The Day in Impeachment: Senators Hear Closing Arguments Senators heard closing arguments from the House impeachment managers and President Trump’s lawyers. Video transcript Back bars 0:00 / 2:20 - 0:00 transcript Impeachment Trial Highlights: A Last Chance to Sway Senators House impeachment managers and President Trump’s legal team delivered their closing arguments to senators. A final vote is expected on Wednesday. “Both Articles 1 and 2 must fail. This entire campaign of impeachment that started from the very first day that the president was inaugurated was a partisan one, and it should never happen again.” “How many falsehoods can we take? When will it be one too many? What you decide on these articles will have lasting implications for the future of the presidency, not only for this president, but for all future presidents.” “The president did not condition security assistance or a meeting on anything during the July 25 call.” “As I stand here today delivering the House’s closing argument, President Trump’s constitutional crimes, his crimes against the American people and the nation, remain in progress.” Have the facts as presented to you, as a court, as the high court of impeachment, proven trustworthy? Has there been full and fair disclosure in the course of these proceedings?” “If we are to rely on the next election to judge the president’s efforts to cheat in that election, how can we know that the election will be free and fair?” “At the end of the day, this is an effort to overturn the results of one election, and to try to interfere in the coming election that begins today in Iowa.” “Senators, we are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. If Lincoln could speak these words during the Civil War, surely we can live them now, and overcome our divisions and our animosities. Even a single vote by a single member can change the course of history. It is said that a single man or woman of courage makes a majority. Is there one among you who will say enough?” House impeachment managers and President Trump’s legal team delivered their closing arguments to senators. A final vote is expected on Wednesday. Credit Credit... Erin Schaff/The New York Times With Mr. Trump’s acquittal all but certain, some Republican senators have begun acknowledging that Mr. Trump’s pressuring of Ukraine for political investigations that would benefit him politically was inappropriate, or even wrong. But most say his actions, even if improper, do not clear the high bar for ejecting a president from office. His lawyers urged senators to “leave it to the voters.”

Senators on Monday heard from both sides as the managers and President Trump’s lawyers delivered closing arguments. The final vote, when the Senate determines whether to remove Mr. Trump from office, is expected at 4 p.m. Wednesday.

As the trial nears the end, Mr. Trump is set to deliver the State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday. His speechwriters have tried to stay out of the spotlight.

Feb. 3, 2020, 7:28 p.m. ET Feb. 3, 2020, 7:28 p.m. ET By The Senate adjourns for the day, looking ahead to results in Iowa and tomorrow’s State of the Union. The Senate has concluded its work for the day, both as a court of impeachment and as a legislative body. The Senate will convene on Tuesday to allow more senators to give speeches about their positions on the impeachment trial. But the focus will likely be on President Trump’s delivery of the State of the Union address — scheduled for tomorrow at 9 p.m. Eastern — as well as reactions to the results of the Iowa caucuses Monday night. The final vote, when the Senate determines whether to remove Mr. Trump from office, is expected at 4 p.m. Wednesday.

Feb. 3, 2020, 6:56 p.m. ET Feb. 3, 2020, 6:56 p.m. ET By Emily Cochrane and Senator Lisa Murkowski says she will vote to acquit President Trump. Senator Lisa Murkowski, Republican of Alaska, announced on Monday that she would vote to acquit President Trump, acknowledging that while the president’s pressure campaign against Ukraine was inappropriate, it did not rise to the level of removing a president from office. Ms. Murkowski did not mince words with Mr. Trump, declaring in her speech that “the president’s behavior was shameful and wrong” and that “his personal interests do not take precedence over those of this great nation.” But, she added, “I cannot vote to convict.” Like other Republicans, she said the decision must be left to voters. “The president’s name is on ballots that have already been cast,” Ms. Murkowski said. “The voters will pronounce a verdict in nine months, and we must trust their judgment.” Ms. Murkowski had remained one of the most closely watched votes on the decision to convict even though she joined most Republicans on Friday in blocking consideration of new witnesses and documents, lamenting that the process of the trial would not be fair. She again denounced the “rotted foundation of the process” on Monday, lamenting partisanship on both sides and reserving criticism for colleagues in both chambers. She said she had become particularly appalled as it became clear that “political initiatives that degraded the office of the president and left the Congress wallowing in partisan mud threatened to drag the last remaining branch of government down along.” “I’ve taken tough votes before to withhold the integrity of our courts, and when it became clear that a tie vote here in the Senate would simply be used to burn down our third branch of government for partisan political purposes, I said, ‘Enough,’” she said. She also condemned the legislative branch’s pattern of ceding authority to the executive branch, rattling off several instances where Congress had not rebuked Mr. Trump for his use of executive power. “At some point for our country, winning has to be about more than just winning,” she concluded. “Or we will all lose.” Read more

