Democrats face a crucial week in Trump’s impeachment trial

Republicans are likely to seek a swift end to proceedings unless witnesses can be called and the trial extended

As we enter the second week of arguments in Donald Trump’s impeachment trial, the strategy from both the president’s legal team and Senate Republicans is very clear.

Both are likely to seek a quick end to proceedings if they can help it. White House counsel Pat Cipollone, who is leading Trump’s team, took just two hours to finish for the day on Saturday, and other members of the president’s team have made clear they will not hang around.

“I am not going to continue to go over and over and over again the evidence that [the Democrats] did not put before you, because we would be here for a lot longer than 24 hours,” said Jay Sekulow, Trump’s personal lawyer. Being succinct and not allowing slack arguments into their case is likely to help – plus the lawyers want to give the sense that the whole trial is nothing but an irritation for Trump.

Mitch McConnell and the other GOP leadership in the Senate are also said to be considering moving quickly if any Democrat-led effort to include more witnesses or documentary evidence and extend the trial is voted down. In that case Senator John Barrasso, the number three Republican in the chamber, has said he believes a final impeachment vote could take place as soon as Friday.

Democrats want first-hand witnesses, including former national security adviser John Bolton, frustrated at the fact that Trump’s team are saying that the Democrat case for impeachment is all circumstantial from second or third-hand testimony. That is despite a push from the GOP to block further testimony. Democrats may offer additional motions if the Senate votes down deposing additional witnesses, but Republicans will likely shut down any further debate and move forward with a final vote.

Some Republican senators, Mitt Romney for one this weekend, have said they would be open to witnesses including Bolton testifying. However, Democrats face the tough ask of getting at least four GOP senators to switch sides and vote them to force the measure through. For all the speculation about GOP senators in Democrat-leaning races acting to shore up their moderate support, that seems unlikely.

Trump’s legal team have sought to claim that Democrats are trying to overturn the result of the 2016 election by impeaching the president, the type of us-vs-them narrative that the president appreciates. There have been attempts to undermine the credibility of House intelligence committee chair Adam Schiff, the lead Democratic impeachment manager, another tactic that Trump has previously tried himself via Twitter.

The president’s legal team is moulded in Trump’s own image, and it would be a surprise if enough Republicans – who have also all appeared in lockstep with Trump – turned against him.

On Sunday. Schiff said on NBC’s Meet the Press that the president’s team are not seeking a “fair trial” if witnesses are blocked from appearing. “If they are successful in depriving the country of a fair trial, there is no exoneration,” Schiff said. There may be more fireworks to come from Trump’s legal team this week, having kept their powder fairly dry so far. But it appears a long shot. The president’s lawyers know that if they keep things simple, the less Democrats have space to manoeuvre.

For Democrats, and possibly the party’s chances heading into November’s presidential and congressional elections, the vote on whether to include new witnesses will be crucial.