Sunday shows – All eyes on Senate impeachment trial
by The Hill staff
The Senate impeachment trial of President Trump, which starts Tuesday, was the main focus of the political talk shows Sunday morning.
Guests sparred on the House-passed impeachment article charging the president with abuse of power, and whether additional witnesses should be called in the upper chamber.
Attorney Alan Dershowitz said on Sunday the argument that a president cannot be impeached for abusing his power is a “strong one” that has been successful in the past.
“You had to go so far out of the mainstream to find someone to make that argument,” Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said. “You had to leave the realm of constitutional law scholars and go to criminal defense lawyers.”
“Abuse of power is so poorly defined here I don’t know presidents in the future can confirm their conduct,” Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.), the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said on “Fox News Sunday.”
“Abuse of power alone, and history has shown this, similar to also obstruction of Congress, those types of articles of impeachment have been tried on for size before but they have not fared well,” Robert Ray said. “The core of the impeachment parameters allege that crimes have been committed, treason, bribery and things like that, in other words, other high crimes and misdemeanors.”
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said Sunday that the U.S. intelligence community is beginning to withhold documents on Ukraine from Congress as lawmakers prepare for the impeachment trial of President Trump.
Lawyer Alan Dershowitz, a member of President Trump’s impeachment defense team, said Sunday there will be no need to call witnesses during the Senate trial if his legal arguments are successful.
Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), one of the House impeachment managers in President Trump’s Senate trial, said Sunday that Republicans looking to block or negotiate on witnesses are “part of the coverup.”
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), one of the impeachment managers selected for the Senate trial, said Sunday there is no contradiction between saying the House’s witnesses had made the case for impeaching President Trump and calling for further witnesses in the upper chamber.
Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.), one of the House managers in President Trump’s impeachment trial, said Sunday he and other Democrats leading the case against the president in the Senate are considering all “relevant witnesses.”
“I think it’s certainly possible that this trial could last one to two weeks, on the other hand if the Senate makes the decision to go down the road of additional witnesses that could extend it to six to eight weeks or even longer,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said Sunday.
Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) said Sunday it would be “fine” to hear from Hunter Biden as part of the Senate impeachment trial, but added that he’s not sure what information the former vice president’s son can give related to the actions central to the allegations against President Trump.
“This is a distraction,” Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.) said. “This a person that’s been indicted. Right now, he’s out on bail. He’s been meeting with the House Intel Committee. If the House felt like this information was pertinent, I would think they would have included him.”
Rudy Giuliani, President Trump’s personal attorney, said in an interview to be broadcast Sunday he would “love” to be a witness in the Senate’s upcoming impeachment trial as Democrats press for further information about his and the president’s dealings in Ukraine.
President Trump’s eldest son Donald Trump Jr. said Sunday that “weaker” Senate Republicans should go on record about whether they are only willing to hear from witnesses requested by Democrats in President Trump’s impeachment trial.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.) conceded Sunday that the House-passed articles of impeachment against President Trump would not be dismissed without a trial in the Senate despite the near-certainty the upper chamber will vote to acquit the president.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) on Sunday disputed the findings of a watchdog report that found the Trump administration’s decision to withhold aid to Ukraine broke the law.
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said Sunday that he hopes enough Republican senators know that “history will find you” based on how the Senate holds President Trump’s impeachment trial.
Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) said Sunday that he has not “prejudged anything” ahead of the Senate impeachment trial of President Trump, but it looks like the House has a “weak hand.”
Former White House chief economic adviser Gary Cohn said Sunday that President Trump’s tariffs “hurt the U.S.” and argued they did not aid the administration in negotiating trade deals.