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Feb. 3, 2020, 6:41 p.m. ET Feb. 3, 2020, 6:41 p.m. ET By Catch up on today. Here are five things we saw on Monday: With a focus on history, House managers made their final arguments.

The defense closed its case, insisting there was no quid pro quo.

Voters were on the minds of House managers and the defense during closing arguments.

The president’s defense said his actions were appropriate even as some Republican senators speak out.

The senators began delivering their own versions of closing arguments in the lead-up to a final vote at 4 p.m. Wednesday.

Feb. 3, 2020, 5:17 p.m. ET Feb. 3, 2020, 5:17 p.m. ET By Benjamin Weiser, Ben Protess and Trial date is set for Lev Parnas. With the impeachment battle all but over, Lev Parnas seems likely to remain in the spotlight as a federal judge in Manhattan on Monday scheduled his trial on charges of violating campaign finance laws for October 5, during the final stage of the presidential campaign. Mr. Parnas, the Florida businessman who helped Rudolph W. Giuliani unearth damaging information about President Trump’s political rivals, has spent recent weeks trying to be heard in the national impeachment debate. If the trial date holds, it would mean that even if the Senate acquits Mr. Trump this week, the accusations against him will continue to loom as prosecutors present evidence against Mr. Parnas and a co-defendant, Igor Fruman, both Soviet-born businessmen who became key players in the Ukrainian pressure campaign at the center of Mr. Trump’s impeachment trial. The trial before Judge J. Paul Oetken is scheduled to last three weeks, which could mean a jury verdict could be returned around Election Day. The pressure campaign is unrelated to the current criminal case against Mr. Parnas and Mr. Fruman, who are accused of federal campaign finance violations, including falsely reporting a $325,000 contribution to a pro-Trump fund-raising committee in the name of an energy company to conceal that they were the donors. Along with their two co-defendants, David Correia and Andrey Kukushkin, the men also face charges that they used a Russian businessman’s money to donate to political campaigns in the United States in support of a marijuana venture they created. Mr. Parnas has denied wrongdoing but offered to cooperate with the prosecutors from the United States attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York in their investigation of Mr. Giuliani. After the hearing, Mr. Parnas, speaking with reporters in front of the courthouse, said, “I’m here to tell the truth.” Read more

Feb. 3, 2020, 5:04 p.m. ET Feb. 3, 2020, 5:04 p.m. ET By Manchin calls for a censure of Trump. Image Senator Joe Manchin, Democrat of West Virginia, leaving the Capitol on Monday. Credit... T.J. Kirkpatrick for The New York Times Senator Joe Manchin III, Democrat of West Virginia, on Monday called for the Senate to censure President Trump following his impeachment trial, even as he said he remained undecided on whether to convict or acquit Mr. Trump when the chamber votes on a verdict on Wednesday. “Censure would allow this body to unite along party lines,” Mr. Manchin said in a speech on the Senate floor. “His behavior cannot go unchecked by the Senate.” There have been no serious negotiations on censuring the president. Several Republicans said earlier on Monday that they were uninterested in such a move, and many Democrats regard it as a way for Republicans to escape accountability for refusing to remove Mr. Trump even in the face of evidence of his wrongdoing. “Censure is a way out — if you’re going to go, you’ve got to go,” Ms. Pelosi said last year. “If the goods are there, you must impeach.” But his comments suggested that Mr. Manchin, a centrist who is often a swing vote, is still considering whether to break with Democrats and vote to acquit Mr. Trump, which would lend a hint of bipartisanship to the verdict. Read more

