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Staff members carry boxes of binders to the office of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's (D-NY) office at the U.S. Capitol on January 21, 2020 in Washington, DC.
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Historic Senate impeachment trial gets underway

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Historic Senate impeachment trial gets underway

The Senate impeachment trial of President Donald Trump begins in earnest today.

The two political sides will debate over whether to call witnesses who previously refused to testify and subpoena documents blocked by Mr. Trump.

It is the third presidential impeachment trial in the Senate’s history.

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Here’s a look at some things you may want to know and what’s happening today:

Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., talks to reporters on his way to the Senate chamber on Capitol Hill in Washington on Jan. 21, 2020.
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Senate Democrats privately weigh a Biden-for-Bolton impeachment-trial gambit

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6:52 p.m.

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The amendments continue, McConnell schedules a meal

Senators get hungry too.

The Senate voted 53-47 — along party lines — to table a second amendment brought by Democrats that would have sent a subpoena to the U.S. State Department.

Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., the minority leader, promptly introduced a third amendment to subpoena documents from the White House Office of Management and Budget. And another round of debate, up to two hours, began on the Senate floor.

Student Caitlin Wiscombe, 19, from San Antonio, shares her opinions during a joint class of political science and journalism students at Point Park University in Downtown on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2020, the day impeachment proceedings against President Trump begin in the U.S. Senate.
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Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader, interjected that he would allow the debate and move to table the amendment, as he has the previous two amendments put forth by Democrats.

After the vote on the amendment, Mr. McConnell said, senators will break for a 30-minute dinner. Since the session began around 1:30 p.m., all 100 senators have been at their desks — with only two breaks lasting roughly 20 minutes each.

6:06 p.m.

Public gallery seats filled with 'several dozen' Pennsylvanians, Sen. Casey's office says

The usually sparse public viewing galleries overlooking the Senate floor have been packed all day with members of the public hoping to witness the historic proceeding.

Pennsylvania residents can apply for a limited number of public gallery passes through either state senator’s office. Those passes are available on a first-come basis by contacting Sens. Bob Casey or Pat Toomey, but the offices cannot reserve passes or guarantee entry.

Those with passes still have to wait in line to be seated inside the chamber, and they will be asked to provide identification showing your Pennsylvania residency.

The Democratic senator has been far busier.

While Mr. Toomey’s office handed out four passes, Mr. Casey’s office has “several dozen” constituents slotted to attend this week, a spokeswoman said, and the office is still fielding requests.

Mr. Casey office got a ticket for Ken Gormley, president of Duquesne University and an attorney and impeachment scholar, who spoke with the Post-Gazette on Tuesday. Both senators’ offices declined to release the names of those who had signed up.

5:06 p.m

Democrats' amendment to subpoena documents fails; California congresswoman recalls Clinton, Nixon impeachment proceedings

House Democrats and White House lawyers continued to spar over the rules of the impeachment trial. An amendment offered by Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., the Senate minority leader, was tabled by a 53-47 vote.

Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., voted against the motion and in support of the amendment, which would have sent a subpoena for White House documents. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., voted for the motion and against the amendment.

That vote was critical because it shows all 53 Republican senators maintained a united front against Democrats’ push for a trial with witnesses and additional documents that the Trump administration has not handed over.

After the vote failed, Mr. Schumer submitted another amendment to subpoena documents from the U.S. State Department.

Arguing in favor of more witnesses and documents, Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., recalled President Bill Clinton’s impeachment trial in 1999, during which she served in Congress on the House Judiciary Committee.

Mr. Clinton, she pointed out, turned over 90,000 pages of relevant documents, while Mr. Trump has turned over not one document requested by Congress.

Ms. Lofgren also recalled being a young law student during the impeachment investigation of President Richard Nixon. The U.S. Supreme Court, she said, unanimously decided Mr. Nixon did not have legal authority to hold on to his infamous White House recordings. That ruling crumbled Mr. Nixon’s defense, and he resigned in 1974 before a House impeachment vote could be held.

