Sen. Tim Kaine came face-to-face with President Trump’s impeachment defense lawyer, who took a swipe at a New York Times series on the history of slavery in America.
“What does that have to do with the articles of impeachment?” Kaine told USA Today on Tuesday. “I was stunned by it.”
During closing arguments from Trump’s defense team on Tuesday, attorney Robert Ray criticized the House impeachment managers’ take on the impeachment of former President Andrew Johnson in 1868. Johnson, House Democrats said, was impeached as a result of “his illegitimate use of power to undermine Reconstruction and subordinate African Americans following the Civil War.”
Ray said that comparing Johnson’s impeachment to Trump’s was an “ahistorical sleight of hand worthy only of the New York Times recent 1619 series.”
The publication’s series, the 1619 Project, is an examination of the history of slavery and the subsequent oppression of black people in America. The series makes the central point that American history should begin with the arrival of the first enslaved Africans in America, rather than with 1776. It was met with criticism, ranging from accusations of factual errors to charges of ideological bias.
Ray called the project “too politically correct” when confronted by Kaine, the Virginia Democrat said.
“To me, it seemed like an ad hominem attack on people trying to get at the roots of the effects of slavery in the United States,” Kaine said.
Trump faces two articles of impeachment: abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. Democrats allege Trump shook down the leader of Ukraine and withheld congressionally approved military aid to the country while seeking investigations into a domestic political rival, Joe Biden.
Both House impeachment managers and Trump’s defense lawyers have concluded their arguments in the trial. Senators will submit questions to each side’s representatives on Wednesday and Thursday. A vote on whether to call witnesses to testify in the trial is expected Friday.