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Feb. 3, 2020, 3:48 p.m. ET Feb. 3, 2020, 3:48 p.m. ET By The vote is Wednesday afternoon. Here’s what to expect in the trial until then. Image Senator John Kennedy, Republican of Louisiana, speaking to reporters in the Capitol on Monday. Credit... Jason Andrew for The New York Times The Senate trial is officially in recess until Wednesday at 4 p.m. Eastern, when the senators are scheduled to take the final votes on the articles of impeachment. But the talking about impeachment is just beginning. Under the rules of the trial, the senators have been largely silenced during the last two weeks. But under an agreement reached last Friday, senators will have the opportunity during the next two days to explain how they intend to vote on the House articles. Each senator will get up to 10 minutes to talk. That process is now underway, though some senators will reserve their time until Tuesday or Wednesday.

Feb. 3, 2020, 3:26 p.m. ET Feb. 3, 2020, 3:26 p.m. ET By After closing arguments, two sides grudgingly greet each other. Moments after the closing arguments ended in President Trump’s impeachment trial, Democratic senators swarmed the table where House managers sat while they prosecuted the president for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. Democratic senators Patrick Leahy of Vermont, Patty Murray of Washington, Jon Tester of Montana, Chris Van Hollen of Maryland and several others shook the hands of the House managers. Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota hugged Representative Adam B. Schiff of California, the lead House manager. On the other side of the chamber, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, walked over to the table where the president’s defense team sat. He congratulated Pat A. Cipollone, the White House counsel, Jay Sekulow, the president’s lawyer, and other members of the team. And then, like the end of a bitterly contested sports contest, the two sides — who had exchanged harsh words for each other during the trial — grudgingly greeted each other. Norm Eisen, a lawyer working for the House Judiciary Committee, shook hands with Mr. Cipollone and Mr. Sekulow. Finally, Mr. Cipollone turned and left the chamber. Mr. Sekulow was about to do the same, then turned back toward the House managers. He walked over to Mr. Schiff, extended his hand, and Mr. Schiff took it. The two greeted each other quickly and then Mr. Sekulow turned and left. Read more

Feb. 3, 2020, 2:59 p.m. ET Feb. 3, 2020, 2:59 p.m. ET By Schiff makes his final pitch: ‘He will not change and you know it.’ Seizing on his final opportunity to make the case to Republican senators — and for the history books — to reconsider their intended acquittal of President Trump, Representative Adam Schiff of California, the lead impeachment manager, framed his closing remarks with a pointed question: Can the Senate trust Mr. Trump? “The short, plain, sad, incontestable answer is no, you can’t,” Mr. Schiff said. “You can’t trust this president to do the right thing, not for one minute, not for one election, not for the sake of our country, you just can’t. He will not change and you know it.” He added: “A man without character or ethical compass will never find his way.” Mr. Schiff warned that an acquittal would normalize the abuse of power that Mr. Trump committed, and bemoaned that the Senate appeared poised to “refuse to do anything about it but wring our hands.” “I hope and pray that we never have a president like Donald Trump in the Democratic Party,” Mr. Schiff said. “And I would hope to God that if we did we would impeach him, and Democrats would lead the way.”

