Tag: Senate GOP

New Evidence Troubles White House Because ‘Parnas Has Receipts’

Lev Parnas, a longtime associate of Donald Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, is causing “concern” among White House officials after he publicly turned on the president and claimed “Trump knew exactly everything that was going on that Rudy Giuliani was doing in Ukraine.”

Parnas, who has been cooperating with the House Intelligence Committee and handed over a “trove” of impeachment documents last week, was integral to Giuliani’s efforts to pressure a Ukrainian investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden.

While some senators, including Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), have downplayed the relevance of Giuliani and Parnas’ efforts in Ukraine as they pertain to Trump’s impeachment, CBS White House correspondent Weijia Jiang on Sunday said there’s “a recognition among sources who are being honest that even if [Parnas is] not an official witness, he’s already impacting this trial.” Continue reading.

Roberts under pressure from both sides in witness fight

The Hill logoSenate Democrats are pressing Chief Justice John Roberts to rule in favor of calling witnesses at President Trump‘s impeachment trial, while Republicans argue it could force his recusal from potential Supreme Court cases. 

Democrats say it’s simple: A trial can’t be a fair one without witnesses. Republicans counter that if Roberts rules on witnesses, he will have to recuse himself from any Supreme Court case on Trump’s claims of executive privilege over potential witnesses like former national security adviser John Bolton and acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney.

“I don’t know how you have a serious trial unless you hear from witnesses who know in fact what the facts are, what happened,” said Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a leading candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination. Continue reading.

House Democrats may call new impeachment witnesses if Senate doesn’t

The Hill logoKey House Democrats pressing the Senate to hear from new witnesses in President Trump’s impeachment trial are leaving the door open to another possibility: calling those witnesses themselves if Senate Republicans do not.

House Democrats impeached Trump last month on two charges related to his handling of foreign policy in Ukraine, but their investigations into the issue remain open even as the spotlight turns to the launch of the Senate trial.

Democrats in both chambers are hoping the emergence of new evidence and eyewitness offers to testify will force Senate GOP leaders to consider the unexplored information, including captivating details of Trump’s pressure campaign recently provided by Lev Parnas, a Soviet-born businessman with close ties to Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani. Continue reading.

Meet Pelosi’s 7 impeachment managers

The Hill logoSpeaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has named seven House members to serve in high-profile roles as impeachment managers, who will argue the case to impeach President Trump during the Senate trial.

Unlike the past two modern impeachment inquiries into sitting presidents that included only House Judiciary Committee members as managers, Pelosi bucked tradition and selected members across multiple congressional panels to argue the case Trump is unfit for office.

She said one factor has guided her decisionmaking: litigation experience. Continue reading.

Senate Impeachment Trial Must Include All Important Evidence

Center for American Progress logoIn impeaching President Donald Trump, the U.S. House of Representatives uncovered overwhelming evidence that Trump extorted a foreign government to interfere in the 2020 election. The House did so even though Trump engaged in unprecedented obstruction of Congress by blocking
critically important witnesses and documents, circumstances that underlay the House’s second impeachment article. Now, as the U.S. Senate begins the trial phase of impeachment proceedings, every senator must make a crucial decision: recklessly support the president’s obstruction or uphold their oaths under the U.S. Constitution.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) made a reasonable requestthat the Senate obtain a limited set of additional firsthand evidence and testimony from persons directly involved in Trump’s scheme. Yet, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) seems intent on beginning the Senate impeachment trial without committing to require witnesses and relevant documents that have been withheld by the Trump administration. It is very possible that at no time will majority party senators impose this requirement, and they have offered no substantive reason why this evidence would be unnecessary here.

This is an untenable position. The Senate should see all available, relevant evidence rather than willfully avoid finding out information that President Trump’s supporters fear will damage him. Continue reading.

Democrats file brief against Trump, ‘the Framers’ worst nightmare’

The Hill logoHouse Democrats on Saturday unveiled an extensive outline of their legal case heading into the Senate impeachment trial of President Trump, lending a preview of the arguments — both substantial and procedural — underlying the central assertion that the president abused his office and should be removed. 

In the 111-page brief, Democrats argue that Trump committed high crimes and misdemeanors — charging him with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress — and lay out the evidence and legal analysis they intend to present.

And while they buckle down on their allegations that Trump is guilty of pressuring a foreign power to investigate a 2020 political rival, they say the only lingering question they have is whether the Senate will be a fair arbiter of justice. Continue reading.

Trump to add Dershowitz, Ken Starr to impeachment defense team

The Hill logoPresident Trump’s impeachment defense team for his Senate trial will include Alan Dershowitz and Ken Starr, sources confirmed to The Hill on Friday.

Trump’s personal attorney Jay Sekulow said the team will also consist of former attorneys Jane Raskin and Robert Ray, as well as former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Starr worked as independent counsel investigating former President Clinton over allegations that ultimately led to his impeachment. Ray followed Starr as independent counsel. Continue reading.

Trump lawyers attack House impeachment as ‘brazen and unlawful’ effort to overturn 2016 results

The Hill logoPresident Trump’s legal team on Saturday declared the impeachment articles approved by the House “constitutionally invalid” and accused House Democrats of a “brazen and unlawful attempt” to overturn the results of the 2016 presidential election.

The president’s team of lawyers — led by White House counsel Pat Cipollone and Trump personal attorney Jay Sekulow — submitted a six-page answer to the summons notifying the president of the Senate impeachment trial Saturday evening.

The filing launches a broadside against the House impeachment process, while denying the charges against the president and casting the articles as an “affront” to the Constitution, democratic institutions and the American people. The president’s lawyers urge the Senate to reject the charges. Continue reading.

Senate GOP hopes for a drama-free impeachment trial while bracing for Trump and his legal team

Washington Post logoSenate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) gave a knowing smile when the only hiccup of Thursday’s formalities got resolved: After a brief pause, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. realized he had to gavel the impeachment trial out of session, adjourning until Tuesday.

McConnell got the day’s ending he had hoped for, a Senate looking somber and serious as it conducts President Trump’s impeachment trial. A Senate that might, as he put it a day before, be capable of rising above “short-termism and factional fever.”

But that fever lingers as the sides jockey for position when the real phase of the trial kicks in, with early skirmishes about calling witnesses getting overtaken by talks about what limits could be placed on the presentation of evidence. Continue reading.