The Senate impeachment trial has resumed. This file will be updated throughout the day.

House managers wrapped up a nearly 9-hour day, making their case to the Senate and chronicling the evidence against President Donald Trump and his abuses of power.

The managers went through a comprehensive timeline, taking senators through the Trump administration’s communications and meetings on Ukraine over the months, specifically the halting of both $400 million in military aid and a key White House meeting. The seven-member group of House lawmakers went into detail about Ukraine, its history and why this military aid was so crucial.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff concluded the lengthy series of presentations by acknowledging the information that was missing from the House’s investigation, noting that if senators wanted the full truth, they could get it through subpoenas.

The managers will continue presenting their case on Thursday at 1 p.m. Schiff said the group would focus on the law, Constitution, the facts and how they apply to Article I of the Constitution.

Bernie Sanders nodding off during trial

Presidential hopeful Sen. Bernie Sanders, D-Vt. nodded off several times throughout the president's impeachment trial Wednesday as House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff walked through a comprehensive timeline of the Trump administration's conduct with Ukraine.

Slouched back in his chair with his legs outstretched and hands clasped over his stomach, Sanders repeatedly lowered his head and shut his eyes before jolting back awake.

Each time, Sanders would readjust and take a sip of water. It was a stark difference from fellow 2020 candidates Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar, who both took notes and flipped through large binders. Klobuchar's desk was cluttered with papers and a binder. She used her lap at times to jot down notes as Schiff spoke.

Warren did the same, sometimes nodding along as the managers played videos from testimony gathered during the House impeachment inquiry. Fellow 2020 candidate Michael Bennet, D-Colo., kept his eyes locked on the house managers throughout their presentations, occasionally taking notes.

Sanders nodding off comes after Klobuchar criticized senators who were falling asleep during the trial.

"I just don't know why they would have this job and come here if they're not gonna protect the Constitution," she told MSNBC.

- Christal Hayes

Conflicting accounts on effectiveness of House managers'

Some Republican and Democratic senators have very different takes on how the House managers’ arguments have been going so far.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said that House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff’s “speech was one of the most compelling I have heard. It was a tour de force. And I think that a good number of my Republican colleagues for the first time, heard the entire arguments powerfully, succinctly and completely.”

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-TX., saw it differently, saying that “one of the realities that's already setting in is just a few hours into their opening arguments, they're already repeating the same points they made for 13 hours yesterday. And I suspect the Democrats threw a fit yesterday and insisted they needed at least three full days to present the arguments, I think we're going to see an awful lot of repetition making the same points over and over again.”

Similarly, Sen. John Barrasso, R-PA., said Senators didn’t “hear anything new at all” and Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., said today is just “a rehashing of yesterday's charade.”

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-CT., disagreed with his GOP colleagues, stating that the House managers have been putting “the bricks down one-by-one, building a mosaic” and that they have been “Very factual, logical, clear.”

“They made the constitution come alive, and they made this case real in human terms. The combination of video, and Hakeem Jeffries and Adam Schiff have been stars,” he said.

Blumenthal said his Republican colleagues were "really paying attention."

"They are not hearing these arguments for the first time, but they are listening to them for the first time, and they have seen, or read them before, but the powerful impact of the combination of videos and visuals, and some of the presentations, I think, makes them hear them and listen to them for the first time, ”He said.

- Savannah Behrmann

Sekulow shoots down Trump attending impeachment trial

Jay Sekulow, one of the president’s attorneys representing him in the trial, shut down the idea of Trump appearing at his trial.

Asked about Trump’s remarks earlier Wednesday where he noted his counsel may advise against appearing, Sekulow smiled. “His counsel might,” he said. “That's not the way it works. I mean, Presidents don't do that."

Sekulow outlined a two-pronged approach in the defense they would present, explaining they would first respond to the house managers then “we are going to make an affirmative case defending the president.”

He declined to say whether Hunter Biden should be called to testify, saying their team was waiting to see the full case from the house managers.

