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As a growing number of Republican senators confirmed they will vote to acquit Donald Trump at the conclusion of his impeachment trial on Wednesday, the saga threatened to overshadow the first contest of the Democratic primary season in Iowa on Monday.
Trump and Netanyahu presented peace plan last month
The Palestinian Authority has cut all ties with the US and Israel, including those relating to security, after rejecting a Middle East peace plan presented by Donald Trump, the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, said on Saturday.
Outraged by what they see as a coverup in the impeachment trial of Donald Trump, grassroots activists are planning a massive “payback project” designed to punish Republican senators at the ballot box.
Trump has handed his ultra-loyal evangelical base policy victories and in return they turn a blind eye to his scandals
Joanne Craig, a lifelong evangelical Republican and resident of Sioux City, Iowa, couldn’t be more satisfied with the first three years of Donald Trump’s presidency.
Donning a large, blue “Christians for Trump” button on a blue pantsuit, the 80-year-old Craig emerged from the Country Celebrations Event Center in this small Iowa city satisfied to have heard Mike Pence and a cadre of Baptist pastors coo about the president’s policy victories.
Senate voted 51-49 to block witnesses, with Republicans Mitt Romney and Susan Collins joining Democrats
The US Senate voted against hearing witnesses in the impeachment trial of Donald Trump on Friday, paving the way for Trump’s acquittal on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
The Senate voted 51-49 to block witnesses, with only two Republicans, Mitt Romney of Utah and Susan Collins of Maine, crossing party lines to support the Democratic call for witnesses.
The US Senate has voted against calling witnesses and collecting new evidence in the impeachment trial of Donald Trump, clearing the way for a near-certain acquittal. The Republican-controlled Senate voted 51-49 to block the Democrats' drive to hear testimony from witnesses including former national security adviser John Bolton. Only two Republicans, Mitt Romney and Susan Collins, supported the motion. Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer called the result a 'tragedy on a very large scale'.
Lisa Murkowski says she will vote against calling witnesses
Book says Trump told Bolton to help pressure Ukraine
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The impeachment trial has resumed, and Trump’s legal team will now have two hours to address the debate over calling witnesses to testify in the trial.
Deputy White House counsel Patrick Philbin has taken the podium to argue against witnesses, claiming the senators have heard enough testimony from the officials who participated in the public hearings of the House impeachment inquiry.
Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell was hosting some of his Republican colleagues in his office during the break, likely working through the logistics of the trial’s conclusion, but he is now headed back to the chamber.
So far senators Thune, Tillis, Romney, Alexander and Murkowski have emerged from McConnell's office. I frankly have no idea whether they want to push this through late tonight or punt it to next week.
Aaaand McConnell just emerged to head back to the Senate floor
The to and fro continues in the Trump impeachment trial as the prosecution and defense continue to debate subpoenaing witnesses. The White House lawyer Pat Cipollone accused the House impeachment managers of being driven by 'puritanical rage' while the Democratic congressman Hakeem Jeffries criticised the defense for raising 'conspiracy theory after conspiracy theory'
More than a dozen candidates are running to take on Donald Trump in the presidential election this year. But first they must win the Democratic nomination. Lauren Gambino explains the process
Republicans seem increasingly confident they can block witnesses
John Roberts insists he will not say alleged whistleblower’s name
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The Senate is back in session, and House managers and Trump lawyers are back to fielding questions.
GOP Senators found a new way to raise the topic of the Bidens and Burisma: “Do you agree with John Kerry’s stepson that Hunter Biden working with Burisma was unacceptable?”
When then-Vice President Joe Biden’s son joined the board of an obscure Ukrainian gas company half a decade ago, it was a stunning coup for its owner, a former Ukrainian minister working to remake the company’s image as he faced a money-laundering investigation.
For Hunter Biden, the job came with risks: Ukraine was in the throes of political upheaval, and there was building scrutiny of former government officials profiting in the lucrative gas industry. His father was the face of the Obama administration’s effort to get Ukraine to crack down on corruption.
Before the break, House manager Adam Schiff even more directly reassured senators concerned about “endless delays”, once again suggesting a one-week period for deposition and “limited” time for witnesses. Chief Justice John Roberts could quickly resolve disputes, he said.
Lawmakers and journalists have been speculating all day about how the upcoming votes on witnesses could fall. Republican Senators Lamar Alexander and Lisa Murkowski were spotted together during the dinner break. Both are potential swing votes, and have told reporters they remain undecided.
Key swing vote Sen. Lamar Alexander told me he's going to announce his decision on witnesses TONIGHT, a decision that will make clear whether the Senate trial will come to a swift conclusion or if it will lead to a new phase over witnesses and documents.
Emily Thornberry accuses Boris Johnson’s administration of ‘shameful betrayal’
Labour has condemned the government for praising Donald Trump’s vision for Middle East peace, with the shadow foreign secretary, Emily Thornberry, calling it a “shameful betrayal” of previous UK support for a viable two-state solution.
In an urgent Commons question on the plan, which has been condemned for granting Israel the bulk of its wishes but only offering a Palestinian state under severe restrictions, Thornberry called it “a monstrosity” and a guarantee of future violence.
White House sends letter saying book cannot be published
Today is first of two days of question-and-answer sessions at trial
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The impeachment managers have repeatedly used their answers to make an argument for calling witnesses, specifically John Bolton.
