Trump impeachment news: President gives 'chilling' defence as his legal team lay out furious response to Senate trial

On eve of trial, counsel and prosecution teams dispute grounds for removal as gun rights rally throttles Virginia

Donald Trump denies knowing Lev Parnas 13 times

The day before his impeachment trial is set to begin, Donald Trump's lawyers are urging the Senate reject the charges against him and are calling the hearings an "illegitimate partisan effort to take him down" by Democrats.

Meanwhile, the prosecution team from the House has filed a stern reply to the president's legal team, following their response to a summons request calling the impeachment articles "constitutionally invalid." House managers replied, calling the president's assertion that he can't be removed from the presidency "chilling" and "dead wrong".

House Intelligence Committee chairman Adam Schiff, who is on that prosecution team, has warned that the CIA and National Security Agency could be holding on to further key evidence regarding the Ukraine scandal that led to the president's impeachment, ahead of the commencement of the Senate trial on Tuesday.

The results of a CNN poll, released the day before the trial begins, revealed that 51 per cent of Americans support the president's removal, and nearly 70 per cent want witness testimony.

Lawyers preparing to defend Mr Trump took to the talk show circuit on Sunday to argue that he cannot be removed from office on abuse of power grounds, a position dismissed as “absurdist” and “arrant nonsense” by Mr Schiff and fellow leading Democrat Jerrold Nadler, who together have helped build the case against him.

Meanwhile, as Mr Trump prepared to leave for Switzerland to participate in the World Economic Forum, the White House had no scheduled events to recognise Martin Luther King Jr's memorial and birthday, breaking once more from previous administration's tradition of service and volunteering to honour the civil rights leader.

The president instead voiced his support for thousands of gun rights advocates carrying weapons in Virginia in protest of upcoming gun control legislation, while White House advisor Kellyanne Conway argued that Dr King would not support impeachment, which she said has "dragged Americans through the process" of considering the president's removal from office.

On Twitter over the weekend, President Trump continued to attack 2020 candidate Michael Bloomberg, revealed a surprise appreciation for Hollywood Golden Age star Cary Grant and tweeted an astonishing claim from Fox News host Mark Levin that: “In the House, the president got less due process than the 9/11 terrorists.”

Follow coverage as it happened:

Key Points

• Trump lawyers branded 'absurd' for dismissal of impeachment case
• President hails China trade deal in Texas, makes 2020 pitch to farmers
• Trump renews Twitter attack on Mike Bloomberg, pushes 9/11 comparison
• Adam Schiff says NSA, CIA withholding Ukraine documents
• Damning Trump, Alan Dershowitz attacks on Ken Starr resurface

[20 January 2020 12:55 · Joe Sommerlad]

New York Times endorses Elizabeth Warren AND Amy Klobuchar

The editorial board of The NYT has taken the highly unusual step of endorsing both female Democratic candidates for the nomination to take on Trump in 2020: Massachusetts and Minnesota senators Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar.

You can read their rationale for the decision below:

Big Get Out vibes about this, unquestionably.

Here's Andy Gregory with more.

[20 January 2020 13:15 · Joe Sommerlad]

Facebook removes 'coordinated' posts backing Rob Hyde over Ukraine plot

Facebook has removed a series of apparently coordinated posts defending Robert Hyde, a Republican candidate for Congress who has been implicated in the Ukraine scandal that led to Trump's impeachment.

Last week Lev Parnas, a business associate of Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, said Hyde had claimed to be carrying out surveillance on the then US ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch. The latter was abruptly recalled from her post after apparently getting in the way of a secret scheme by Giuliani, Parnas and others to pressure the Ukrainian president into announcing investigations into Trump’s Democratic rival Joe Biden.

Hyde, a former US Marine, has denied that he was keeping Yovanovitch under surveillance ahead of her recall, saying his texts were just a joke.

Phil Thomas has more.

[20 January 2020 13:35 · Joe Sommerlad]

Ivanka Trump's own sister-in-law refusing to vote for Trump in 2020

Supermodel Karlie Kloss - Ivanka's sister-in-law by vitrue of her marriage to Jared Kushner's brother Josh - has said not even family loyalties will see her voting Trump in November.

Greg Evans has more for Indy100.

[20 January 2020 13:55 · Joe Sommerlad]

Trump must be removed from office to safeguard 2020 election, Democrats say in impeachment trial brief

The president's removal from office by the Senate is essential for the safeguarding of the 2020 election, preserving the Constitution and protecting national security, according to the impeachment trial brief filed by House Democrats.

