Key Quotes from Impeachment Trial Day 5: "You Will Find That the President Did Absolutely Nothing Wrong”

by Countable's Trump Impeachment Coverage | 1.25.20

What's the story?

• It was a rare Saturday session for the Senate as President Donald Trump's legal team began defending the president against the two articles of impeachment.
• The team used two hours of their allotted 24 to make an opening presentation and will continue when the Senate reconvenes on Monday.
• "We don't believe that they have come anywhere close to meeting their burden for what they're asking you to do," White House counsel Pat Cipollone said of the Democrats.

"In fact, we believe that when you hear the facts, and that's what we intend to cover today - the facts - you will find that the president did absolutely nothing wrong."

• Democrats concluded three days of opening arguments late Friday, with House impeachment manager Adam Schiff's (D-CA) emotional final speech going viral:

Key quotes from and about Saturday's session

• “We don’t believe that [House managers] have come anywhere close to meeting their burden for what they’re asking you to do,” Cipollone said, adding Democrats were asking senators to do something “dangerous” and “tear up all of the ballots across this country on your own initiative.”

“For all their talk about election interference … they’re here to perpetrate the most massive interference in an election in American history,” he said.

• Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso (R) said the presentation “truly undermined the case of the Democrats and the credibility of Adam Schiff.”
• “As a prosecutor I’ve seen it time and time again," Schiff said on Saturday. "When your client is guilty, when your client is dead to rights, you don’t want to talk about your client’s guilt. You want to attack the prosecution. It is a fairly elemental strategy, and I think that’s all youÆre seeing here is that effort to distract.”
• Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said he was curious why officials like Secretary of State Mike Pompeo were not providing testimony to support the defense.

“If they can come in and swear to tell the truth on evidence that clears the president or reinforces the president’s case why aren’t they testifying?"

What are the rules?

• Evidence collected by the House won't be automatically admitted for the trial—senators will vote, later, on which materials to admit.
• House impeachment managers – the prosecutors – and Trump’s defense team will have 24 hours, split over three days, for opening arguments. 
• The question of witnesses will be addressed after opening arguments.

What do you think?

Do you support Trump's impeachment? Do you want to hear from witnesses? Will you be swayed by the opening arguments? Take action and tell them know, then share your thoughts below.

—Josh Herman