- Christal Hayes

Democrats make case against Trump in impeachment trial

The seven House Democrats who are prosecuting the Senate trial against President Donald Trump provided a broad overview of their case Wednesday and then took turns walking methodically through the evidence they gathered to accuse the president of abuse of power.

The lead manager, Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., spent about two hours delivering an overview of the case based on Trump pressuring Ukraine to investigate his political rival while withholding crucial military aid from a strategically at war with Russia. Schiff told senators that convicting Trump and removing him from office is urgent because, left unchecked, he could invite more foreign interference with the 2020 election.

“For precisely this reason, the President’s misconduct cannot be decided at the ballot box—for we cannot be assured that the vote will be fairly won,” Schiff said.

As the arguments got underway, Trump spent Tuesday and Wednesday at an economic conference in Davos, Switzerland. But he will be in Washington Thursday as the trial continues. Trump called two of the managers – Schiff and Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y. – "major sleazebags" during a news conference Wednesday. He also criticized the trial.

“It’s total hoax. It’s a disgrace. They talked about their tremendous case. They have no case,” Trump said.

After Schiff, Nadler described how Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, smeared Marie Yovanovitch, the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, before the president removed her. Democrats argued that her removal opened the door to pressuring Ukraine to investigate Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, who worked for a Ukraine gas company.

"It is beyond argument that President Trump mounted a sustained pressure campaign to get Ukraine to announce investigations that would benefit him politically, and then tried to cover it up,” Nadler said.

Rep. Sylvia Garcia, D-Texas, highlighted how Giuliani's push for investigations benefited Trump personally rather than the national interest.

“Giuliani admitted that he was asking Ukraine to work on investigations that could be ‘very, very helpful’ to the president,” Garcia said.

A former Army Ranger, Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., focused on the suspension of military aid for Ukraine while at war with Russia.

"Ukrainian soldiers were manning the front lines against Russian-backed forces illegally occupying their country," Crow said.

Rep. Val Demings, D-Fla., described how White House officials dangled the opportunity for Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky to visit the White House – if he announced investigations against the Bidens.

But former national adviser John Bolton opposed the exchange, deriding it was a "drug deal" cooked up by Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union, and acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, Demings said.

"Mr. Giuliani became an inescapable presence to both Ukrainian officials and American diplomats," Demings said.

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., went line by line through the summary of Trump's July 25 call with Zelensky, when the president asked his counterpart to investigate the Bidens.

"These words will live in infamy," Jeffries said of Trump asking for "a favor."

- Bart Jansen

Are senators becoming uncomfortable?

As the day crawls forward, it appears some senators are becoming uncomfortable sitting for long periods in the chamber chairs.

A staffer brought in a chair cushion and what appeared to be a footstool for Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-LA., while he was away from the desk. He eventually came back and seemed to test out both before settling. Sen. Ben Sasse, R-NE., his desk-neighbor, pointed and commented on the footstool and cushion, resulting in the two sharing a laugh.

Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., often stood or sat in the back of the chamber, readjusting himself often. He never sat idle for long and a few times, stretched out his neck and arms.

Standing above her desk to write notes at one point, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-NY., took her time to sit back down.

While the rest of his row of colleagues was absent, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., leaned back, spreading an arm onto the chair to the right of him and his legs into the space of the desk left of him while listening to the House manager’s arguments.

- Savannah Behrmann

After all-night session, Senators cope with little sleep

After a marathon session that stretched into the early morning, senators on Wednesday hydrated with energy drinks and others relied on pure adrenaline.

Many took breaks from listening to the hours-long presentations by house managers to steal a snack or stretching break. But only hours into the presentations, several senators were spotted nodding off, including Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C.

Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., said he drove back to his home in Baltimore last night and got home around 3 a.m. He said he left his home to go back a little more than four hours later.

"I don't know why, I think it's the occasion, but really, I don't feel tired," he said. "I got four hours sleep. I like more but it'll catch up to me at some point."

Others needed a boost, including Sen. Joni Ernst who was spotted sipping a Monster energy drink as she walked through the halls of the Capitol in the morning.

