WASHINGTON.- The United States Senate on Tuesday began the political trial against President Donald Trump, just the third in the country's history, with a marathon session in which he approved the rules of the process and blocked all eleven Democratic amendments to demand more witnesses and documents.
Follow the minute-by-minute Trump political trial here
With 53 votes in favor and 47 against, the Senate approved the rules that will dictate the political trial in the next two weeks, after rejecting, on partisan lines, all eleven Democratic amendments to demand witnesses and additional documents. All but one were rejected in votes of 53-47.
The president of the Supreme Court, John Roberts, who presides over the trial, had to admonish the parties and ask them to maintain good manners, after a tense exchange between the Democratic legislator, Jerrold Nadler, one of the prosecutors, and Pat Cipollone, the White House lawyer.
Nadler urged senators to allow witnesses, unless they want history and voters to judge them for "a disgraceful cover-up." Cipollone demanded that he apologize to the Senate and the voters for such an accusation.
Thus, the first day of the trial, which lasted 12 hours until about two in the morning local time, passed between Republican accusations about a "farce", and the Democratic replica of an alleged "cover-up" to protect Trump.
The trial began shortly after one in the afternoon local time, with the revision of the rules of the trial against Trump, accused of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. The charges are linked to his alleged pressure on Ukraine last year to initiate an investigation into his political rival, former vice president Joe Biden.
Following the objections of the Democrats, the leader of the Republican majority in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, modified the rules by hand, so that both the prosecution and the defense will present their arguments for a total of up to 24 hours spread over three days , instead of two.
McConnell will also allow the inclusion of evidence already reviewed by the House of Representatives during the Democratic investigation into Trump's alleged irregularities to pressure Ukraine to investigate Biden. Democrats say Trump was only looking to facilitate his re-election on November 3.
The senators, who serve as jury, will have 16 hours to ask questions from next week, and the Senate will resume the debate on whether or not to accept witnesses and documents as required by the opposition.
The lower house approved the political trial against Trump in a partisan vote on December 18, and formally sent the charges to the Senate last Wednesday.
The defense argues that the charges are unfounded and that the Democrats lack evidence and had to prepare their case well before sending the charges to the Senate. Democrats retort that Trump banned testimonies and the delivery of documents, and that no trial would take place under those conditions.
Blockade of Democratic amendments
The Senate blocked all amendments by the leader of the Democratic minority in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, to demand the delivery of hundreds of Administration documents related to pressure to Ukraine, which the White House refused to deliver in 2019. The first of the amendments was defeated in a vote of 53-47.
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The buried amendments had to do with the delivery of documents from the State Department, the Pentagon and the Office of Management and Budget, in addition to demanding the testimony of senior officials of the Administration.
Among the witnesses demanded by the opposition are the former National Security advisor, John Bolton, and the head of the White House Cabinet, Mick Mulvaney.
The Senate also rejected amendments that would allow individual votes on motions to present witnesses, and one that allowed Roberts to determine the relevance of witnesses in the trial.
In general, Democrats argued that documents and witnesses are key to understanding the alleged coordination between several high-ranking officials of the Administration to pressure Ukraine, and their alleged efforts to cover up the retention of military aid of around $ 400 million to Ukraine.
The Democratic strategy, it seems, was to describe in detail the documents that the White House refuses to deliver and which, in its opinion, would demonstrate the cover-up of the pressure campaign against Ukraine. Prosecutors have shown images, videos of 2019 testimonials, and partially crossed out documents, as well as Trump's statements, to strengthen their arguments.
Schumer denied McConnell's request to combine all his amendments into one, in order to expedite the process, which extended the session until the early hours of the morning.
According to sources close to the Administration, both the defense and Republican senators work behind the scenes to prevent the testimony of key figures like Bolton.
Cipollone, Trump's lawyer, argued that the charges against the president "are not only ridiculous but dangerous for the republic," and criticized the Democrats now want more time to argue their case.
