In Politico today, I write about removal:

It’s easy to forget what the Senate impeachment trial is supposed to be about.

It’s not a fight over whether the Senate will call a couple of witnesses that the House couldn’t, or didn’t bother to, obtain on its own, although this matter has gotten inordinate attention.

The underlying question is whether the U.S. Senate will impose the most severe sanction it has ever inflicted on any chief executive, voting to convict and remove a president for the first time in the history of the country and doing it about 10 months from his reelection bid.

This is a truly radical step that, if it ever came about, would surely do more damage to the legitimacy of our political system than President Donald Trump’s underlying offense.

But this is exactly what the House managers are asking, indeed it is the point of the entire exercise.