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Trump acquitted by Senate

reporter 1222 — Thu, 06 Feb 2020 06:31:37 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – GOP-majority US Senate has voted that US President Donald Trump be acquitted of both articles of impeachment.

Supreme Court chief justice John Roberts started the vote Wednesday in the upper chamber of US Congress, where the president’s supporters hold the majority, presstv.ir reported.

Republican Senator Mitt Romney was the only one from his party to vote against the president at least in one of the articles.

The third president ever impeached in the US senate, Trump was acquitted of both cases of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.

Far less than the two-thirds majority required to remove the president from office, the votes were 52-48 and 53-47.

Trump’s reelection campaign has already started celebrating his acquittal as a victory against Democrats, who busy competing to beat the president in the 2020 presidential election.

“The Senate has tried Donald John Trump, President of the United States, upon two articles of impeachment exhibited against him by the House of Representatives, and two-thirds of the Senators present not having found him guilty of the charges contained therein: it is, therefore, ordered and adjudged that the said Donald John Trump be, and he is hereby, acquitted of the charges in said articles,” said the Supreme Court chief justice.

Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, Republican Lindsey Graham and other Republicans had already said that their vote would not be impartial.

The president was acquitted by the vote exposed the depth of partisanship and dysfunction in the US political system.

Trump was impeached after being accused of tying the Ukraine military aid to Kyiv’s investigation of his political rivals.

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Trump Senate trial wrapped up in White House

reporter 1222 — Wed, 05 Feb 2020 07:01:15 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Democratic prosecutors declaring “no one is above the law” went head to head with White House lawyers as closing arguments wrapped up at President Donald Trump Senate impeachment trial, setting the stage for his likely acquittal on Wednesday.

“You can’t trust this president to do the right thing,” chief House prosecutor Adam Schiff said in an emotional speech on the Senate floor on Monday at the end of the two-week trial, AFP reported.

“Truth matters little to him,” the California lawmaker told the 100 members of the Senate who will decide Trump’s fate. “What’s right matters even less and decency matters not at all.

“He will not change and you know it,” Schiff said of the former New York real estate tycoon turned politician. “Now do impartial justice and convict him.”

White House lawyers flatly rejected the arguments that Trump – just the third president in US history to be impeached by the House of Representatives – should be removed from office by the Senate for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.

“The president has done nothing wrong,” White House counsel Pat Cipollone said, calling the impeachment by the Democratic-led House “purely partisan and political.”

“We put our faith in the Senate,” he said.

“End the era of impeachment once and for all,” Cipollone said, arguing that the American people – not the Senate – should decide whether Trump remains in office.

Jay Sekulow, another of Trump’s lawyers, said the House impeachment was “reckless” and urged the Senate to acquit.

“The bottom line is that the president’s opponents don’t like the president and they don’t like his policies,” Sekulow said.

The Senate is to vote at 4:00 pm (2100 GMT) on Wednesday and the Republican president is all but certain of being acquitted.

Republicans hold 53 seats in the Senate to 47 for the Democrats, but a two-thirds majority, or 67 senators, is needed to remove a president from office.

The House of Representatives impeached Trump on December 18 for withholding $391 million in military aid to Ukraine to demand that Kyiv open an investigation into his potential November election rival, Democrat Joe Biden.

Schiff urged senators to find “courage to stand up” to the president.

“When the president tries to coerce an ally to try to help him cheat in our elections and covers it up we must say enough,” he said. “He has compromised our elections and he will do so again.”

Colorado lawmaker Jason Crow, another House prosecutor, said impeachment was an “extraordinary remedy.”

“It is in the Constitution for a reason,” he said. “In America, nobody is above the law, even those elected president of the United States.”

Crow told the senators their votes would echo through history.

“What you decide on these articles will have lasting implications for the future of the presidency, not only for this president but for all future presidents,” he said.

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Senate Final Vote for Trump Trial

reporter 1222 — Sat, 01 Feb 2020 08:33:29 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – The US Senate impeachment trial for Donald Trump will drag into next week, with a vote set for Wednesday afternoon on two articles of impeachment against the president, according to a bipartisan resolution negotiated by party leaders.

Before agreeing to the delay, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) phoned Trump to get the president’s approval, according to a source familiar with the conversation. Trump then signed off on the decision.

The 4 p.m. vote will conclude a 20-day proceeding, only the third presidential impeachment trial in US history. The Senate is virtually certain to acquit Trump, and even some Democrats may oppose an obstruction of Congress article approved by the House.

