Senate Trial Day Three

Hello Everyone:

This is The Blogger Candidate Forum with today in the Senate trial of Mr. Donald Trump. Picture the scene: 100 politicians are forced to sit quietly in their seats for 12-hours at time, listening to other politicians and lawyers talk for however long. That, ladies and gentlemen, is what opening arguments in the Senate trial is like. The senators have to sit there with just a notepad and pen. No phones or any devices  (not even an Apple Watch), no outside reading material, no coffee. The Candidate Forum wants to know if a ban on coffee a workplace violation?  This left senators feeling restless and bored. Some stepped out of the chamber, presumably to check their phones and mainline coffee. Others found ways to pass the time—fidget spinners anyone?  What did the House managers and the president’s lawyers say?

Lead House manager Representative Adam Schiff (D-CA) followed the president’s suggestion to read the transcript of that “perfect” July 25th phone call. He read it, especially the part about the president getting in touch with Attorney General William Barr and his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani about announcing investigations into the Democratic National Committee server hack, Burisma energy company, and Hunter Biden. Speaking of  VPOTIS Joe Biden’s son, the House managers repeatedly mentioned him today and his position on the Burisma board of directors. They also mentioned the senior Biden’s efforts to remove the former Ukrainian prosecutor for ignoring corruption. Once again, the Democratic managers argued for witnesses and the mention of Hunter Biden left the door open for the defense team to call him. One idea that has been floated is a Biden-for-Bolton trade: The Democrats will agree to Hunter Biden’s testimony in exchange for former National Security Adviser John Bolton’s testimony.  Talking for five hours about Hunter Biden left the door for defense attorneys to talk about him when they begin presentations on Saturday.

The House managers used the president’s allies against him.  During the House Impeachment inquiries, witnesses kept mentioning one name in connection to Ukraine, Rudy Giuliani. It seems that Mr. Giuliani deputized himself as the president’s personal envoy and was running a shadow foreign diplomatic mission to Ukraine. At one point, Representatives Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and Val Demings (D-FLA) displayed emails demonstrating Mr. Giuliani’s role in shaping U.S. foreign policy. Then they turned on Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and defense lawyer Alan Dershowitz, playing 20-year-old videos of them making statements about Impeachment.  The House managers brought up new allegations that former Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch was recalled as part of an exchange of payments from Burisma to Hunter Biden.

The subject of calling witness is still on the table. The Republicans are finding new reasons to oppose the idea, despite the president alternating between welcoming public testimony and using executive privilege to block witnesses. The Candidate Forum firmly believes that senators should be able to recall witnesses from the House inquiry as well as new witnesses to flesh out the presentations. It is important for them to hear the first hand accounts and lawyers should be able to cross examine witnesses.

Has any of House mangers’ presentations changed Senate Republicans’ minds?  Not really. Perhaps if they were allowed to hear public testimony and review documents, it might make a dent.

Until tomorrow