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Feb. 3, 2020, 2:09 p.m. ET Feb. 3, 2020, 2:09 p.m. ET By ‘The answer is elections, not impeachment,’ Trump’s defense says. Jay Sekulow, President Trump’s personal lawyer, called for the Senate to reject articles of impeachment and “protect the Constitution and the separation of powers,” by allowing voters to deliver a verdict on the president’s conduct in an election year. “This was the first totally partisan presidential impeachment in our nation’s history, and it should be our last,” Mr. Sekulow said. He declared that Democrats “have cheapened the awesome power of impeachment and unfortunately, of course, the country is not better for that.” He, like other members of the president’s defense team, pointed to the first caucuses of the 2020 election, being held in Iowa on Monday, as further reason to reject removing a president exactly nine months before Election Day. “You are being asked to do this when tonight citizens of Iowa are going to be caucusing,” Mr. Sekulow said. “The answer is elections, not impeachment.” Mr. Sekulow also played two videos for the senators to underscore his argument: a montage of Democrats calling for the president’s impeachment beginning in 2017 set to ominous music, and a shorter montage of Senate Democrats joining Mr. Trump at bill signing ceremonies, celebrating bipartisan accomplishment. Read more

Feb. 3, 2020, 1:45 p.m. ET Feb. 3, 2020, 1:45 p.m. ET By House rushed to wield ‘the ultimate nuclear weapon of the Constitution,’ Trump’s defense argues. Taking aim at the second article of impeachment charging President Trump with obstruction of Congress, Patrick Philbin, the deputy White House counsel, upbraided the House for “jumping straight to the ultimate nuclear weapon of the Constitution.” To support the charge of obstruction, Mr. Philbin argued, would “fundamentally alter the balance between the different branches of government.” “The idea that there is no time for dealing with that friction with the executive branch is antithetical to the proper functioning of the separation of powers,” Mr. Philbin said. Mr. Trump vowed in April to stonewall all subpoenas issued by the House. His attorneys have argued that his defiance relies on an executive prerogative that presidents have asserted for decades.

Feb. 3, 2020, 1:37 p.m. ET Feb. 3, 2020, 1:37 p.m. ET By What senators think Trump should (or shouldn’t) say in his State of the Union. Image Senator Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida, said President Trump might want to talk about trade, the Middle East, the economy and school choice. Credit... Erin Schaff/The New York Times “If I was him, I would avoid the subject,” said Senator Roy Blunt, Republican of Missouri. “But I have no idea.” Mr. Blunt and other Republicans told reporters that President Trump should take an opportunity to tout his administration’s successes. But they conceded that might be a lot to ask of an unpredictable president on the brink of an all but certain acquittal vote. “I think there’s plenty to talk about, and it’s an opportunity to move on,” Mr. Blunt said. “But the other option is to address it head on — and he is often a head on kind of guy.” When former President Bill Clinton delivered the 1999 State of the Union address amid his own impeachment, he did not bring up the trial. Senator Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida, said Mr. Trump might want to talk about trade, the Middle East, the economy and school choice. Impeachment, Mr. Rubio added, would seize the headlines and distract from the president’s agenda. “There’s no way you talk about that and that not be the takeaway, right?” he said. Senator Christopher S. Murphy, Democrat of Connecticut, said he expects “the worst” — that is, for the president to gloat. “I expect that he’s going to be over the top,” Mr. Murphy said. “I’d be surprised if he wasn’t bombastic and self-congratulatory. I’d be surprised if he didn’t take potshots at the press and Democrats and impeachment managers.” Senator Bill Cassidy, Republican of Louisiana, said he would welcome a presidential address about bipartisan issues such as lowering the costs of prescription medications. “Does anybody imagine that they know what the president’s going to do?” he said with a laugh. “Not me!” Read more

