By Jack Phillips
The impeachment trial of President Donald Trump starts again on Monday, with Trump’s legal counsel offering arguments for why the president should not be impeached. Refresh for updates.
It follows arguments from House managers led by Reps. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) last week.
1:45 p.m. – Ken Starr Takes the Floor
Trump’s lawyer, Ken Starr, a former Clinton impeachment prosecutor, took to the floor and issued a statement.
“Those of us who lived through the Clinton impeachment, including members of this body, full well understand that a presidential impeachment is tantamount to domestic war, but thankfully protected by our beloved First Amendment, a war of words and a war of ideas. But it’s filled with acrimony and it divides the country like nothing else. Those of us who lived through the Clinton impeachment understand that in a deep and personal way,” Starr said.
He said it the impeachment against Trump is being weaponized. “Let the people decide,” Starr, a current Fox News contributor, said.
1:35 p.m. – Mulvaney Responds to Bolton
White House chief of staff and former OMB Director Mick Mulvaney, in a statement via a spokesman, disputed a report about former national security adviser John Bolton’s book, where he alleged Trump told him that he linked military aid to investigations in Ukraine.
“The latest story from the New York Times, coordinated with a book launch, has more to do with publicity than the truth. John Bolton never informed Mick Mulvaney of any concerns surrounding Bolton’s purported August conversation with the President. Nor did Mr. Mulvaney ever have a conversation with the President or anyone else indicating that Ukrainian military aid was withheld in exchange for a Ukrainian investigation of Burisma, the Bidens, or the 2016 election. Furthermore, Mr. Mulvaney has no recollection of any conversation with Mr. Giuliani resembling that reportedly described in Mr. Bolton’s manuscript, as it was Mr. Mulvaney’s practice to excuse himself from conversations between the President and his personal counsel to preserve any attorney-client privilege,” the statement reads.
Trump has also denied the claims on Twitter.
Democrats have sought to obtain Senate trial testimony from Mulvaney and Bolton.
1 p.m. – Trial Starts
President Trump’s defense has taken the floor, led by counsel Pat Cipollone.
12:15 p.m. – GOP Senators Suggest Witnesses
Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Mitt Romney (R-Utah) both suggested on Monday that a report about National Security Adviser John Bolton’s upcoming book should warrant calling witnesses to testify in President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial.
“The reports about John Bolton’s book strengthen the case for witnesses and have prompted a number of conversations among my colleagues,” Collins said in a statement.
Details of Bolton’s book were leaked to several news outlets on Sunday evening. Trump, meanwhile, said on Monday that alleged details offered in the forthcoming book by Bolton, who was Trump’s national security adviser until he departed late last year, were false—namely, the alleged claim that Trump linked hundreds of millions of dollars to investigations in Ukraine.
Collins added that she has “always said” that she would likely vote to call witnesses in the trial “just as I did in the 1999” impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton.
“I’ve said that in fairness to both parties, the decision on whether or not to call witnesses should be made after both the House managers and the president’s attorneys have had the opportunity to present their cases,” she said.
Romney, considered another possible swing-vote who has been an outspoken critic of Trump within the GOP, told reporters Monday that “it is increasingly apparent that it would be important to hear from John Bolton” before adding that it is “increasingly likely” other Republican senators would join in too.
12 p.m. – Schumer Calls for Bolton Testimony
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Monday said reports about former national security adviser John Bolton should prompt the need for witnesses.
“This is stunning. It goes right to the heart of the charges against the president,” Schumer told reporters. “Ambassador Bolton essentially confirms the president committed the offenses charged in the first article of impeachment.”
Trump, meanwhile, has denied allegations in the book on Twitter.
“I NEVER told John Bolton that the aid to Ukraine was tied to investigations into Democrats, including the Bidens. In fact, he never complained about this at the time of his very public termination. If John Bolton said this, it was only to sell a book,” he wrote on Twitter.
