Trump lawyers conclude opening arguments as Bolton controversy simmers

U.S. President Donald Trump's lawyers wrapped up their arguments in his impeachment trial on Tuesday with a plea for the Senate to acquit him, while also seeking to marginalize former national security adviser John Bolton's explosive allegations about Trump's conduct as "inadmissible" in the proceedings.

"The election is only months away," White House Counsel Pat Cipollone told the Senate. "The American people are entitled to choose their president. Overturning past elections and massively interfering with the upcoming one would cause serious and lasting damage to the people of the United States and to our great country. The Senate cannot allow this to happen."

"It is time for this to end, here and now. So we urge the Senate to reject these articles of impeachment."

"You cannot impeach a president on an unsourced allegation," Trump personal lawyer Jay Sekulow told senators earlier, referring to Bolton's unpublished book manuscript that describes Trump's central role in a pressure campaign aimed at getting Ukraine to investigate political rival, Joe Biden.

Sekulow underscored what fellow Trump legal team member Alan Dershowitz told senators late Monday — that even if what Bolton says is true, it would not represent impeachable conduct.

Directly contradicting Trump's account of events, Bolton in the manuscript said the president told him he wanted to freeze $391 million US in security aid to Ukraine until Kyiv pursued investigations into Democrats, including Democratic political rival Joe Biden, and his son Hunter, the New York Times reported.

Bolton's allegations go to the heart of impeachment charges against Trump. Democrats have said Trump abused his power by using the security aid — passed by Congress to help Ukraine battle Russia-backed separatists — as leverage to get a foreign power to smear a political rival.

Trump is seeking re-election on Nov. 3. Biden is a leading candidate for the Democratic nomination to face Trump.

Sekulow told the senators they were taking part in "the most solemn of duties under our constitutional framework: "The trial of the leader of the free world, the duly elected president of the United States. It is not a game of leaks and unsourced manuscripts. That's politics, unfortunately."

"Responding to an unpublished manuscript that may be — some reporters have an idea of maybe what it says — that's what the evidence [is] — if you want to call that evidence. I don't know what you'd call that. I'd call it inadmissible," Sekulow added.

WATCH | Sekulow warns senators:

'Danger! Danger! Danger!' — Trump lawyer

5 years ago

Duration 1:38

Trump lawyer Jay Sekulow says the job of deciding whether to remove a president from office was put in the Senate in order that it be examined above the fray of politics.

Chuck Schumer, the Senate's top Democrat, called a proposal for senators to be shown the manuscript in private, keeping Bolton out of public testimony, "absurd." 

Schumer made a fresh appeal for four Republican senators — the number needed for a majority — to join Democrats in voting to call witnesses. Schumer also indicated Democrats would reject any effort at a so-called witness swap with Republicans.

"The Republicans can call who they want. They have the ability. They have the majority," Schumer said.

Late Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell conceded Republicans lack the votes to block witnesses, a potentially major hurdle for Trump's hopes to end the trial with a quick acquittal.

McConnnell's statement, in a closed-door meeting of senators, was an acknowledgement of the extent to which Bolton's revelations have scrambled the trial's schedule and the desire for testimony.

Bolton left his White House post last September. Trump has said he fired Bolton. Bolton said he quit after policy disagreements.

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, a close Trump ally who was at the White House on Tuesday morning, wrote on Twitter that he supports making Bolton's manuscript available on a classified basis, stopping short of having the former aide testify in the trial.

There are still several days before any potential witness vote would be taken. A decision to call more witnesses would require 51 votes to pass. With a 53-47 majority, Republicans can only afford to lose three. If senators agree they want more witnesses they would then have to vote again on who to call.

The trial will determine whether Trump is removed from office after being impeached by the Democratic-led House of Representatives last month on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress arising from his conduct toward Ukraine.

Trump is expected to be acquitted in the 100-seat Senate, where Republicans hold 53 seats, and a two-thirds majority is needed to remove him from office under the U.S. Constitution.

Dershowitz, a constitutional law professor who is a member of Trump's legal team, told the Senate on Monday: "Nothing in the Bolton revelations, even if true, would rise to the level of an abuse of power or an impeachable offence. That is clear from the history. That is clear from the language of the Constitution. You cannot turn conduct that is not impeachable into impeachable conduct simply by using words like 'quid pro quo' and 'personal benefit.'"

WATCH | Pressure mounts for Bolton to testify at impeachment trial:

Pressure for Bolton to testify at impeachment trial grows

5 years ago

Duration 1:57

As U.S. President Donald Trump’s defence team wrapped up their opening arguments, Republicans faced increased pressure to allow former national security adviser John Bolton to testify about allegations in his new book.

Trump has denied telling Bolton he sought to use the Ukraine aid as leverage to get Kyiv to investigate the Bidens. He has denied any quid pro quo — a Latin term meaning a favour for a favour — in his dealings with Ukraine.

The Senate may resolve the issue of whether to call witnesses in a vote Friday or Saturday. Some moderate Republican senators, including Mitt Romney and Susan Collins, said the disclosures were likely to sway at least four Republicans to call Bolton to testify, which would give Democrats the votes necessary in the Republican-led Senate to summon him.

The focus was on whether two other moderate Republicans, Lamar Alexander and Lisa Murkowski, would vote to hear from Bolton.

"The question is: Do they want to hear the truth, or do they want to hide the truth?" Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow told reporters.

Romney told Reuters on Tuesday that the idea of a "one-for-one" witness deal, with one witness called by Democrats and one by Republicans, "has merit," but added: "I wouldn't suggest any particular names."

It was not clear when senators would begin submitting their questions to U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts, the next step in the trial. Roberts is presiding over the trial.