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Feb. 3, 2020, 1:30 p.m. ET Feb. 3, 2020, 1:30 p.m. ET By Despite new evidence, Trump defense team again denies there was a quid pro quo. The key to the House’s abuse of power charge against President Trump has always been whether he conditioned official acts — nearly $400 million in military aid and a White House meeting for Ukraine’s leader — on investigations into his political rivals. As they closed their defense on Monday, Mr. Trump’s team insisted again that he did not — but the denial was narrowly tailored in light of new disclosures. “First, the president did not condition security assistance or a meeting on anything in the July 25 call,” said Michael Purpura, deputy White House counsel. That is strictly accurate, but it ignores the broader pressure campaign that was unfolding around the phone call between Mr. Trump and President Volodymyr Zelensky, described in testimony by more than 15 American diplomats and White House aides. Gordon D. Sondland, the ambassador to the European Union, testified explicitly that there had been a quid pro quo around the White House meeting and he, like other witnesses, said he was given indication there was also one around the military aid. Mr. Purpura also said that “none of the House witnesses ever testified that there was any linkage between security assistance and investigations.” Again, that is strictly true. But John R. Bolton, the former White House national security advisor, has written in a manuscript that Mr. Trump told him directly that he would only release the assistance on help with the investigations. He has also offered to testify, but senators refused to call him to the trial.

Feb. 3, 2020, 1:11 p.m. ET Feb. 3, 2020, 1:11 p.m. ET By Trump’s defense team makes a final pitch: ‘Leave it to the voters.’ Image Ken Starr, one of the president’s defense lawyers, arriving Monday at the Capitol. Credit... T.J. Kirkpatrick for The New York Times The White House defense team has begun its closing argument, imploring senators to “leave it to the voters” to choose their president. Pat A. Cipollone, the White House counsel, cast the effort to remove Mr. Trump from office as “an effort to overturn the results of one election and to try to interfere in the coming election that begins today in Iowa.” That argument has been invoked by some Republican senators who Democrats had hoped would defect from their party and vote to hear from additional witnesses, most notably Senator Lamar Alexander, Republican of Tennessee. Ken Starr, one of the president’s defenders, went further in his argument, contending that the impeachment managers did not meet the burden of proving Mr. Trump committed an impeachable offense — and charged that they did not play by their own rules. “Have the facts as presented to you as the high court of impeachment proven trustworthy?” Mr. Starr said. “Has there been full and fair disclosure in the course of these proceedings?” He concluded: “It’s not liberty and justice for all.” In his allusion-heavy remarks, Mr. Starr referenced both Martin Luther King Jr. (“The long moral arc of the universe bends toward justice”) and the lyricist Irving Berlin’s composition of “God Bless America.” Read more

Feb. 3, 2020, 1:04 p.m. ET Feb. 3, 2020, 1:04 p.m. ET By Who are the foreign diplomats who watch the impeachment trial in person? Every day of the trial, the Senate diplomatic gallery has had a handful of people sitting in on the proceedings, witnessing the workings of American democracy up close. Some people have dropped in for short periods of time. Others have appeared to stay for much of any given day. The Office of the Senate Sergeant at Arms allocates 21 tickets a day for the diplomatic corps, and embassies can request a ticket and pick it up from State Department staff. The State Department, however, does not release the names of those embassies or their personnel.

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Feb. 3, 2020, 12:54 p.m. ET Feb. 3, 2020, 12:54 p.m. ET By Impeachment manager invokes McCain in a jab at Trump. Image People look at the front pages of newspapers reporting the death of Senator John McCain outside the Newseum in Washington in 2018. Credit... Erin Schaff for The New York Times Representative Hakeem Jeffries, Democrat of New York and one of the impeachment managers, invoked Senator John McCain in his closing arguments in a subtle jab at President Trump, who has continued to nurse his grudge against the lawmaker even after his death. “Senator McCain understood the importance of this body, this distinguished body, and serving the public,” Mr. Jeffries said, “once saying, ‘Glory belongs to the act of being constant to something greater than yourself, to a cause, to your principles.’” It is not the first time the impeachment managers have referenced Mr. McCain, known for his maverick sensibility and penchant for breaking with his party. But Mr. Jeffries’s decision to invoke him once more underscored one last attempt by the managers to appeal to Republicans to cross party lines, an outcome that seems improbable. And it served as one last dig at Mr. Trump, who frequently clashed with Mr. McCain, who had been one of his fiercest Republican critics.

