Iran Press/America: With acquittal seemingly assured, the Democrats prosecuting US President Donald Trump urged the Senate on Monday (February 3) to convict him to show no president is above the law while his legal team called the case against him politically motivated, reckless and baseless.
Senators heard closing arguments in the trial by the Republican president's legal team and the seven Democratic House members serving as prosecutors.
Senators plan to vote Wednesday on the two impeachment charges against Trump for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
The Senate seems certain to acquit Trump. A two-thirds majority is required to remove the president. None of the 53 Senate Republicans has indicated support for conviction.
Earlier on Friday, the Senate rejected a measure to call witnesses in Donald Trump’s impeachment trial after Republicans argued new testimony is unnecessary, ensuring the trial will be the first in US history without witnesses.
Democrats had been pushing to call former national security adviser John Bolton and other officials who declined to participate in the House proceedings that led to Trump’s impeachment. But most GOP senators, led by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), rallied to the president’s defense and said he should not be removed from office.
According to a draft manuscript, Trump directed his former national security adviser John Bolton to help with his pressure campaign in Ukraine to dig up dirt on Democrats in early May last year.
The House passed two articles of impeachment against Trump last month. The first charged the president with abusing his power by pushing Ukraine to announce investigations of former Vice President Joe Biden, his son Hunter Biden and Democrats as the president withheld nearly $400 million in military aid to the country and an official White House visit for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. The second article charged Trump with obstructing Congress' investigation into the matter.
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