Committee, how many witnesses were you able to call. None, zero. We shut down. Yes, it was even worse than that. Not even witnesses. I remember a time, we only had two hearings. Think about how bad this was. We had two hearings and one was a complete waste of time. The other was fast. The, it was an amazing run for what should be, if youre going to do it, this is how you do it. I remember calling the chairman on the constitutional lawyers think and we just get one more. I couldnt even get one more lawyer on our side to come. It was shut down, shut down and we were just trying to get one more non entity witness. Thats how bad they shut this down. It was an amazing run. It is amazing because when you consider past impeachment processes, involving judges, not just president s, its been an open process, theres been witnesses that the president s lawyers were able to ask for. None. And again this is where we really get into it. You brought it up, democrats say theyre gonna do it just like n
Committee, how many witnesses were you able to call. None, zero. We shut down. Yes, it was even worse than that. Not even witnesses. I remember a time, we only had two hearings. Think about how bad this was. We had two hearings and one was a complete waste of time. The other was fast. The, it was an amazing run for what should be, if youre going to do it, this is how you do it. I remember calling the chairman on the constitutional lawyers think and we just get one more. I couldnt even get one more lawyer on our side to come. It was shut down, shut down and we were just trying to get one more non entity witness. Thats how bad they shut this down. It was an amazing run. It is amazing because when you consider past impeachment processes, involving judges, not just president s, its been an open process, theres been witnesses that the president s lawyers were able to ask for. None. And again this is where we really get into it. You brought it up, democrats say theyre gonna do it just like n
Corrupt to overturn the result of the 2016 election and interfere in the 2020 election. All of this is a dangerous perversion of the constitution that the senate should swiftly and roundly condemn. Now with the dueling briefs filed, the trial can get underway 24 hours from now. Joining me to talk about it, geoff bennett, kasie hunt. Geoff, i know the 110 pages were only released in the past minutes, but what are we learning about the white house arguments and the strategy . Great to see you. Our team of producers and i have been reading through this document. What it offers is a sweeping condemnation of these two articles of impeachment. The president s defense team makes the point that a rigged impeachment process, as they put it, led to those two flimsy articles of impeachment that they are trying to characterize. In the first one, abuse of power, to some arise President Trumps position, the position of his legal team, its show me the violation. Show me the broken law. It makes the p
Testimony going late into the night with one democratic aide telling nbc news the plan is quote, a complete sham. It does not appear theres much the democrats can do about it, though. House impeachment managers met on the hill today to lay out their strategy. But lead manager adam schiff declined to answer questions about his opening statements. On the republican side the president s defense Team Released its 100page legal brief this afternoon where it argues that nothing the president did was impeachable and that the house process was a sham. And his lawyers are airing their strategy, where else, but cable news . The framers of the constitution did not permit impeachment on grounds like abuse of power or obstruction of congress. They rejected openended vague criteria that could be weaponized for partisan political purposes. Its the president s right under the 6th amendment to have witnesses, not the other way around. Theres no right for the house managers to have witnesses. Both sides
For a major battle when this trial kicks off. Democratic leader Chuck Schumer calls the rules a coverup. The rules that mcconnell proposed, propose a trial that is rushed with as little evidence as possible and done in the dark of night. If President Trump were so confident and mcconnell were so confident of his arguments, why do they have to do them at 2 00 in the morning. Why cant they do them in the light of day . The rules he proposed are really a national disgrace. Also, of course, attempting to block witness testimony. Joining us, lauren fox live on capitol hill. So lauren, lay out what our viewers are going to see today and tomorrow. Tomorrow, battle over the rules and the arguments begin tomorrow. Thats exactly right, jim. Today at 1 00, youll see the chief Justice John Roberts gavel in the senate, and they will begin that debate on the rules. Basically mcconnells proposal that he unveiled last night. Like you noted, democrats are frustrated with whats in it. There are few issu