WASHINGTON (WFLA) – President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial began in earnest on Wednesday with House impeachment managers laying out their case for the prosecution.
Rep. Adam Schiff, the lead House impeachment manager, took the lead on the House’s opening arguments, calling on Republicans to agree to a “fair trial” with additional witnesses and evidence.
The other managers took turns showing clips of witness testimony from the public hearings during the impeachment inquiry and screenshots of messages that were released during those hearings.
The U.S. Senate voted along party lines Tuesday to reject proposals to subpoena new witnesses and documents for the impeachment trial.
The Senate spent more than 12 hours debating the rules and procedures of the impeachment trial. The debate started Tuesday afternoon but bled into the early-morning hours of Wednesday with a vote to approve the proposed resolution not happening until about 2 a.m. ET.
The resolution filed by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell states that the seven House managers will have 24 hours to present its case over the course of three days. The president’s legal team will then have 24 hours over the course of three days to present the defense.
The majority of the hours in the court on Tuesday were spent debating amendments to the resolution that were proposed by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. A total of 11 amendments were proposed to subpoena new documents and witnesses to get more information on a phone call between President Trump and Ukrainian President Zelensky. All of the proposed amendments were voted down along party lines.
Nexstar is bringing you complete coverage of the impeachment trial. Our coverage continues on Wednesday at 12:50 p.m. ET with Digital Anchor JB Biunno, Political Reporter Evan Donovan and DC Correspondent Jessi Turnure.
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