Shortly before, the California Democratic legislator, Adam Schiff, who leads the team of seven administrators or prosecutors, listed what he considered "failures" in the Republican resolution, and accused the Republicans of wanting to "cover up" the evidence.
Schiff condemned the alleged cover-up of the Republicans, but stressed that "the truth will come out" in the end.
"The documents hidden by the president will be disclosed over time through FOIA (a court summons) or other means. Witnesses will tell their stories in books and movies. The truth will come out, and the question is whether it will come out on time." he emphasized.
After the voting day, senators will hear the accusation arguments between Wednesday and next Friday.
New Jersey Democratic Senator Bob Menendez told reporters that, in his opinion, the Republican resolution does not guarantee "a fair, transparent and honest trial" but helps cover up the evidence against Trump.
McConnell "said he was going to be nail in the flesh with the president and his wishes, and obviously his resolution does that exactly ... it's a cover-up," Menéndez argued, recalling that the Republican leader said his bench would coordinate with the White House to exonerate Trump.
The defense will present its case as of next Saturday and, according to the calendar, the trial will tentatively culminate with a vote to dismiss or exonerate Trump on January 31. Two thirds of the Senate will be required to approve at least one of the charges to dismiss him.
Strong security measures
From the full Senate, to which Telemundo News had access with a small group of journalists, senators took notes in silence, or listened with folded arms. Some had huge folders full of documents on their desks, and they only had access to glasses of water, milk, or candy.
As the night progressed, some senators began to nod at their desks, showing fatigue even in their posture.
The process is carried out under strong security measures: only the Senate chambers record the deliberations; electronic devices of any kind are not allowed - only paper and pencil or a pen -, and journalists require a special pass to enter the room, and another to perform their duties at the Capitol.
In addition, the public must go through metal detectors, and the wait to enter the room can be up to two hours, and only 21 people are allowed to enter the room at a time.
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The president of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, said in a written statement that Republicans " have chosen to cover up the president , instead of honoring their oath to the Constitution."
Among the seven Democratic congressmen who serve as prosecutors of the trial, there is the Spanish Sylvia García, who splashed her presentation with phrases in Spanish, assuring that "nobody is above the law."
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Garcia said that, as a former judge in Houston, he had never seen a trial in which witnesses refused to cooperate.
From next Saturday, it will be the turn of the defense team, led by Cipollone and which also includes Ken Starr, an independent ex-lawyer who prosecuted Bill Clinton in 1999, and Alan Dershowitz, a famous expert in constitutional law. Trump's team has promised to prove that Trump did not commit any crime and that the charges have political motivations.
Trump: "It's embarrassing"
From Davos, Switzerland, where he participates in the World Economic Forum, Trump called this process a "farce," and a "witch hunt," according to statements reproduced by NBC News.
Trump has followed the process closely: despite a six-hour difference between Washington and Davos, the president retweeted Republican criticism against the political trial.
His legal team presented a document on Monday stating that the political trial is "a dangerous misrepresentation of the Constitution," which also jeopardizes the right to vote of Americans.
Cipollone repeated the argument of the Administration and its allies that the Senate must reject the charges and acquit the president.
On the Democratic side, Schumer and other leaders of his bench warned that McConnell's proposal is a "cover-up."
Speaking to the press, the Democratic Senator for Illinois, Dick Durbin, said "no one is above the law," and condemned that Republicans are covering up Trump, ignoring his constitutional obligations.
This is just the third political trial against a president in the history of the United States, and began only thirteen days before the start of the primaries for the 2020 elections, with four Democratic senators running for the presidential nomination of his party.
In fact, the rules require the presence of the 100 senators throughout the process, so the four senators now stuck in Washington, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Amy Klobuchar, and Michael Bennet, have had to adjust their schedules and rely on their allies so as not to interrupt their electoral acts.
Pelosi, who led the accusations against Trump, leads a congressional delegation that travels to Poland and Israel to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Auschwitz's release at the end of World War II.
See also: Cacerolazos in Washington DC for the political trial of President Trump
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