Trump impeachment news: Democrats taunt president with his own words as historic Senate trial begins
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Donald Trump has again labelled his Senate impeachment trial a “witch hunt” and a “hoax” from the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, before addressing the business summit with a blustering, hyperbolic speech laying out his supposed economic and environmental achievements.
Proceedings in the upper chamber of Congress will began in earnest on Tuesday after the president was charged with abuse of power and obstruction by the House of Representatives last month. The prosecution team from the House faced the president's legal counsel, making their first appearance in the impeachment proceedings, and debated trial rules proposed by Mitch McConnell, whose gauntlet called for a brief trial without testimony or evidence and would likely end up in the president's acquittal.
House Intelligence Committee chair Adam Schiff, leading the prosecution team, argued against the Senate Majority Leader's attempts to table efforts to subpoena White House documents.
White House deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley called Democrats "an utter joke" after attempts to draw out White House counsel Pat Cipollone as a fact witness.
A new poll from CNN has meanwhile found that 51 per cent of Americans now support Mr Trump’s removal from office and 69 per cent want to hear testimony from new witnesses like ex-national security adviser John Bolton, White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, top aide Rob Blair and Office of Management and Budget official Michael Duffey.
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↵If you missed Ivanka Trump dodging a reporter asking about her father's impeachment trial, here's the moment:
Adam Schiff, leading the prosecution, points out that the White House legal team hasn't invoked executive privilege for documents because doing so would "have to reveal" his crimes.
Schiff mentions John Bolton, who has said that he would make himself available to testify. Bolton reportedly said he's not part of a "drug deal" that officials were involved in with the White House's dealings with Ukraine.
He said: "Do you wanna know why it was a 'drug deal'? Why he repeatedly told people, 'Go talk to the lawyers'? They don't want you to know. The president doesn't want you to know."
House impeachment manager Zoe Lofgren is the first woman to present arguments on the Senate floor as a House manager in a presidential impeachment trial.
She's making the case that evidentiary documents are objective and provide the unvarnished truth.
She also points to precedent in previous impeachment trials where documents were subpoenaed and entered into the record days, weeks and even months ahead of trial.
Zoe Lofgren is showing a clip of Gordon Sondland's testimony, in which he revealed that he has emails showing that "the leadership of the State Department, National Security Council and the White House were all informed of the Ukraine efforts".
Lofgren says, quoting Sondland, that "everyone was in the loop, it was no secret".
She also calls on the Senate to get records of calls and emails from Rudy Giuliani, who evidence shows was acting on behalf of the president.
Meanwhile, from Davos, the president says the impeachment "is a hoax" that "goes nowhere because nothing happened. The only thing we've done is a great job."
"That whole thing is a total hoax, so I'm sure it will work out fine."
Impeachment manager Zoe Lofgren, making it plain to the Senate: "You can end president Trump's obstruction" by voting to allow subpoena requests for documents
She said: "Don't surrender to the president stonewalling."
The president told the Wall Street Journal that he plans to extend his travel ban to seven additional countries, including Africa's most populous nation.
White House counsel Patrick Philbin has accused Democrats, rather than Trump, of abuse of power in their pursuit of impeachment.
He says it's not the Senate's job to introduce evidence and witnesses, and that the House is ill-prepared for trial and now relying on the Senate to complete its investigation; in response, Zoe Lofgren says the House is certainly not asking the Senate to do its job. The House is asking the Senate to hold a trial, she says.
Adam Schiff: "We are ready. The House calls John Bolton. The House calls Mick Mulvaney. Let's get this trial going. Are you ready?"
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