Trump abused the powers of his office and “abandoned his oath to faithfully execute the laws and betrayed his public trust” in his dealings with Ukraine, the memorandum stated.

It also argued that Trump’s behaviour in seeking to pressure Kiev to launch an investigation into his political rival was “the worst nightmare” of the framers of the Constitution, a claim Trump stooge Lindsey Graham was out on Fox News Sunday firefighting yesterday and calling "a partisan railroad job".

Here's more on that from Peter Stubley.

[20 January 2020 14:15 · Joe Sommerlad]

Trump promotes bizarre claim that 9/11 attackers were treated better than him

Andy Gregory has more on the president's endorsement of Mark Levin's wildly inflammatory claim about his treatment by House impeachment investigators.

[20 January 2020 14:35 · Joe Sommerlad]

Melania Trump celebrates MLK Day in incredibly bland style

Nothing from the president himself so far today (god help us if he does have a crack at it) but first lady Melania Trump has paid tribute to civil rights hero Dr Martin Luther King Jr on Twitter with this, er, blank holding image...?

This is how it should be done.

[20 January 2020 15:00 · Joe Sommerlad]

Armed militia take to streets of Richmond to protest Democratic gun control measures

There's a pro-gun rally going on in Virginia's capital city this Martin Luther King Day, the streets already lined with alarming looking gun rights bearing arms to protest the state's plans to introduce tighter gun legislation.

Ernest Coverson of Amnesty International USA has already denounced the event, pointing out that at least 23 hate crimes per day in the US are carried out using a lethal weapon.

“When extremists and white supremacists are able to use guns to intimidate and harass marginalised communities, they create a climate of fear and inflict serious harm without even needing to pull the trigger," Coverson comments. 

“The vile decision to hold such a rally on a day when our country recognises the life of Reverend Dr Martin Luther King Jr, a peaceful civil rights leader whose life ended in gun violence, is particularly troubling. 

“By failing to prevent those who mean harm from having easy access to guns, our government is failing in its responsibility to place people before guns.”

Authorities will be looking to avoid a repeat of the violence that erupted in 2017 in Charlottesville during one of the largest gatherings of white supremacists and other far-right groups in a decade. Attendees brawled with counterprotesters and an avowed white supremacist drove his car into a crowd, killing a woman and injuring dozens more. Law enforcement officials faced scathing criticism for what both the white supremacist groups and anti-racism protesters said was a passive response.

An RV festooned with Trump material and selling Trump merchandise parked in front of the line to the square, but was booted by a police officer shortly after it parked on Monday: "You got two minutes before it's towed. Clock's ticking."

Monday's rally is being organised by an influential grassroots gun-rights group, the Virginia Citizens Defense League. The group holds a yearly rally at the Capitol, typically a low-key event with a few hundred gun enthusiasts listening to speeches from a handful of ambitious Republican lawmakers. But this year, many more are expected to attend. Second Amendment groups have identified the state as a rallying point for the fight against what they see as a national erosion of gun rights.

Chris Riotta is covering it live for us below, incidentally:

[20 January 2020 15:25 · Joe Sommerlad]

Bernie Sanders says gender is 'obstacle' for women in politics following Elizabeth Warren row

Still dwelling on The Row That Will Not Die, the gentleman from Vermont says sexism, racism, homophobia and ageism continue to impact the political process as US voters determine which presidential campaign to support.

Asked in an interview with New Hampshire public radio whether he believes "gender is still an obstacle for female politicians", Bernie - who remains the front-runner ahead of that state's primary on 11 February - said yes, noting that "everybody has their own sets of problems" in terms of voters taking gender, age or sexuality into account.

Here's Alex Woodward with more.

[20 January 2020 15:45 · Joe Sommerlad]

Schiff says new witnesses debate 'critical' ahead of Senate impeachment trial

“I think there will be arguments on witnesses and documents - both are going to be critical,” says Adam Schiff this morning as the Democratic impeachment managers visit the Senate.

[20 January 2020 16:00 · Joe Sommerlad]

Trump backs Virginia gun control protesters

The president hasn't said anything about Martin Luther King Day so far or, say, last night's fatal shooting spree in Kansas but has backed the militia on the streets of Richmond and attempted to intervene in the impeachment trial by bemoaning the Democrats' interest in hearing from his ex-national security adviser John Bolton, who volunteered to appear before the Senate if he is subpoenaed.

He's now attacking Chuck Schumer for asking for "fairness" from the upper chamber, saying he was denied the same in the House (not true: Trump was given every opportunity to participate in the process but refused).