- Christal Hayes

Schumer: A John Bolton for Hunter Biden witness trade 'off the table'

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer poured cold water Wednesday on a proposition that would have allowed former national security adviser John Bolton to testify at the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump if Joe Biden's son Hunter could as well.

“I think that's off the table,” he told reporters on a break during the trial.

Schumer said there was still a chance for Democrats to call their own witnesses.

“We felt we forced them to go on the record where they were, they would have rather dumped the issue,” Schumer said of Tuesday night’s votes on witnesses and documents. “And we think we'll have a chance.”

Asked whether Democrats would reject Republican witnesses, Schumer said Republicans hadn’t formally requested any.

Schumer called Schiff’s two-hour presentation as lead House impeachment manager “one of the most compelling” speeches he’d ever heard that could possibly sway moderate Republicans.

“It was a tour de force, and I think that a good number of my Republican colleagues for the first time heard the entire arguments powerfully, succinctly and completely,” he said. “I am hopeful that can begin to change minds.”

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, told reporters the senators “haven’t heard anything new” from the Democratic impeachment managers so far.

“We started with opening statements with counsel, which not are not themselves evidence. I mean what we ought to be presented as evidence by witnesses and have personal knowledge that are relevant to the material. That should have been done in the House and not here in the Senate and wasted our time,” he said.

Schumer, who was standing next to Cornyn as he said this, shouted “hear, hear,” as Cornyn said “witnesses.”

- Christal Hayes and Nicholas Wu

Got milk? What it is like inside the chamber

Actress Alyssa Milano was back in the public viewing section in the chamber on Wednesday, sitting in the front row and listening intently to Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff.

A few senators would discreetly make their way to the desk of Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., during the trial. Why? It contains the only food in the chamber: a drawer full of candy. Besides the "candy desk," lawmakers are only allowed to drink milk or water when on the Senate floor, according to the chamber's rules.

In the absence of pop and coffee, senators took advantage of the beverages available. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., and Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., were spotted with tall glasses of milk on their desks along with the glass of water provided to every senator.

When senators ran out of milk, pages, high schoolers serving as messengers, quickly came to lawmakers' desks with new glasses filled to the brim.

How does that lack of caffeine feel? "I love it," said Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., who was also spotted walking the floors of the Capitol taking pictures of the scene.

- Savannah Behrmann and Nicholas Wu

Schiff zeroes in on Ukraine aid as key dispute

The lead House manager, Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff, focused Wednesday on President Donald Trump’s withholding of $391 million in military aid from Ukraine as a key dispute in the impeachment debate.

Schiff, D-Calif., played recordings of an Oct. 17 news conference, when acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney said withholding funding from foreign governments for political purposes is common.

“I have news for everybody: Get over it,” Mulvaney said. “There is going to be political influence in foreign policy.”

Trump has argued that he withheld the money because of concerns about corruption in Ukraine. In his July 25 call with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, Trump cited a debunked conspiracy theory that a computer server in that country hacked the Democratic National Committee’s emails.

“Did he also mention to me in the past the corruption that related to the DNC server? Absolutely,” said Mulvaney, who called it “absolutely appropriate.” “No question about that. But that’s it, that’s why we held up the money.”

But the intelligence community blamed hacking in the 2016 campaign on Russia. FBI Director Christopher Wray said there is no evidence Ukraine was involved.

Schiff argued that Trump wasn’t concerned with corruption in Ukraine in 2017 or 2018 – just 2019, when former vice president Joe Biden became a leading contender to challenge him. Trump asked Zelensky during the call to investigate Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, who worked for a Ukraine gas company.

“Should the Congress just get over it?” Schiff asked senators. “Should the American people just come to expect that our presidents will corruptly abuse their office to seek the help of a foreign power to cheat in our elections? Should we just get over it?”

Schiff answered his own question.

“I hope and pray that the answer is no,” Schiff said. “We cannot allow a president to withhold military aid from an ally at war for illicit aid in an election campaign. I hope that we don’t have to get over that. I hope we don’t have to get accustomed to that.”