We are 17 questions in, with the witness issue emerging frequently. Dems using some questions to argue that Bolton could answer outstanding issues. WH team saying that if Bolton were called, many other witnesses would be, too, and proceedings would drag on for months.
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY): “The Senate in its history has had 15 different impeachment trials. In every single trial there were witnesses. Every single trial. Why should this president be treated differently...” https://t.co/up2CQNLRW8pic.twitter.com/8CoK6RvYZg
Democratic senators were visibly stunned when Alan Dershowitz made his argument that Trump was acting in the public interest by pushing for investigations of Democrats because the president considers his reelection to be in the public interest.
Dems' reaction to Dershowitz's case just now would've been great TV:
- When Dersh suggested reelection concerns fit in national interest, Bernie turned to Schatz, who mouthed either "WHA" or "WOW"
- Gillibrand and Merkley made frustrated hand motions
A two-state solution came about as the result of a rules-based world order, which Mr Trump detests because it is inimical to the raw power that he prefers to govern global affairs
Donald Trump’s Arab-Israeli peace plan rests upon the absurdity of the Palestinians accepting a state in name alone. Since 1993’s Oslo accords, hope had been kindled that a “Palestine” could be created from most of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with its capital in East Jerusalem. The Trump administration’s document pays lip service to such an entity while shrinking its size and mutilating its scope to non-existence. It envisages the potential transfer of Palestinian towns out of Israel. It contains a blatant attempt to stop Palestinians seeking justice for war crimes – including those currently under way. Mr Trump boasts he is a dealmaker, offering $50bn in investment if Palestinians trade away their civil and national rights. But Palestinians see a conman with no intention of making good on empty promises.
This proposal is a sop to rightwing ideologues in the US and Israel. It ends the charade that Mr Trump could play a mediating role in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, has good reason to think his visit to Washington is his finest hour. He once warned Israel would be in mortal danger if a viable Palestine existed alongside it. The indications are Mr Netanyahu’s cabinet will vote in days to begin annexing all settlements in the West Bank as well as the Jordan Valley. The old gibe against the Palestinians – that they never missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity for peace – is singularly inappropriate. Mr Trump’s blatant support for Israel and his snub of the Palestinians in drafting his plan has let Mr Netanyahu do whatever he wants.
Republican Collins: ‘There’s some gaps that need to be cleared up’
White House counsel to senators: reject articles of impeachment
Schiff says Trump’s lawyers ‘cannot defend president on facts’
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Though Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell has reportedly told senators privately that he doesn’t have votes to block new witnesses in the impeachment trial, per multiple reports, there are still several days till senators would vote on the matter.
Senate Republicans may still block witnesses, and some GOP lawmakers are confident they’ll be able to do so, according to CNN.
While the votes aren't secured yet, GOP leaders are growing confident they can defeat a vote on witnesses following the initial alarm the Bolton book caused among Senate Rs. Many Rs amenable to argument that witnesses would drag it out with no clear end https://t.co/LKsAaRHEaS
Lev Parnas’ lawyer is expected to attend the Senate trial tomorrow.
Joseph Bondy asked Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer for gallery tickets, according to The Daily Beast, which first reported the news. Bondy’s co-counsel Stephanie Schuman is also expected to appear. Parnas himself may not be able to, as he wears an ankle monitor and electronics are banned in the trial chamber.
Lev Parnas attorney on attending Senate trial: “We are attending the trial w/ or w/o Mr. Parnas bc we believe our presence is important in reminding senators that indeed there should be witnesses heard and evidence taken and that anything short of that would not be a fair trial”
Donald Trump's defence team has urged senators to acquit the president as they wrapped up their arguments in his impeachment trial. Dismissing objections to Trump’s conduct towards Ukraine as 'policy disagreements', Trump's lawyers also sought to marginalise former national security adviser John Bolton's explosive allegations about Trump's conduct as 'inadmissible' in the proceedings
President’s vision emphasises Israel’s security rather than Palestinian self-determination
President Donald Trump has unveiled his much-touted Middle East peace plan, tweeting a map showing his vision for an even further depleted Palestinian state than that envisioned by the Oslo peace agreement in 1993.
The crude “concept” map in the plan shows the occupied Jordan valley under Israeli control – although Trump suggests that could be eased in the future – and a West Bank split north and south around Jerusalem, heavily eaten into by Israeli settlements which the plan proposes to recognise under Israeli sovereignty.
The unusually detailed 80-page proposal fulfils a wishlist of Israeli demands while abandoning longstanding tenets of US diplomacy
Donald Trump pronounced his newly unveiled peace plan “overly good” to the Palestinians but it was the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who was at his side, grinning broadly.
Donald Trump has unveiled his vision for Middle East peace in a White House launch that gifted Israel a wishlist of its long-held demands while promising Palestinians a potential “state”, but with severe restrictions.
Standing next to the smiling Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump announced details of the 181-page plan to cheers and applause. Palestinian leaders were absent from the launch, having pre-emptively rejected his proposal, citing flagrant bias.
The US president launches his plan for peace in the Middle East, saying the 80-page proposal offers a 'realistic two-state solution' that has already been agreed to by Israel as the basis for negotiations. Despite the absence of a Palestinian presence at the launch, Trump says the US will support Palestine if the president, Mahmoud Abbas, 'chooses the path to peace'