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Associated Press President Donald Trump spoke at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Tuesday, as his Senate impeachment trial was set to resume.
President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial could be wrapped up in about two weeks, as Democrats decry the process and their push to call witnesses threatens to fail.
With the trial beginning in earnest on Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has proposed rules giving House Democrats and Trump’s team each as long as 24 hours over two days to make opening arguments. A 16-hour question-and-answer session from senators would follow, as would an eventual vote on hearing from witnesses and seeing documents.
Now read: McConnell calls for two 12-hour days of opening arguments per side in Trump impeachment trial.
Ahead of the trial’s reconvening, Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer said McConnell’s plan was a “blueprint for an impeachment trial on fast forward,” and vowed to amend the Kentucky Republican’s proposed rules. Schumer told reporters he would offer amendments on requesting witnesses and documents.
“The main political issue remains whether the Senate will call witnesses as part of the trial,” wrote Brian Gardner of Keefe, Bruyette & Woods in a note, “but we do not see this as being important to investors and markets DJIA, -0.06% because the chances of enough Republicans voting to remove Mr. Trump are extremely remote based on what is known today.”
However, GOP Sens. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Mitt Romney of Utah have indicated they are open to hearing from witnesses, which could lengthen the trial.
In 1999, Bill Clinton’s Senate impeachment trial lasted a little more than five weeks. Trump is scheduled to give the State of the Union speech on Feb. 4, but if a trial is ongoing, he could still give the annual address. Clinton delivered the same address while on trial in 1999.
Democrats’ impeachment case centers on Trump’s request that Ukraine’s president open an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden. Trump’s legal team asserted Monday that the president did “absolutely nothing wrong” and called the case against him “flimsy.”
Now read: Trump defense team’s brief calls impeachment grounds ‘flimsy.’