- Bart Jansen

Trump's 'misconduct cannot be decided at ballot box'

The lead House impeachment manager, Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff, warned that results of the 2020 election might not be trusted if the Senate doesn’t convict and remove President Donald Trump from office for his alleged misconduct.

Schiff argued impeachment was urgent because Trump invited foreign interference in elections not just from Ukraine, but from Russia and China. The California Democrat said Trump must be removed because his attempt to "cheat in an election” threatens national security and election integrity.

“For precisely this reason, the president’s misconduct cannot be decided at the ballot box, for we cannot be assured that the vote will be fairly won,” Schiff said. “The president has shown that he believes that he is above the law and scornful of constraint.”

The House articles of impeachment accuse Trump of abusing the power of his office by pressuring Ukraine to investigate his political rival, former vice president Joe Biden, a leading Democratic contender in the 2020 campaign. The House also accused Trump of obstruction of Congress for directing executive agencies to defy subpoenas during the inquiry.

“If not remedied by his conviction in the Senate and removal from office, President Trump’s abuse of his office and obstruction of Congress will permanently alter the balance of power among the branches of government, inviting future presidents to operate as if they are also beyond the reach of accountability, congressional oversight and the law," Schiff said.

Schiff noted that Ukraine wasn’t the only country Trump invited to interfere with U.S. elections,.

“In 2016, candidate Trump implored Russians to hack his opponent’s email account, something the Russian military agency did hours later. Only hours later they hacked his opponent’s campaign,” Schiff said. “The president has made clear this would also not be the last time, asking China only recently to join Ukraine in investigating his political opponent.”

- Bart Jansen

Protesters rally at Capitol as Schiff opens arguments

Groups of protesters gathered in several spots around the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, greeting senators arriving for the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump with loud chants and signs calling for Trump’s ouster.

One group held a large orange banner reading “TRUMP/PENCE #OUTNOW” near a hub where senators are dropped off at the Capitol.

Another group stood along the streets surrounding the Capitol, chanting "Trump, Pence. Out now!" Vehicles passing honked and cheered for the group as several wearing black T-shirts lined up. Each had a letter on their shirt and together the group spelled out "REMOVE TRUMP"

"We're here because there's an impeachment trial happening. It's rigged by these Republicans who are – the so-called jury – is working in cahoots with the defendant," said Rafael Kadaris, one of the protesters who traveled from New York. "Everyone needs to come down here to D.C. to call out this sham of a trial, but even more than that, to demand Trump and Pence out now."

Kadaris, 38, said he and others plan to protest each day of the trial, hoping to alter how Republican senators see Trump's conduct.

"We have to rely on the power of the people," he said. "If they see all these people, maybe we can make a change."

- Christal Hayes

House Democrats lay out plan for trial arguments

House Democrats who are prosecuting the Senate impeachment trial against President Donald Trump said Wednesday that they would open their arguments with the facts and chronology of the president’s alleged misconduct.

“We believe we will make an overwhelming case for the president’s conviction,” the lead manager, Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., told reporters. “The facts are damning. We’re going to lay them out in great detail today.”

The Senate rejected 11 proposals Tuesday to subpoena witnesses and documents for the trial. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said there will be votes after opening arguments to decide whether to subpoena witnesses such as former national security adviser John Bolton or acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney.

Schiff repeated his request for witnesses and documents to flesh out the case.

“The House should have the opportunity to prove its case,” Schiff said. “The Senate should allow us a fair trial.”

But he rejected a possible “trade” of witnesses, perhaps allowing Democrats to call Bolton in exchange for Republicans calling Hunter Biden, the son of former vice president Joe Biden. Schiff said the Bidens aren’t relevant to the trial, but that calling them would continue to smear their reputations.

- Bart Jansen

Trump in Davos:Trump leaves Davos after downplaying friction with Iraq, condemning impeachment

No motions filed from either side

Get ready for a lot of speeches uninterrupted by voting.

Because neither White House lawyers nor House Democratic managers filed motions before the 9 a.m. deadline, there won’t be any votes on procedures today in the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump.