Feb. 3, 2020, 12:07 p.m. ET Feb. 3, 2020, 12:07 p.m. ET By The trial breaks for lunch. After only an hour of arguments, the Senate broke for a 30 minute lunch break. When the trial resumes, the president’s defense team will present its closing case, and the House Democrats have left themselves some time for one final rebuttal.

Feb. 3, 2020, 12:06 p.m. ET Feb. 3, 2020, 12:06 p.m. ET By If Trump is not removed, how can voters be sure the next election is fair, Jeffries asks. Representative Hakeem Jeffries, Democrat of New York and one of the impeachment managers, sought to counter a growing argument among Republicans in the Senate: acknowledging that President Trump’s decision to withhold critical military aid as part of an effort to pressure Ukraine into investigating a political rival was not appropriate, but not to the level of removing him from office. “As many of you in this chamber have publicly acknowledged in the past few days, the facts are not seriously in dispute,” Mr. Jeffries said during closing arguments. “We have proved that the president committed grave offenses against the Constitution. The question that remains is whether that conduct warrants conviction and removal from office.” “Absent conviction and removal, how can we be assured that this president will not do it again?” he added. “If we are to rely on the next election to judge the president’s efforts to cheat in that election, how can we know that the election will be free and fair?” Multiple Republicans, including moderate senators like Senator Lamar Alexander, Republican of Tennessee, have said Mr. Trump’s behavior was inappropriate, but did not warrant his removal in an election year. “I think he shouldn’t have done it — I think it was wrong,” Mr. Alexander said Sunday on “Meet the Press” on NBC. “Inappropriate, was the way I’d say it. Improper, crossing the line. And then the only question left is: Who decides what to do about that?” “The people,” he added. “The people, is my conclusion.” Asked on Monday if she agreed with Mr. Alexander’s assertion that the conduct was inappropriate, Senator Lisa Murkowski, Republican of Alaska, said “I would concur.” Read more

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Feb. 3, 2020, 11:58 a.m. ET Feb. 3, 2020, 11:58 a.m. ET By Trump once again says he did nothing wrong. President Trump once again insisted on Monday that he did nothing wrong with regard to Ukraine, even as House Democratic managers described him as a corrupt president in their closing arguments in his Senate trial. The House managers used their time on Monday to summarize the case they have been building for months: that the president pressed a foreign government to cheat in the upcoming election and then tried to cover it up. “President Trump weaponized our government and the vast powers entrusted to him by the American people and the Constitution to target his political rival and corrupt our precious elections,” Representative Val Demings told senators. “He put his personal interest over those of the country.” That’s not how Mr. Trump sees it. Taking to Twitter even as Ms. Demings was talking, the president once again called the impeachment proceedings “a hoax” and lashed out at the Democrats in Congress. I hope Republicans & the American people realize that the totally partisan Impeachment Hoax is exacty that, a Hoax. Read the Transcripts, listen to what the President & Foreign Minister of Ukraine said (“No Pressure”). Nothing will ever satisfy the Do Nothing, Radical Left Dems! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 3, 2020 Read more

Feb. 3, 2020, 11:50 a.m. ET Feb. 3, 2020, 11:50 a.m. ET By Candidates attend trial in Washington, with an eye on Iowa. Image Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and his wife, Jane, arriving Monday at the Capitol. Credit... T.J. Kirkpatrick for The New York Times Inside the chamber, the four senators competing in Monday night’s Democratic caucuses in Iowa — Senators Michael Bennet of Colorado, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts — took their seats. Ms. Klobuchar stared intently as the first two House managers, Representatives Jason Crow of Colorado and Val Demings of Florida, presented their closing arguments. Mr. Sanders pressed his palms together in front of his face. Jane Sanders, Mr. Sanders’s wife, watched from the gallery, which was emptier than it has been in previous days of the trial. A couple of senators straggled in late, briefcases and folders in hand.