(Newser) – President Trump's impeachment trial moved into the 16-hour Q&A phase on Wednesday, and a thus-far largely quiet Chief Justice John Roberts is featuring much more heavily. NBC News explains the process: Senators must write each question on a six-line question card and then give that card to Mitch McConnell or Chuck Schumer. Questions are then given to Roberts, who will name the questioner and then read the question aloud. He has asked that each side—that would be House managers and Trump's lawyers—limit its answer to five minutes, the time set by Chief Justice William Rehnquist in the 1999 trial of President Bill Clinton, per CNN. Mitch McConnell on Wednesday said that today's question period would last up to 8 hours; another session will follow Thursday. Coverage:

The first question from the Democrats addressed Bolton straightaway: Is there any way to render a verdict in this case without hearing from Bolton, Mulvaney, and other key witnesses? Adam Schiff's answer in part, per CNN: "The short answer to that question is, no. ... And when you have a witness as plainly relevant as John Bolton, who goes to the heart of the most serious and egregious of the President's misconduct, who has volunteered to come and testify, to turn him away and to look the other way, I think, is deeply at odds with being an impartial juror."