Senators question House managers, Trump lawyers in impeachment trial
WASHINGTON, DC -- President Donald Trump's Senate impeachment trial entered an unpredictable new phase Wednesday, when senators began up to 16 hours of posing questions to House impeachment managers and the president's legal team.
After sitting at their desks in silence for long days listening to opening arguments from both sides, senators -- still prohibited from speaking --submited questions written on paper slips to Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, who then was reading them aloud to the chamber.
The questions, alternating between Republicans and Democrats, were under the name of the inquiring senator. Senators are not allowed to direct questions at their colleagues.
The questioning, taking place over Wednesday and Thursday, gives both sides one last opportunity to address the chamber before senators begin considering motions, including on the question of witnesses -- an issue at the center of events on Capitol Hill following reports about the testimony former national security adviser John Bolton could offer the Senate if subpoenaed to appear.
A question from GOP Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas brought the debate to the question of a quid pro quo. Former Harvard Law School professor Alan Dershowitz and House manager Rep. Adam Schiff debated the notion of a quid pro quo as a matter of law and a matter of foreign policy.
“The only way that would make a quid pro quo unlawful is if the quo were in some way illegal,” Dershowitz said.
"If a president does something which he believes will help him get elected in the public interest, that cannot be the kind of quid pro quo that results in impeachment," he maintained.
"Every public official that I know believes that his election is of the public interest," Dershowitz added.
Schiff called that argument "a remarkable evolution of the president’s defense."
“It's now OK to criminally conspire with another country to get help in a presidential election as long as the president believes it would help his campaign and therefore it would help our country. That's now OK?" Schiff wondered. "Well that's nonsense."
