Impeachment trial deal ends move for witnesses and brings final vote near – live | US news

Impeachment manager Madeleine Dean asked senators to consider the historical precedent that will be set if they vote to acquit Donald Trump.

“If we don’t set this right and call it what it was – the highest of constitutional crimes by the president of the United States – the past will not be past. The past will become our future,” Dean said.

She described today’s vote as a “dialogue with history”. “Two hundred and thirty-four years from now, it may be that no one person here among us is remembered,” the Democratic congresswoman added.

“And yet what we do here, what is being asked of each of us here in this moment, will be remembered. History has found us. I ask that you not look the other way.”

The impeachment trial was briefly delayed as the managers and Donald Trump’s defense lawyers quibbled over a clip introduced by congresswoman Madeleine Dean.

Dean had played a clip of a Trump adviser speaking at the 6 January rally that preceded the insurrection. Trump’s lawyers said it had not been previously introduced and thus could not be shown now because no new evidence is allowed during closing arguments.

After the trial resumed, Dean joked, “I have to say that, of all the trials I have ever been a part of, this is certainly one of them.”

There seems to be a split in opinion developing among liberal commentators over Democrats’ decision to move forward without calling witnesses in the impeachment trial.

Some commentators, such as professor and MSNBC contributor Jason Johnson, argued that the Democrats’ decision was a moral failure, saying they failed to stand up to the white supremacy that caused the 6 January insurrection:

Other liberal commentators, such as former Obama adviser David Axelrod, defended congressional Democrats, saying they had prioritized Americans who are financially suffering because of the coronavirus pandemic:

It’s true that the quick conclusion of the impeachment trial will allow the Senate to focus on other legislative matters, namely Joe Biden’s coronavirus relief package.

However, it should also be noted that the Senate was going to be in recess next week anyway, so another week of proceedings would not have disrupted the chamber’s plans. But if the trial had instead stretched on for several weeks as witnesses were deposed, it’s possible the Senate would have grinded to a halt.

After the quorum call, Mike Lee withdrew his objection to impeachment manager David Cicilline’s closing comments, which referenced the Republican senator’s 6 January call with Donald Trump.

Senator Patrick Leahy, who is presiding over the trial, reminded all parties that new evidence is not allowed at this point in the trial, and all new evidence will be stricken from the record.

Impeachment manager Madeleine Dean is now continuing with her side’s closing arguments.

Mike Lee has raised a point of order, after impeachment manager David Cicilline mentioned the Republican senator’s call with Donald Trump on 6 January.

Cicilline presented an altered timeline of 6 January, after Lee provided the impeachment managers with a phone record showing Trump called him after the then-president sent a tweet disparaging Mike Pence. (The managers previously suggested the call happened before Trump sent the tweet.)

“He said something that is not true!” Lee said of Cicilline.

Patrick Leahy initially said debate was not allowed during the closing arguments, and the Senate is now holding a quorum call.

The decision to move forward without calling witnesses in the impeachment trial will allow congressional Democrats to focus on advancing Joe Biden’s agenda, namely his coronavirus relief package.

But the decision also means that the Democrats passed on an opportunity to present new, potentially damning evidence about Donald Trump’s response to the 6 January insurrection.

The former president would almost certainly have been acquitted whether or not witnesses are called, but the new evidence could have impacted the opinions of millions of Americans who witnessed the violence of that day.

Democrats’ decision to abandon their demand that witnesses be called in the impeachment trial has raised complaints that the Senate prioritized its planned recess over the need to hear testimony about the 6 January insurrection.

From a Washington Post columnist:

From an editor for the conservative outlet the Dispatch:

From a CBS News reporter:

The House impeachment managers and Democratic senators are receiving widespread criticism for caving on calling witnesses in the impeachment trial, after they won a procedural vote to do so.

From MSNBC’s chief legal correspondent:

From a former justice department official under Barack Obama:

From the New Yorker’s Susan Glasser:

From the Atlantic’s Adam Serwer:

Lead impeachment manager Jamie Raskin is now presenting his side’s closing arguments, summarizing the presentation they delivered over two days.

The Democratic congressman said the managers had presented “overwhelming and irrefutable” evidence that Donald Trump incited the 6 January insurrection at the Capitol.

Raskin noted the managers asked Trump to testify in the trial, but the former president refused to do so. Raskin asked senators if they would want to testify if they believed they had been falsely accused of inciting a violent insurrection.

“I am sure I would,” Raskin said.

After congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler’s statement was added to the official record, both the House impeachment managers and Donald Trump’s defense lawyers declined to make any requests for more evidence.

That means the impeachment trial will have no witnesses, after a few hours of intense drama over who would be called to testify.

The trial has moved on to closing arguments from the managers and Trump’s lawyers, which will last up to four hours.

The Senate will then proceed to a final vote, meaning Trump will likely be acquitted later today.

With Jaime Herrera Beutler’s statement added to the official record, the Senate has now agreed that no witnesses will be called in the impeachment trial.

The trial has now moved on to closing arguments from the impeachment managers and Donald Trump’s defense lawyers.

The trial is expected to conclude with a final vote on acquittal later today.

The Senate has resumed the impeachment trial, and the chamber is expected to announce a deal on calling witnesses.

Senator Patrick Leahy, who is presiding over the trial, resumed the proceedings by recognizing Bruce Castor, one of Donald Trump’s lawyers.

Castor said he believed that congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler’s testimony, if she were called as a witness, would be consistent with her statement from last month.

Lead impeachment manager Jamie Raskin then read Beutler’s statement aloud, and it was added to the official trial record.

Senator Marco Rubio indicated that no witnesses will be called in the impeachment trial after all.

“All this drama for nothing. House managers made fools of themselves. They have agreed to have a news article for the record something they could have gotten without resistance from anyone,” the Florida Republican said in a tweet.

If Democrats backtrack on calling witnesses, it would clear the way for a swift vote on acquittal in the impeachment trial.

Democrats will likely be criticized for reversing their decision so quickly, although it would allow them to quickly move forward with Joe Biden’s coronavirus relief package.

If the impeachment trial dragged on for weeks as witnesses were deposed, it could grind the whole Senate to a halt.

Senate minority whip John Thune, a Republican of South Dakota, told the Washington Post that he believes the chamber has reached an agreement to admit Jaime Herrera Beutler’s statement into the official record and then move on without calling witnesses, allowing for a swift end to the trial.

Senator Joe Manchin said that the chamber has reached a deal on next steps in Donald Trump’s impeachment trial.

But the West Virginia Democrat did not provide further details about the deal while speaking to a Bloomberg News reporter.

Multiple reports indicate that senators have discussed the possibility of allowing Jaime Herrera Beutler’s statement from last night into the official record.

In her statement, Beutler said House minority leader Kevin McCarthy told her that Trump sided with the insurrectionists in a 6 January phone call with him.

If Beutler’s statement is added to the official record, the Senate may choose not to allow any witnesses in the trial after all, which would clear the way for a swift vote on acquittal.