Day in Impeachment: Senate Issues a Summons to President Trump

[Elderberry]

NY Times 1/16/2020

•   The Senate opened only the third presidential impeachment trial in history, swearing in the chief justice of the United States, John G. Roberts Jr., as the presiding officer as senators took an oath to render “impartial justice.” Senators then signed a book signifying that they had taken the vow.

•   The Senate issued a formal summons for President Trump, informing him of the charges and inviting him to respond by Saturday evening. Senators set a series of deadlines for Mr. Trump’s team and the House managers, and adjourned the trial for a long weekend.

Behind closed doors, Senator Mitch McConnell and his aides were working to finish a resolution that would establish the contours of the first phase of the trial.

•   Representative Adam B. Schiff, the lead House impeachment manager, read the articles of impeachment against Mr. Trump aloud in the Senate chamber, laying out the case against him. Here are the key moments so far today.

More:https://www.nytimes.com/live/2020/trump-impeachment-01-16

[Cyber Liberty]

So....what if Trump contests the subpoena in Court as being frivolous?  What then?

He's being asked to "respond," so.....

[Elderberry]

Trump Impeachment Trial Begins as Senators Are Sworn In

Wall Street Journal by Lindsay Wise 1/16/2020

https://www.wsj.com/articles/senators-to-be-sworn-in-as-trump-impeachment-trial-begins-11579177831

The Senate opened the impeachment trial of President Trump on Thursday with Chief Justice John Roberts swearing in the senators, who pledged to deliver impartial justice, and the formal reading of the two charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.

Hours before the senators took their oath, the Government Accountability Office, a watchdog agency, determined that Mr. Trump’s administration violated the law when it withheld aid to Ukraine, an issue at the heart of the impeachment case against the president.

Democrats allege that Mr. Trump, a Republican, improperly withheld the aid to pressure Kyiv to launch investigations that would help him politically in the 2020 election. Mr. Trump has denied wrongdoing, calling the case against him a “big hoax” on Thursday.

The GAO wrote that the White House Office of Management and Budget improperly froze Ukraine funding over the summer for policy reasons. It was later released after pressure from Congress. A spokeswoman for OMB said it disagreed with the GAO finding.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian authorities opened a criminal probe into whether U.S. citizens placed the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine under surveillance, as text messages suggest, before she was removed from her post last year by Mr. Trump. The information came to light after House Democrats released documents Tuesday showing that an associate of Mr. Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, was sent text messages about tracking Marie Yovanovitch in Ukraine.

Democratic and GOP lawmakers continued to wrangle on Thursday over whether new witnesses and evidence will be allowed in the trial. Those issues aren’t expected to be decided until well after the trial begins in earnest on Tuesday.

[Hoodat]

This from impeachment Article I:

Using the powers of his high office, President Trump solicited the interference of a foreign government, Ukraine, in the 2020 United States Presidential election. He did so through a scheme or course of conduct that included soliciting the Government of Ukraine to publicly announce investigations that would benefit his reelection, harm the election prospects of a political opponent, and influence the 2020 United States Presidential election to his advantage.

I have read the Zelenskiy transcript multiple times.  And nowhere in it did Trump ask Zelenskiy to "publicly announce" any investigation at all.  This is a complete lie with zero evidence to back it up.  Bring on the witnesses.  Bring on Bolton, and Ciaramella, and Yovanovitch, and Schiff.  Put them under oath and find out who is responsible for abusing their power and obstructing Congress by filing what amounts to a false indictment against the President of the United States.

[jafo2010]

I say just end the nonsense of the commie Dems.  I consider them enemies of the state, and should be dealt with accordingly.