FILE - In this Oct. 2, 2019, file photo, President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Finnish President Sauli Niinisto in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. Trump's guiding principle is the idea that he's the president - and that means he can do what he wants. It's governed how he operates with his staff, world leaders and lawmakers.
The opening of the defence's case comes after a three-day presentation by House Democrats. As they wrapped up on Friday, they asserted that Trump will persist in abusing his power and endangering American democracy unless Congress intervenes to remove him before the 2020 election. They also implored Republicans to allow new testimony to be heard before senators render a final verdict.
The seven Democratic prosecutors peppered their arguments with video clips, email correspondence and lessons in American history. Republicans who found the presentation tedious and redundant can expect differences in tone and style from Trump's lawyers, who planned to attack the impeachment as much on political as legal grounds.
Trump, with his eyes on the audience beyond the Senate chamber, bemoaned the trial schedule in a tweet, saying it "looks like my lawyers will be forced to start on Saturday, which is called Death Valley in T.V." "This needs to end," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a Trump confidant. He said he doesn't want to hear from Bolton or from Joe Biden or his son Hunter. The younger Biden who served on a Ukraine gas company's board.
"The scheme was unraveling," Crow said. The money for Ukraine was put on hold after Trump's July 25 call to Ukraine that launched the impeachment probe, and released Sept. 11 once Congress intervened.