***Live Updates*** Trump Impeachment Trial: Dems Conclude Opening Arguments

Schiff Pointing, Eyes Wide
Senate Television via Getty Images
Tony Lee

Democrats will finish their opening arguments on Friday in President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial in the Senate.

House Impeachment Managers are expected to focus on “obstruction of Congress.”

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

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8:50 PM: Trump’s team will start their opening arguments on Saturday morning.

8:45 PM: Schiff says fair trials are what make America the “indispensable nation” and asks the Senators to give America a fair trial.

8:36 PM: Quoting RFK on moral courage (“Moral courage is a rarer commodity than bravery in battle or great intelligence”), Schiff says real moral courage comes from disagreeing with friends and not enemies.

8:06 PM: Schiff says he will not give the Senators a “preview” of what he expects Trump’s team to say. He says they will attack the process and say it was the most unfair in the history of the world. He says they will also attack the managers as “terrible people.” Schiff mocks Trump’s thin  skin. He says maybe they’ll also attack “The Squad.” Schiff says they will be trying to distract from Trump’s “misconduct.” Schiff now says they will attack the Constitution by saying “abuse of power” does not violate the Constitution. Schiff says Trump’s team will try to smear the Bidens during the Senate trial because they couldn’t get the Ukrainians to do it. He says they will also make the “call was perfect” argument even though they don’t believe it because they have a client to please in Trump.

7:48 PM: Schiff will close out the opening arguments. He says he is exhausted and can only imagine how the Senators feel. He’s reading the articles and saying everything “has been proved.” He says there will never be an Article I if Congress cannot investigate because there “will be no more impeachment power… It will be gone.” He warns of an “unending injury to our country” regarding what other House Managers described as the “grave and irreparable harm” to the separation of powers.

7:35 PM: Trial resumes with Crow saying no president in either party has ever made claims like Trump has made re: being above the law. He says Trump thinks he can just “quash” and end federal law enforcement investigations even when there is “credible evidence of his wrongdoing.” He says no court has ever accepted this view.

6:45 PM: Jeffries says Trump is not a “king” and is an “imminent threat” who must be “held accountable” for abusing his power. He wraps up his presentation, and the Senate breaks for dinner.

6:10 PM: Jeffries now up and says he finds himself in the unviable position of being the only thing standing between the Senators and dinner. He says Trump’s defense appears to be… “I can do whatever I want to do” and “I am the chosen one.” He says Trump is complaining about process because he can’t counter the substance of the charges.

5:50 PM: Lofgren now back up saying Trump is “dangerously above the law” because he is sabotaging the impeachment process.

5:30 PM: Nadler says Trump has declared himself “above the law” in “word and deed” because “he is guilty” and wants to conceal evidence from Congress. He calls Trump a “dictator.”

5:18 PM: Now it’s Nadler’s turn to discuss questions of law related to obstruction of Congress. He says the further the president departs from the law and the Constitution, the more important it is for Senators to do their jobs. He wants to set the “historical scene” and says the Framers feared the president would one day mistake himself for a king. Nadler also spoke at length about how Trump has defied all subpoenas.

5:10 PM: Demings back up to discuss Trump’s threats against the “courageous” witnesses who testified before the House. She says “witness intimidation is a federal crime” and says there not enough time to walk through all of Trump’s attacks. She’ll focus on Trump’s attacks against Yovanovitch.

5:00 PM: Lofgren says no president has ever dared to order government officials to defy congressional subpoenas. She says nobody should abuse their power in that way.

4:50 PM: Lofgren says Trump is worse than Nixon. She says Trump’s order directly prevented the House from getting testimony from the three senior officials at OMB. She asks if Congress is willing to turn a blind eye to Trump’s obstruction. She says if the Senate is prepared to accept that, all presidents after him will have veto power over impeachment and Congress’s ability to have oversight.

4:22 PM: Garcia now up explaining how Trump obstructed Congress “in plain sight.”

4:20 PM: Demings says Democrats will demonstrate tonight that Trump is guilty of “obstruction of Congress” and explain why he “must be stopped.”

4:05 PM: Demings starts off the “obstruction of Congress” presentation. She accuses Trump of directing the entire Executive Branch to withhold all relevant documents and not participate in the House’s impeachment inquiry. She says it was a “wholesale rejection of Congress’s ability to hold the president accountable.”

3:55 PM: Trump’s team will present from 10 AM to 1 PM ET on Saturday.

3:31 PM: Schiff concludes his presentation on “abuse of power,” and the Senate takes a 15-minute recess. Democrats have about five more hours to go.

3:25 PM: Schiff asks the Senators to imagine if Trump had one of them investigated instead of Biden. He asks them if Trump wouldn’t have any of them investigated if it suited his interests. Schiff says if, deep down, the Senators believe Trump would have them investigated, then they cannot leave a man like that in office. Schiff says Trump will remain a threat to national security and the Constitution if allowed to remain in office. He says “there can be little doubt” that Trump will invite foreign interference in the country’s election, which will pose a threat to the country’s democracy. Schiff says the Founders understood that someone like Trump, who is faithful to himself and willing to sacrifice the country’s democracy and national security for his self interest, could one day get in power.

2:53 PM: Schiff thinks we need a “revolution of dignity” or a “revolution of civility” at home after speaking about how the Trump administration could learn a thing or two from Ukraine. He is repeatedly trying to establish that Trump subverted U.S. anti-corruption efforts in Ukraine because he was scared of Biden.

2:20 PM: Schiff concluding the “abuse of power” argument by saying Trump betrayed the country’s trust to a foreign power and undermined the country’s free and fair elections. He says Trump, “even today,” threatens the foundations of the nation’s democracy. Schiff going on and on about how Trump has “harmed” the country with his “scheme.”

2:00 PM: Crow back up telling Senators that Bolton repeatedly instructed officials to report to lawyers about the so-called “drug deal.”

1:46 PM: Jeffries says Trump and his team tried to prevent Congress from learning about Trump’s wrongdoings.

1:28 PM: Jeffries now up detailing all of the ways Trump and his team tried to “cover up” and “conceal” Trump’s scheme from the American people after Trump got caught red-handed trying to “cheat.”

1:11 PM: Crow talking about the events surrounding the release of the aid to Ukraine. He says the aid got released only after Trump’s “scheme went public” and public scrutiny of the scheme increased “exponentially.” He says there is no other explanation than Trump released the aid only because “he got caught.” He now repeats the testimony from various officials given to the House.

1:09 PM: Schiff again leads off and says Jason Crow will continue his “abuse of power” presentation before the House Managers go to “obstruction of Congress.”

1:07 PM: Senate convenes, and, after the pledge of allegiance, McConnell says Saturday’s session will start at 10 AM ET and run for several hours.

12:50 PM: The final day of oral arguments for the House Managers is about to get started at the top of the hour. Trump already concerned that nobody will watch the White House’s arguments on Saturday. Schiff indicates that Democrats will try to get Chief Justice Roberts to make a ruling on the executive privilege arguments.

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