewed vote on the possible hearing of witnesses. The Democrats are vehemently calling for this, including the subpoena of Bolton. The republican have so far refused. However, individual Republican senators have meanwhile signaled openness to hearing witnesses – and it only takes four off-typesto make it possible. If there are no witness hearings, the Senate could theoretically vote on the charges on Friday evening.
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Democratic prosecutor Adam Schiff rejected the arguments of Trump’s defenders. “Trump’s lawyers can’t and haven’t defended him on the matter,” Schiff said. Instead, they claimed that the president’s actions did not justify impeachment. “Trump is guilty,” said Schiff. Now witnesses should be summoned. “A fair trial requires witnesses.”
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The House of Representatives has Trump with the majority of Democrats Abuse of power in his Ukraine affair and obstructed the investigation into Congress. Trump is said to be the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Selenskyj to investigate his political rival Joe Biden have pushed to influence the 2020 US presidential election in his favor. The Democrats see it as proven that Trump has made the release of military aid dependent on the announcement of such investigations. When that came out, Trump did everything he could to block the House investigation. Trump rejects the allegations.
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Trump’s defense shakes over Bolton
Earlier in the week, media reports on excerpts from an unpublished Bolton book manuscript had caused excitement and had increased calls for a witness summons. Trump is said to have told Bolton in August that he wanted to withhold nearly $ 400 million in military aid to Ukraine until Kiev launched an investigation into Biden. This contradicts a key argument by Trump and his defense team. They insist that the president has by no means linked the military aid to the investigation. On Tuesday, Trump’s lawyers did not explicitly reject the allegations, but described them as irrelevant to the proceedings.
The Senate assumes the role of a court in impeachment proceedings and decides on the charges. Because of the Republican majority in the chamber, Trump is extremely unlikely to be removed at the end of his term.
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