As such, the House managers are expected to begin their opening arguments when the Senate reconvenes at 1 p.m. – a mere 11 hours after adjourning around 2 a.m. Wednesday.

There had been some speculation that Republicans would immediately introduce a motion to dismiss the impeachment articles.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., has said there are 45 votes to dismiss the charges against Trump. But McConnell, R-Ky., and Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., have each said they expect to hear arguments from the House managers and White House lawyers, with questions from senators, before entertaining a motion to dismiss.

- Maureen Groppe

Schumer: 'Cloud of unfairness' hangs over trial

Republican senators’ rejection of Democrats’ requests for additional evidence and witnesses have cast a pall on the impeachment trial, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., charged Wednesday.

“It was a dark day and a dark night for the Senate,” Schumer told reporters at a Capitol Hill news conference following the marathon session Tuesday to debate the rules of the trial that begins this afternoon. “As a consequence, the impeachment trial of President Trump begins with a cloud hanging over it. A cloud of unfairness.”

Republicans rejected all 11 amendments Democrats proposed Tuesday, including seven that pertain specifically to allowing more witnesses and testimony beyond what the House included in the two articles of impeachment: abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.

Schumer said Democrats plan to try again later, after the question-and-answer portion of the trial is over. But he said what’s already transpired shows how partisan the GOP and McConnell have chosen to run the trial.

“If there’s one thing we learned from the series of votes on the Senate floor, on the Senate floor it’s that Leader McConnell and Senate Republicans don’t want a fair trial that considers all the evidence,” Schumer said.

Later in the day, Graham said he agreed with the president's hard-line stance not to cooperate with the Democrats.

"They're on a crusade to destroy this man," the South Carolina Republican said of Trump. "If I were the president, I wouldn’t cooperate with these guys at all."

- Ledyard King

Two sides must work together:Senate leaders from President Clinton's impeachment trial offer advice

GOP attorneys general: Trump impeachment ‘dangerous precedent’

Republican attorneys general of 21 states Wednesday issued a harshly worded "friend of the Senate" letter defending the president and attacking the Democratic impeachment as not just legally flawed but an unprecedented attempt to nullify the 2016 election.

“This impeachment proceeding threatens all future elections and establishes a dangerous historical precedent,” the 14-page brief reads. “That new precedent will erode the separation of powers shared by the executive and legislative branches by subjugating future presidents to the whims of the majority opposition party in the House of Representatives.”

It also calls both impeachment articles the House approved last month as “legally flawed and factually insufficient.” The first article, abuse of power, is “nebulous” and not tied to any high crimes or misdemeanors, while the second, obstruction of Congress, is an overreach of legislative power that should be settled in the courts, they contend.

The letter, released by Republican Attorneys General Association, echoes arguments the president’s lawyers and Capitol Hill allies have been making leading up to the Senate trial.

The 21 states represented are: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and West Virginia.

The Republican AGs of five states did not sign on to the brief: Arizona, Idaho, New Hampshire, North Dakota and Wyoming.

- Ledyard King

Trump: Democrats 'don't have all the material'

President Donald Trump lashed out at Democrats for prosecuting a shoddy case based on incomplete evidence.

"We have all the material. They don't have all the material," he said during a news conference Wednesday following his appearance at a global economic conference in Davos, Switzerland.

That drew a retort from one of the impeachment managers, Rep. Val Demings, D-Fla., who said the president's remarks about not providing all the evidence amounted to a taunt that confirmed why the House charged him with obstruction of Congress.

"This morning the President not only confessed to it, he bragged about it," she tweeted.

Trump also lashed out at the top two House Democrats who are prosecuting his impeachment trial as “sleazebags” and said he’d “love” to go to the proceedings being conducted by the Senate.

“Wouldn’t that be great? Wouldn’t that be beautiful?” he said during a news conference Wednesday following his appearance at a global economic conference in Davos, Switzerland. “I’d love to sit in the front row and stare at their corrupt faces.”

Picking up on that cue, Sen. Rand Paul. R-Ky., invited Trump to be his guest at the proceedings.

