President Trump’s defense team opened their arguments against impeachment by attacking the credibility of lead Democratic impeachment manager Adam Schiff.
“Impeachment shouldn’t be a shell game,” lead impeachment attorney Pat Cipollone told senators.
A group of Trump’s defense team argued for only two hours against the two articles of impeachment charging Trump with obstruction of Congress and abuse of power.
The lawyers said the House case left out exonerating facts and included evidence provided by Schiff, who they argued has credibility problems.
“His credibility is going to start to tank through this whole process,” Sen. Mike Braun, an Indiana Republican, told reporters after the trial adjourned for the day.
The managers read the transcript of Schiff’s mock translation of President Trump’s July 25 call with Ukraine’s president. Schiff was widely criticized for rewriting the transcript to make it sound more incriminating.
Trump’s lawyers read both the transcript of Trump’s call, followed by Schiff’s false version, which Schiff read at the opening of a critical hearing.
“The most effective thing that happened was when they first read the transcript of the phone call, and then played the video,” Sen. John Barrasso, a Wyoming Republican, said. “From where I was sitting, the blood drained from Adam Schiff’s face as they played that video and the made-up words.”
The defense team also questioned Schiff’s relationship with the anonymous whistleblower. They played a video of Schiff claiming his Intelligence Committee had no contact with the whistleblower. Schiff later admitted his staff had been in contact with the whistleblower before he filed a complaint with the inspector general about Trump’s call with the president of Ukraine.
“They are certainly going to make the case that the main protagonist, Adam Schiff, has to be looked at,” Braun said.
