House Democrats opened the final phase of President Trump’s impeachment trial in the Senate with a call for lawmakers to vote to remove the president from office.
“I submit to you, on behalf of the House of Representatives, that your duty demands that you convict President Trump,” Rep. Jason Crow, a Colorado Democrat and one of the impeachment managers, told senators at the start of final arguments.
The trial will end this week with a vote on Wednesday that is all but certain to acquit Trump of two articles of impeachment charging him with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
Senators, who have been prohibited from speaking under the rules of the trial, will finally get a chance to voice their views about the case after both impeachment managers and Trump’s defense team present their final arguments.
Democrats Monday summarized the facts they say support their argument, including documents, emails, and witness testimony, that Trump improperly withheld security aid from Ukraine to pressure the government to investigate Democrats, including former Vice President Joe Biden, who is now a political rival.
[Also read: Trump acquittal to spur more House Democratic investigations]
“The House has presented to you overwhelming evidence that Trump has committed grave abuses of power,” Rep. Val Demings, a Florida Democrat, argued on the Senate floor.
Senators voted Friday against calling new witnesses to testify at the trial, ushering an end to the proceedings that began on Jan. 21.
Senate Republicans have begun to announce their decisions against voting to convict and remove Trump.
Republicans say Democrats sent them partisan and incomplete impeachment charges.
Sen. Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican, said the charges were not proven and that removing Trump “would not serve the nation’s best interest.”
Rubio called the obstruction of Congress charge “a joke.”
Two Republicans may vote for at least one of the impeachment charges. Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Mitt Romney of Utah both voted with Democrats in the failed bid to call new witnesses.