The Senate is scheduled to begin the trial Wednesday on two impeachment articles adopted by the House last month – abuse of power and obstruction of Congress – stemming from efforts to pressure Ukraine into investigating 2020 political rival Joe Biden.

“It’s total hoax. It’s a disgrace. They talked about their tremendous case. They have no case,” Trump said.

The president went on to say that he would leave the decision to call witnesses to the Senate though he has previously said he wanted them to be included. And he called Democratic lawmakers Adam Schiff and Jerry Nadler, the top two House managers who are prosecuting the case in the Senate, “major sleazebags.”

- David Jackson and Ledyard King

'Like stealing an election'

After House managers present their case, President Donald Trump’s defense team will then have 24 hours to dispute the findings or offer their own arguments.

White House counsel Pat Cipollone and private lawyer Jay Sekulow offered a preview of their strategy Tuesday by blasting the House inquiry and arguing that Democrats have wanted to remove Trump since he was elected.

“A partisan impeachment is like stealing an election,” Cipollone told senators. “It’s a partisan impeachment that they delivered to your doorstep.”

- Bart Jansen and Nicholas Wu

Motions to dismiss the impeachment?

Both sides in the trial face Wednesday morning deadlines for additional motions, like those that could dismiss the entire case.

Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., a congressional member of President Donald Trump's impeachment defense team, told reporters he did not expect the White House to file such a motion – but added he did not speak for the White House.

Speaking to reporters in the basement of the Capitol, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said he didn’t “think we're going to see a dismissal, and I think a dismissal is not nearly as good an outcome for the president and for the country as will be a final judgment on the merits.”

White House legislative affairs director Eric Ueland, however, did not rule the option out and told reporters he would wait to see what happened in the morning.

"I think we'll all stay tuned to see what's filed by 9 a.m. tomorrow morning and what's filed by 11 a.m. tomorrow morning," Ueland told reporters of the Wednesday morning deadlines to file and respond to motions.

- Bart Jansen and Nicholas Wu

President Trump's impeachment:What happens now in the Senate trial

Democrats to outline case

The trial resumes at 1 p.m. as House Democrats explain lay out the charges their accusations that the president abused the power of his office and obstructed Congress.

The seven House managers, led by Intelligence chief Adam Schiff will outline their arguments.

Rules organizing the trial were adopted on a party-line vote early Wednesday morning after a marathon session that had started Tuesday afternoon.

Now the managers have 24 hours, spread over three days, to argue in depth how Trump tried to “cheat,” in Schiff's term, by pressuring Ukraine to investigate his political rival.

“It is the president’s apparent belief that under Article II he can do whatever he wants, no matter how corrupt, outfitted in gaudy legal clothing,” Schiff told senators.

- Bart Jansen and Nicholas Wu

Arguments: Only chance to make case?

These lengthy arguments – followed by 16 hours of written questions from senators – might be the only chance each side has to make their case. Under the rules adopted Tuesday, the Senate will postpone voting on whether to subpoena witnesses and documents until after the opening arguments and written questions.

A 51-vote majority is needed to call witnesses, in a chamber with 53 Republicans and 47 Democrats. A handful of key Republicans will decide whether to join Democrats to summon witnesses such as former national security adviser John Bolton or acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney.

Republican leaders have argued against having witnesses to bolster a House case they contend was partisan and rushed. But House impeachment manager Adam Schiff said that would leave only the opening arguments for senators to weigh. Republicans blocked efforts to subpoena White House and State Department documents in party-line votes Tuesday.

“If the Senate votes to deprive itself of witnesses and documents, the opening statements will be the end of the trial,” Schiff told senators Tuesday. "To say let’s have the opening statements and then let’s see, let’s have the trial and maybe we can sweep this all under the rug.”

But Trump's defense team accused House Democrats of being unprepared for trial.

“The president has done absolutely nothing wrong," Cipollone said Tuesday. "It is long past time to start this proceeding and we are here today to do it."

- Bart Jansen and Nicholas Wu

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