Closing arguments in the case will begin Monday at 11 a.m. and will last four hours. Senate representatives will then have until Wednesday’s vote to offer speeches on Trump trial.

McConnell and Senate Republicans stayed largely united throughout a sometimes chaotic Friday and defeated repeated Democratic efforts to have additional witnesses — particularly former national security adviser John Bolton — deposed as part of the Senate trial. Trump and his defense team vehemently argued against such a move. Senate GOP leaders claimed it could drag out the trial for weeks or months and plunge the Senate into a lengthy legal battle over the extent of executive privilege.

After the Senate voted 51-49 to reject the initial critical motion to debate the witness issue, McConnell and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) hammered out an agreement setting out the endgame for the trial. Schumer was given votes on four more motions regarding witnesses and additional evidence for the case, but all were defeated. Exhausted senators then went home for the weekend.

“We’re going to get through hopefully a few amendment votes tonight and then get a resolution that would take us to a landing spot in the middle of next week,” Senate Majority Whip John Thune (R- SD) told reporters. “A lot of folks want to address the subject so that gives them a chance on Monday, Tuesday, and part of Wednesday to do that.”

Schumer Friday night said it was “a grand tragedy” to not allow witnesses in the trial.

“America will remember this day—a day when the United Senate did not live up to its responsibilities, turned away from the truth and instead went along with a sham trial,” he said, Politico reported.

Senate Republicans suggested scheduling concerns related to the Iowa caucuses on Monday and Trump’s State of the Union address on Tuesday were behind the possible delay in ending the proceedings. GOP senators spent about an hour hashing out the next steps during their Friday lunch.

White House officials also wanted more time to prepare their closing arguments in the case, said several sources close to the issue. And administration officials said the ongoing impeachment trial wouldn’t hamper Trump’s ability to deliver the State of the Union address.

“We do not believe that that schedule interferes with his ability to deliver a strong and confident State of the Union message in the House of Representatives to the country,” White House Legislative Affairs Director Eric Ueland said.

McConnell and Schumer huddled on the floor Friday afternoon before the Senate voted against calling additional witnesses during the trial. Schumer then left the floor while McConnell spoke to colleagues.

The Senate recessed following the vote, with senators in both parties expressing confusion about what would happen next.

There was a “major discussion” among GOP senators at lunch on the trial endgame, Republican sources said. Republicans remained divided over how to wind down the trail, with several expressing dissatisfaction about dragging out the proceedings over the weekend or into next week, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Other Republicans wanted to wrap things up as soon as possible, move leaders had telegraphed for days, so much so that the sudden change in their plans for the acquittal vote until next week caused a minor uproar during GOP lunch on Friday.

Moderate GOP senators then met with McConnell Friday afternoon — including Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, and Mitt Romney of Utah — to discuss the process for finishing the proceedings. Murkowski is reportedly seeking several days of closed-door deliberations, which is similar to what occurred at the end of former President Bill Clinton’s 1999 case.

“(Collins) thinks everyone should have an opportunity to state their views on the record, but she’s not looking for extra time for speeches,” said a source close to Collins. “In fact, she doesn’t care how much time members get. She thinks the speeches can be short.”

Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) said the party leaders had been exploring how they could successfully wrap up the proceedings.

“(We’ll have a) vote on witnesses … then there is the resolution, like the organizing resolution we had the other evening, where Schumer had what, a dozen, 11 amendments, each debatable for up to two hours divided,” Barrasso said. “That will happen tonight on Resolution number two, just like they did in the Clinton impeachment.”

Schumer earlier denied press reports that he had presented a draft resolution to his caucus following talks with McConnell but said he would defend the minority’s rights.

“We Democrats are united in saying we do not want this rush through,” Schumer said. “Every senator has obligation, as well as a right, to let the people of their states and the American people know why they’re voting on this resolution, on witnesses and documents, and on whether the president should be convicted,” Schumer said. “We will fight very hard for that. We are in the minority, but we do have some power in the minority, and we will use it to prevent things from being truncated in the middle of the night.”

A delay would provide more time for closing argument for Trump’s defense team. And senators would get two days to make their own statements on the floor on the case.

It also allowed four Senate Democrats running for president a chance to campaign in Iowa after being stuck in Washington the last two weeks for an impeachment trial.