“I think the U.S. v. Nixon still governs the present,” Ms. Lofgren said. “The president has not complied with those requirements.”

Republicans have agreed to some changes.

For one, Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell agreed to amend his proposal — apparently at the last minute — to extend opening arguments to three, eight-hour days, instead of two, 12-hour days. Concerns were raised that arguments would go well into the night and much of the American public would be sleeping.

The Senate has taken its second recess of the day.

2:54 p.m.

A debate over the rules of the trial; Senate breaks for recess

Since about 1:18 p.m., the Senate has heard arguments from House Democrats and White House lawyers on how to structure Mr. Trump's impeachment trial.

White House Counsel Pat A. Cipollone opened the session by expressing support for a proposed schedule introduced by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. “This is a fair process,” Mr. Cipollone said as part of a two-minute statement, while declaring “the president has done nothing wrong. There is absolutely no case.”

Leading the House Democrats’ arguments was Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., chair of the House Intelligence Committee and de facto leader of the impeachment investigation. Mr. Schiff said the Senate should conduct the trial with witnesses, citing past Senate impeachment trials and Senate rules.

Mr. Schiff, in remarks stretching about 49 minutes, characterized the vote on setting the rules of the trial as the most important vote the Senate can take.

The majority of Americans “believe the results are pre-cooked. Let’s prove them wrong,” he said.

Mr. Trump’s team then responded for more than 20 minutes. Mr. Cipollone railed against Mr. Schiff’s handling of the impeachment investigation and complained the president was denied due process rights in the House.

The Democrats’ case before the Senate is like “if I showed up to [a] court in this country, and I said: Judge, my case is overwhelming, but I’m not ready to go yet. I need more evidence,’” Mr. Cipollone said. “I would get thrown out in two seconds. And that’s exactly what should happen here.”

All 100 senators sat stony-faced at their mahogany and walnut desks, sipping water, writing notes, reading through large white binders containing documents pertaining to the House impeachment investigation.

By rule, senators are required to keep quiet: “All persons are commanded to keep silence, on pain of imprisonment,” according to the Senate sergeant-at-arms.

At 2:51 p.m., the Senate took a 15-minute break.

12:45 p.m.

All 100 senators are on site as trial is set to begin

Amid a heavy police presence on Capitol Hill, all 100 senators have convened for the impeachment trial of President Donald J. Trump. The trial was expected to begin at approximately 1 p.m., with John Roberts, chief justice on the U.S. Supreme Court, presiding over the historic proceeding.

The senators are expected to debate the rules of the upcoming trial together. There has been sharp disagreement over the issue of whether to call witnesses and subpoena documents.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has proposed a resolution that calls for speedy trial. The resolution would schedule 24 hours of opening arguments from both sides and allow senators to submit written questions — all before considering whether to call witnesses.

Mr. McConnell, addressing the Senate, said his resolution “already has the support of a majority of the Senate.”

“Today we will consider and pass an organizing resolution that will structure the first phase of the trial,” he said. "The eyes are on the Senate."

Mr. McConnell criticized the impeachment investigation led by House Democrats last year. “The president’s lawyers will finally receive a level playing field with the Democrats,” he added. “Finally, some fairness.”

Meanwhile, journalists covering the trial are facing restrictions imposed by the Senate that limit access to senators as they come and go to the chamber. Journalists are prohibited from bringing electronic devices into the chamber.

The restrictions “fail to acknowledge what currently works on Capitol Hill,” read a statement from the Standing Committee of Correspondents, which supervises operations in the Senate Press Gallery.

The Regional Reporters Association, which represents Washington correspondents working for news organizations, including the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, said the rules “serve no purpose but to hinder the public from learning about their public officials and journalists from doing their job to provide that information.”

Click for more coverage

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First Published: January 21, 2020, 6:21 p.m.
Updated: January 21, 2020, 10:19 p.m.

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