Democrats conclude final arguments with call for Trump conviction
February 4, 2020 03:07 AM
Democratic prosecutors wrapped up their final arguments at President Donald Trump’s Senate impeachment trial on Monday with an impassioned appeal for his conviction for abuse of power.
“You can’t trust this president to do the right thing,” chief House prosecutor Adam Schiff said in his closing speech on the Senate floor. “He will not change and you know it.
“History will not be kind to Donald Trump,” Schiff said, urging senators to find the “courage to stand up to him.”
The California lawmaker told the 100 senators who will decide Trump’s fate that the founders of the United States “gave you a remedy and they meant for you to use it.”
“Now do impartial justice and convict him,” he said.
The Senate is to vote at 4:00 pm (2100 GMT) on Wednesday on the charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress and the Republican president is all but certain of being acquitted.
Republicans hold 53 seats in the Senate to 47 for the Democrats, but a two-thirds majority, or 67 senators, is needed to remove a president from office.
Trump lawyers conclude Senate defense
White House lawyers concluded their defense of President Donald Trump at his historic Senate impeachment trial on Monday with a call for his acquittal of charges of abuse of power.
"The president has done nothing wrong," White House counsel Pat Cipollone told the 100 senators who will decide Trump's fate with a vote on Wednesday.
Cipollone denounced Trump's impeachment by the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives as "purely partisan and political."
"We put our faith in the Senate," he said.
"End the era of impeachment once and for all," the White House counsel urged senators, by rejecting the two articles of impeachment.
Cipollone said the Senate should "leave the choice of the president to the American people."
"We believe that they should choose the president," he said. "(Trump) is eager to go before the American people in this upcoming election."
The Senate is to vote at 4:00 pm (2100 GMT) on Wednesday on the charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress and the Republican president is all but certain of being acquitted.
Republicans hold 53 seats in the Senate to 47 for the Democrats, but a two-thirds majority, or 67 senators, is needed to remove a president from office.