House impeachment managers began presenting the “constitutional underpinnings” of an abuse of power impeachment article against President Trump after warning restless senators their presentation repeats some of the evidence they presented on Wednesday.
On Thursday, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, the head House impeachment manager, asked “for some forbearance” from the 100 senators required to sit in the chamber for the entirety of the presentation, explaining the House case will include information they already heard at Wednesday’s extended proceeding.
“Of necessity, there will be some repetition of information from yesterday’s chronology, and I want to explain the reason for it,” Schiff told the Senate at the opening of the third day of the Senate impeachment trial.
Schiff said that even though Democratic impeachment managers presented the same information on Wednesday, senators “will see some of these facts in videos, therefore in a new context, in a new light of what else we know and why it compels a finding of guilt and conviction.”
Schiff added, “So, there is some method to our madness.”
Republicans said they are losing patience.
Democrats presented their case against an increasingly weary and restless Senate GOP, some who told the Washington Examiner they have learned nothing new in the past two days about the already well-publicized case against the president.
Democrats and many pundits have praised Schiff for his arguments in the case so far. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, said Schiff “did a good job creating a tapestry of bits and pieces of evidence” that were sometimes effective in making the House case against the president.
Many other Republicans did not agree.
Sen. Mike Braun said Schiff’s presentation of the case would be suitable “if you want to bore somebody to death.”
Senators took their seats in the chamber at 1 p.m., the appointed time for the start of the trial. Some Democrats flipped pages of a document that followed along with House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, the impeachment manager who presented the case Wednesday after Schiff opened the trial.
Some Republicans watched Nadler while senators in both parties wrote on notepads or looked through documents.
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican who has been critical of the House impeachment charges, sat in the front of the chamber at his empty desk, expressionless, with his eyes glued on Schiff, Nadler, and the string of other impeachment managers who delivered arguments.
Democrats have until tomorrow to complete the presentation of their case.
The trial continues on Saturday, when Trump’s defense team will begin up to three days of arguments against the two articles of impeachment that accuse Trump of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
Nadler opened the case for the House abuse of power charge Thursday with a statement he’s made since the start of the House impeachment investigation against the president.
“President Trump used the powers of his office to solicit a foreign national to interfere in our elections for his own benefit,” Nadler said.
About half of the Senators were not even looking at him.
Wednesday’s presentation lasted more than nine hours, with some breaks in between. Thursday’s presentation will take just as long, Democratic aides said.
Nadler said the managers would use both Thursday and Friday to present the evidence for the abuse of power charge. The managers will complete on Friday the obstruction of Congress charge.
Democrats are hoping by the time both managers and defense lawyers have presented their cases, Republicans will be convinced they need to hear new evidence and will side with Democrats in a vote to call new witnesses, which would extend the trial by weeks.
Republicans headed into the Senate chamber for another marathon session on Thursday were not enthusiastic about a longer trial, especially one run by Schiff.
“I don’t think many people are going to want to listen to it in its entirety the way he’s been laying it out,” Braun said.
