***Live Updates*** Trump Impeachment Trial: Dems to Focus on ‘Abuse of Power’

Jerry Nadler (Senate TV / Getty)
Senate TV / Getty
Tony Lee

Democrats will have about 16 hours over the next two days to finish their opening arguments in President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial in the Senate.

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) signaled that House Managers will focus on “abuse of power” on Thursday.

Stay tuned to Breitbart News for live updates. All times eastern.

—

10:32 PM: Senate adjourns until 1 PM ET on Friday.

10:25 PM: Schiff says Democrats believe they will have made the case of Trump’s “overwhelming guilt.” He wants to address whether Trump really needs to be removed even if he is guilty. Schiff says Trump needs to be removed because Trump chose “Rudy Giuliani over his own intelligence agencies” and national security advisers. He says that makes Trump dangerous “to us, to our country.” Schiff says Trump can do “a lot” of damage before the next election. Schiff says the Senators know they can’t count on Trump to put the country’s interests above his own.

10:06 PM: Schiff says Democrats can’t ask for anything more than Senators listening with an open mind. Schiff says Senators should read the transcripts like Trump suggested. Schiff says it’s not really a transcript because it’s not really complete.

10:05 PM: After discussing the text messages between Sondland and Taylor, Crow yields to Schiff for the recap in prime time before Democrats resume their arguments in the morning.

9:45 PM: Crow compares Trump to a child. He says Trump’s “no quid pro” outbursts are familiar to parents who go into a room after a loud bang and the kid says: “I didn’t do it.”

9:28 PM: Crow is up to explain how lawmakers know Trump directed the hold. He says Trump lifted the hold only after his scheme was exposed and there was no other legitimate explanations for the release of the hold.

9:27 PM: Lofgren concludes her presentation by saying Trump did not care that he was withholding aid because he was so determined to get the Ukrainians to announce that they were investigating the Bidens.

8:54 PM: Lofgren is back up and says “there is no dispute” that Trump ordered the hold on the military aid.

8:39 PM: Demings back up to talk about how Trump withheld military aid from Ukraine, which she says “violated the law” and also an “abuse of power.”

8:15 PM: As Garcia concludes her part of the presentation, she reiterates that Trump directed U.S. officials who were supposed to work for the American people to work with Giuliani and focus only on his “personal political interests.” She says Trump wanted the Ukrainian government to be his “personal opposition research firm” against Biden.

7:48 PM: After 30 more minutes of quid pro quo and “this for that” talk, Garcia back up to talk about all of the witnesses that went before the House to talk about Trump’s “corrupt scheme” and “corrupt deal.”

7:15 PM: Senate gavels back in. McConnell indicates Democrats will talk until 10:30 PM ET. Jeffries continues to talk about the withholding of the Oval Office meeting unless the Ukrainians conducted “two phony” investigations. Jeffries insist the transcript is evidence of a “damning” quid pro quo that is hiding in plain sight.

6:25 PM: Senate takes a 30-minute dinner break after Jeffries spends 30 minutes talking about how Trump would only give Ukraine’s president an Oval Office visit only if the Ukrainians announced they were investigating the Bidens.

5:48 PM: Jeffries now gets his turn to talk about “abuse of power.” He’s going to talk about Trump’s withholding of an Oval Office meeting with Ukraine’s president. His presentation is again going to be all about quid pro quo.

5:30 PM: Rep. Val Demings (D-FL) making the case that Trump’s scheme was working until Zelensky got elected. She says Trump’s team needed to get Zelensky on board and get Yovanovitch “out of the way” to get their investigations.

After accusing Trump of ordering government officials and diplomats to work for Trump’s interests (by having them work for Giuliani to get access to Zelensky) instead of the national interest, Demings claims Democrats are not impeaching Trump to win the next election.

4:51 PM: Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) will now explain more about how Trump abused his power. She says Trump delegated some of his authority to Giuliani to carry out the “scheme” in Ukraine.

4:45 PM: Schiff is going on about how Trump never cared about “corruption.”

4:35 PM: Shady Schiff:

4:30 PM: Schiff just droning on about the ten ways Trump tried to “cheat” in the 2020 election.

3:38 PM: Schiff argues Trump only wanted Ukraine to investigate the Bidens solely for his personal interest.

3:31 PM: Schiff says the “human hand grenade” Giuliani is not some “Svengali” who has Trump in his grip. Schiff says you can say a lot about Trump but you can’t say that he was being led by the nose by Giuliani.

3:28 PM: Schiff references the polls Garcia cited showing Biden beating Trump and says the House Managers do not have a preference in the primary race. Schiff says the polls show motive for Trump to strong-arm the Ukrainians.

2:55 PM: Senate takes a break after Garcia spends most of her time basically defending the Bidens and making it seem like everything they have ever done was aboveboard.

2:45 PM: Nadler caught being shady:

2:05 PM: Rep. Garcia (D-TX) now up explaining Trump’s “corrupt” Ukraine “scheme.” She says she will discuss how Trump wanted Ukraine to investigate the Bidens and election interference in 2016. She says Trump only cared about the announcement and not the actual investigations.

2:03 PM: Nadler concludes his “ABCs” of impeachment presentation by saying Trump is a “continuing threat” to the country and cannot be in power one moment longer.

1:36 PM: Nadler uses Dershowitz’s 1998 comments on “abuse of power” against him. He also uses AG Barr’s 2018 remarks on abuse of power against Trump as well.

1:18 PM: Nadler is now explaining the “ABCs” (abuse, betrayal, corruption) of impeachment to the Senators.

1:11 PM: Nadler says no president has ever abused his power like Trump in the country’s history. He says Trump puts Nixon to shame with his “unprecedented” stonewalling. He says Trump’s conduct is “not America first. It’s Donald Trump first.” He says Trump has “flagrantly violated his oath.”

1:09 PM: Nadler says the Articles of Impeachment rank among the most serious charges ever brought against a president. He calls Trump out for his “complete stonewalling.” Nadler now explaining the Articles of Impeachment to the Senators.

1:06 PM: Schiff again leads off. Says it is rare for Senators to sit silently and pay attention to what House Members are saying. Says it helps that they will be imprisoned if they don’t do so. After saying he hopes witnesses will be able to testify, Schiff yields to Nadler.

1:05 PM: After Senators recite the Pledge of Allegiance, the second day of opening arguments is under way. Democrats have a little more than 16 HOURS left to make their case against Trump to the Senators.

12:55 PM: All about Bolton:

 

12:45 PM: Chief Justice John Roberts has arrived in the Senate. Opening arguments scheduled to continue at the top of the hour.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) taking a page out of Joe Lockhart’s playbook:

COMMENTS

Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.