***Live Updates*** Trump Impeachment Trial: Senate to Vote on Witnesses

In this image from video, presiding officer Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts swear
Senate Television via AP
Tony Lee

The Senate will vote on additional witnesses on Friday before possibly taking a vote on acquittal in President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial.

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

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7:58 PM: McConnell’s resolution passes (53-47) and the trial adjourns until 11 AM ET on Monday.

7:42 PM: Van Hollen sends an amendment to allow Chief Justice Roberts to rule on witness subpoenas and assertions of privilege.

Motion to table succeeds 53-47.

7:15 PM: Senate gavels back in and Roberts says he believes it would be inappropriate for him, as an unelected official, to break ties.

Schumer proposes an amendment to subpoena Mulvaney, Bolton, Duffy, Blair in addition to relevant documents from the White House, OMB, DOD and State Department.

Motion to table succeeds 53-47.

Schumer proposes an amendment to subpoena Bolton.

Motion to table succeeds 51-49 (Romney/Collins again vote with Democrats)

Schumer now proposes an amendment to subpoena Bolton with one day of deposition president over by Chief Justice Roberts and one day of live testimony.

Motion to table again succeeds 51-49.

7:00 PM: Wednesday 4 PM ET vote on acquittal:

 

5:42 PM: Predictably, motion to call witnesses is defeated 51-49. Sens. Romney and Collins were the two Republicans who voted in favor.

Schumer somehow rushes to the cameras–“a perfidy” and “tragedy on a very large scale.”

5:35 PM: Senate will vote on witnesses and the Senate will then be in recess subject to the call of the chair. Roll call vote happening now.

4:53 PM:

4:35 PM: Schiff, quoting former establishment Republican Virginia Senator John Warner, warns the Senate about potential “lasting damage”to the institution in the closing statement he wanted to give last night.

4:30 PM: Trump accuses Democrats of “scamming America!”

4:10 PM: House managers have 30 minutes to rebut. Schiff says it is is pretty simple–in every courthouse where they have trials they have witnesses. He accuses Philbin of tying himself into knots but some things are just as simple as they appear. Schiff says a trial without witnesses is not a trial. Schiff says Sekulow is rewriting the Constitution when he says the House investigates and the Senate deliberates.

4:05 PM: Sekulow says if witnesses are allowed, Trump’s team would have to call and cross-examine witnesses like Jennifer Williams and Yovanovitch. He says the Senate has heard from a lot of witnesses and due process is supposed to be for the person accused. He says Democrats placed a burden on the Senate that they wouldn’t take themselves when they withdrew subpoenas after rushing to pass the articles before Christmas. Sekulow says they came ready to try the case on the record the House managers presented and insisted they the articles were “overwhelming” and “complete.” Sekulow says their record proved that there was “not an impeachable offense.” Sekulow yields their time.

3:41 PM: Senate reconvenes and Philbin starts for Trump’s team. He says the House managers are using a “trope” about needing witnesses for a trial to distract from what is at stake. He says there is no need for witnesses because the articles are defective, especially the second article. He repeats his argument that the House is trying to impeach Trump for trying to defend separation of powers and longstanding Constitutional prerogatives of the executive branch. He again warns of the “express path” for impeachment that the framers feared if the Senate can be turned into an investigatory body to clean up after the House’s shoddy work and witnesses the House did not even subpoena are called to testify.

 

2:50 PM: Senate now takes a 15-minute recess after Schiff yields the rest of their time.

2:38 PM: Schiff again warns of the “long-lasting consequences” of a “no vote.” He says it will be a “dangerous precedent” and Trump’s actions constitute an attack on Congressional oversight and Congress’s ability to serve as a check and balance on the executive. Schiff says the Senate will essentially nullify the impeachment power by permitting a “categorical obstruction” and will “turn the impeachment power against itself.” He says “for all intents and purposes, the president will be above the law.”

2:35 PM: Lofgren claims Trump would fail if he invokes executive privilege and says it is inconceivable Bolton will not be able to testify about a book that will soon be published.

2:20 PM: Potential acquittal vote on Wednesday?

1:52 PM: Crow and Jeffries making the case again why the House managers believe Messrs. Bolton, Mulvaney, Blair, and Duffey should be called to testify. Crow says Bolton can help determine Trump’s state of mind and asks Senators how they want to go down in history. Jeffries says Mulvaney is important because Trump’s team argues that the House’s evidence is hearsay and will confirm the “corrupt shakedown scheme.” Jeffries now argues that Blair and Duffey can testify if they are always left in the dark when a president decides to withhold aid to a country and the “illegality of the hold.”

1:45 PM: Garcia says the Senate needs more witnesses so that the hearing is fair and there is a full evidentiary record. She says there cannot also be a total and complete exoneration without witnesses because an acquittal without an incomplete record will be “no exoneration.” She says if Trump is telling the truth and did nothing wrong, he would be an enthusiastic supporter of subpoenas.

1:30 PM: Demings claims the House managers have “overwhelmingly” proven its case but they still need witnesses for a fair trial and to ensure Americans get all of the information about Trump, who she says continues to be a threat to the country’s national security. She says the evidence is at their fingertips if they have any doubt about the evidence. Demings calls for a one-week pause for witnesses.

1:20 PM: Schiff begins by citing the New York Times report on Bolton’s book. Schiff says there is a new fact that indicates Cipollone was in the loop and this is another reason Democrats should hear from witnesses. He says the facts will continue to come out.

1:19 PM: The trial resumes, and McConnell says they will take a break after two hours. There will be up to four hours of debate on witnesses, equally divided between the two parties. Schiff is a proponent, so he will go first and says they will be reserving the balance of their time to respond to Trump’s team’s arguments.

12:55 PM: There will be four hours of debate on additional witnesses when the Senate gavels back in at the top of the hour. Cornyn reportedly said he would be “surprised” if the trial ended today.

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