House impeachment managers opened their prosecution of President Trump with “the story of the president’s corrupt scheme” to pressure a foreign government for his own political benefit.
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, a California Democrat and the lead impeachment manager, took more than two hours to deliver opening remarks in what will likely be a three-day presentation from the Democratic prosecution.
House Democrats impeached Trump on Dec. 18 on two articles accusing him of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
Schiff and six fellow House Democrats will make the case to senators that they should convict Trump of the charges and remove him from office.
It’s an unlikely outcome in the GOP-led Senate, which is poised to acquit the president, but Democrats plan to argue their case fully.
“We are here today in this hallowed chamber undertaking this solemn action for only the third time in history because Donald J. Trump, the 45th president of the United States, has acted precisely as Hamilton and his contemporaries had feared,” Schiff said on the Senate floor with all 100 senators watching. “President Trump solicited foreign interference in our democratic elections, abusing the power of his office by seeking help from abroad to improve his reelection prospects at home. And when he was caught, he used the powers of that office to obstruct the investigation into his own misconduct.”
The trial officially kicked off after a long and contentious battle Tuesday over a resolution setting the terms of the trial.
Democrats fought unsuccessfully to win an agreement to summon witnesses and additional White House documents, but Republicans defeated every amendment put forward by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, a New York Democrat, angered senators when he accused them of “indefensible” and “treacherous” votes to defeat the Schumer amendments calling for witnesses and documents.
Nadler’s comments elicited a reprimand from Chief Justice John Roberts, who also cited the president’s defense lawyers for responding to Nadler.
Senate Republicans were angered by Nadler’s criticism.
Sen. Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican, called it “a bad beginning” to the trial.
“A lot of senators were offended by that,” Hawley said Wednesday.
Hawley said he so far rejects Schiff’s opening argument, which he said shows a “fixation” that Russia rigged the 2016 election.
“Their basic argument is that you can’t trust elections,” Hawley said.
Schumer praised Schiff’s opening statement and said the prosecution’s arguments “will change minds.”
Senate lawmakers are not the only ones listening, Schumer said.
“The American people heard the arguments powerfully and completely,” Schumer said.
Nadler took over the next leg of the prosecution after Schiff and took a far more conciliatory tone. He thanked the senators for sitting in the chamber until the early morning hours as lawmakers debated Schumer’s amendments.