Not all senators were happy about the delay, asserting the trial should be completed as quickly as possible since everyone knows Trump will be acquitted in the end.

“I am confident that there are Republicans who want to be done and out of here. And frankly, there are some Democrats who have had all the fun we can have been together for probably 140 hours,” said Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.).

The original organizing resolution controlling the impeachment trial only covered up until the point when the Senate debated the issue of whether to depose additional witnesses, a position the House managers and Schumer strongly pushed during the last two weeks. McConnell and the White House adamantly opposed that motion, arguing it was unnecessary and could drag the trial on for weeks or months. McConnell and other top Republicans wanted to wrap up the case by late Friday night.

However, the White House request for additional time for closing arguments derailed the GOP timetable. Some Senate Republicans argued the proceedings should be brought to a close as quickly as possible, despite complaints from GOP senators.

“This would be a very bad idea,” Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) tweeted. “After 70+ hours of argument & debate, 180+ questions, the positions are well defined. Time to vote.”

“I would think we would finish today. Maybe a long day, but I think we should go ahead and plow through,” added Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.).

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Trump trial opens with fiery clashes over witnesses

reporter 1222 — Thu, 23 Jan 2020 06:40:57 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Republicans and Democrats battled over summoning high-level White House witnesses Tuesday in a marathon first day of arguments in US President Donald Trump trial for abuse of power.

The two sides squared off in fiery exchanges that circled around the procedures for the trial and gave the Democrats an opportunity to spell out their arguments for Trump’s guilt on national television, AFP reported.

But Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell flexed his own political muscle, mobilizing his side’s 53-47 majority in the body to slap down Democratic attempts to amend the trial procedures that he reportedly crafted together with the White House and designed to protect Trump.

After 13 hours, just before 2 a.m., McConnell was successful in pushing back every Democratic effort, ensuring Republicans had to control over a trial they hope will be wrapped up by the end of the month.

The president meanwhile monitored the challenge to his three-year-old presidency from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

The case is “just a hoax,” he said. “It’s the witch hunt that’s been going on for years and frankly it’s disgraceful.”

‘Completely backward’

McConnell’s rules set out a schedule of six days of arguments, three days by the House impeachment managers and then three days by Trump’s defense team, to be followed by one day of questions from the 100 Senators, who sit as jury in the trial.

Democrats though were angered by McConnell’s refusal to call witnesses and subpoena documents before the trial’s arguments phase is over.

They want to hear from current and former top Trump aides, including White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney and former national security advisor John Bolton.

Without any guarantee that witnesses would be called even at that time, they sought in a last-ditch move to give the presiding judge, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, the last word on calling witnesses.

That too was rejected in a stark party-line vote.

“They don’t want a fair trial,” said Adam Schiff, the leader of the House impeachment managers prosecuting the case.

“They don’t want you to hear these witnesses… they don’t want a neutral justice to weigh in.”

But Schiff’s team took advantage of the opportunity to seek amendments to occupy the television cameras for most of the hearing and lay out their case against the US leader.

They used detailed graphics and played videos of US diplomats testifying late last year to demonstrate that Trump oversaw the months-long scheme to pressure Ukraine to help him politically damage potential 2020 election opponent Joe Biden and the Democrats.

In trial, They also played a video of Trump himself saying last December that he would “love to have” witnesses like Mulvaney appear.

“I want them to testify, but I want them to testify in the Senate,” Trump said at the time.

The political endurance test signaled what could be ahead for the Senate over the coming week.

Twelve hours into the debate, tempers boiled and Roberts broke his silence to admonish prosecutors and the defense after they traded accusations of lying.

It was an equal test for the jury, the 100 senators essentially locked in the Senate chamber, forced to pay attention rather than dealing with other chores.

Four Democratic senators seeking their party’s nomination to face Trump in November’s election were forced to take time off from campaigning ahead of the first state caucuses to choose a nominee in Iowa on February 3.

“We’re all there to do our duty… I can do two things at once,” said Senator Amy Klobuchar.

Loyalty test

There remained little doubt about the outcome of the trial, given the Republican Senate majority and Trump’s command of party loyalty.

The key question was whether Democrats could convince several Republicans to support their call for witnesses next week to prolong the trial.

Democratic Senator Chris Coons was doubtful.

“McConnell continues his iron grip on the Republican majority,” Coons said outside the hearing.

“The Republican majority is still going to try to tear through this case in 10 days.”

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