Roll Call: “The rules of decorum state that senators can’t use phones or electronic devices in the chamber during President Trump’s impeachment trial, but what about Apple Watches?”
“At least eight senators had them strapped on their wrists in the chamber at the start of the trial Tuesday, despite guidelines from Senate leadership that all electronics should be left in the cloakroom in the provided storage.”
David Graham: “The Senate has to at least have the appearance of a trial to provide cover to vulnerable Republicans, such as Cory Gardner of Colorado and Susan Collins of Maine. But it can’t be too fair, because that could expose Republicans to primary challenges from the right, which would make McConnell’s delicate act of keeping his caucus together only more challenging. His best prospect is to run the gauntlet and hope that in the process he makes life difficult for endangered Democratic senators, such as Doug Jones of Alabama.”
“That’s the paradox of the Senate’s handling of impeachment. The proceedings there look like a flimsy excuse for a trial, and they are. But under the surface, a series of real trials is going on. Vulnerable senators sit in the dock, the jurors are voters, and the verdicts won’t come back until November.”
“The innocent do not behave this way.”
— House manager Adam Schiff, arguing for impeaching President Trump in the Senate.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) changed his proposed rules for President Trump’s impeachment trial by allowing each side to have three days to present their arguments, instead of just two, PBS reports.
That change could allow the trial to wrap up earlier each evening instead of pushing it past midnight.
McConnell will also now automatically add evidence from the House impeachment inquiry to the record unless there’s an objection. His draft resolution required a majority vote.
The New York Times reports McConnell “made changes to the proposed rules for the trial after Republicans senators, including Susan Collins of Maine, raised concerns about two provisions.”
Rick Wilson: “The sooner Democrats start realizing this, the better off they’ll be.”
“Trump’s legal team, including not one but two of Jeffrey Epstein’s defenders, wasn’t selected on the basis of academic prowess, knowledge, or experience, but notoriety and willingness to work for this unapologetic criminal. Its biggest names are representing Trump not in spite of but because of the fact that they are flashy media characters.”
“The Democrats will need to show not only expertise on the subject matter at hand, but some passion and fire in the course of this. They’ll need to bring more energy and direction to the floor of the Senate. Trump and McConnell aren’t hiding their cards: Rules are for suckers; dignity is for marks; and this is a bar fight, not a debating society.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) repeatedly declined to answer questions about how many amendments he would introduce to the impeachment resolution, The Hill reports.
Said Schumer: “Wait and see.”
A new Monmouth poll finds 57% of Americans say that House managers should be able to introduce new evidence in the Senate impeachment trial of President Trump.
Most also say that Trump and members of his administration should be asked to appear at the trial.
Said pollster Patrick Murray: “Public opinion on allowing new evidence and compelling witness testimony in the Senate trial breaks sharply along partisan lines. But it is interesting that solid majorities in every partisan group would like to see Trump and members of his administration at least asked to appear.”
House impeachment manager Adam Schiff said that if the Senate does not allow witnesses and documents at trial, the chamber will be guilty of “working with the President to obstruct the truth from coming out,” CNN reports.
He added: “If Sen. McConnell makes this the first impeachment trial in history without witnesses or documents, it will not prove the President innocent — it will merely prove the Senate guilty of working with the President to obstruct the truth from coming out.”
Former Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) predicted on NBC News that Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) would be the only Republican senator to split with her party on allowing new witnesses to testify during President Trump’s impeachment trial.
The House impeachment managers said in a letter to President Trump’s top lawyer, White House counsel Pat Cipollone, that he is a “material fact witness” and must disclose evidence before the start of the trial.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi put out a statement slamming Sen. Mitch McConnell’s resolution outlining rules for the impeachment trial as a “sham proposal” and “cover-up for the president.”
“A Government Accountability Office report accusing President Trump of violating the law is taking on heightened importance at the start of his impeachment trial,” Axios reports.
“The key argument Trump’s legal team plans to make is that the articles of impeachment are deficient on their face because, unlike previous impeachment attempts, they don’t allege that Trump broke the law. But Democrats plan to highlight how the report… clearly finds that the Trump administration violated the law.”
Said one Democratic leadership aide: “This is a big part of our case. It shows the extent to the president went to to advance his scheme; he went so far to break the law. It’s an important piece of evidence and only adds to the mountain and body of evidence that we already have.”
“I am much more correct right now having done all the research.”
— Alan Dershowitz, on CNN, on his current views of what qualifies a president for impeachment despite holding opposite views during the Clinton impeachment.
“President Trump’s legal defense team and Senate GOP allies are quietly gaming out contingency plans should Democrats win enough votes to force witnesses to testify in the impeachment trial, including an effort to keep former national security adviser John Bolton from the spotlight,” the Washington Post reports.
“One option being discussed would be to move Bolton’s testimony to a classified setting because of national security concerns, ensuring that it is not public.”
“But that proposal, discussed among some Senate Republicans in recent days, is seen as a final tool against Bolton becoming an explosive figure in the trial. First, Republicans involved in the discussions said, would come a fierce battle in the courts.”
“The impeachment organizing resolution from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell gives House impeachment managers and President Trump’s legal team 24 hours each to make their opening arguments over two days,” CNN reports.
“The resolution raises the prospect that the trial will have 12-hour days and go late into the night.”
Politico: “That will be followed by 16 total hours of questions and answers, culminating in a four-hour debate and a critical vote over whether to consider witnesses or new information.”
“There is no explicit reference to a motion to dismiss the trial in the resolution.”
A new CNN poll finds 51% of Americans say the Senate should vote to convict President Trump and remove him from office, while 45% disagree.
Also interesting: 69% say that upcoming trial should feature testimony from new witnesses who did not testify in the House impeachment inquiry.
“Pushing nominees through the Senate confirmation process takes twice as long under President Trump as it did during President Ronald Reagan’s time in office — a record that appears to have limited Trump’s influence during his three years as president,” Politico reports.
“On average, it takes 115 days to confirm a presidential appointee for Trump, compared with 56.4 days under Reagan, according to new data from the nonpartisan Partnership for Public Service. In 2019, the process took even longer: an average of 136 days for the Senate to confirm appointees, particularly for sub-Cabinet positions.”
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.