Trump impeachment news: President accused of turning 'America first' into 'Donald Trump first' as Senate trial resumes
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Donald Trump has reacted angrily after House Intelligence Committee chairman Adam Schiff laid out the case against him in the first opening statement of the impeachment trial on Wednesday, accusing the president of orchestrating a “corrupt scheme” to extort a domestic political favour from Ukraine.
While Mr Schiff’s speech was praised by Democrats, Republicans in the chamber made a point of looking visibly bored by his extensive presentation of the evidence, prompting CNN anchor Chris Cuomo to remind them they should be “doing their damn job” and focusing on principle, not party, and MSNBC’s Chris Hayes invited them to resign.
After sending out a record-breaking 142 tweets yesterday, President Trump has continued to fight the messaging war on Thursday and revived his attack on 2020 Democratic candidate Michael Bloomberg, branding him a “clown” and saying his campaign is a “hopeless” waste of money.
Mr Bloomberg's response: "Obsessed much? It shouldn't be this easy to distract the President of the United States."
During Thursday's proceedings in the president's impeachment trial, now on its fourth day, Texas Senator Ted Cruz made a sort of impeachment drinking game — with milk. Mr Cruz said that every time the prosecution says "drug deal" or "get over it", "drink a shot of milk!"
All the president's lawyers: The team fighting Trump's impeachment
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The normal milk drinking followed Mr Schiff's derisive opening comments about Senate Republicans who appeared to have difficulty being silent for hours.
House Judiciary chairman Jerrold Nadler made the case that the president abused the power of the executive office with a "Donald Trump first" agenda that placed "his own personal political interests first."
Meanwhile, the White House is imposing new rules on pregnant women travelling to the country as the administration rails against "birth tourism", or giving birth in the US so that the child can obtain US citizenship.
The State Department did not make it clear how one would know a person is pregnant. The rules would deny visa applications when the traveller's "primary purpose" is to obtain American citizenship for their child by giving birth in the country.
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Trump wasn't bragging about having Ukraine details, White House says
From The Independent's Washington DC bureau chief, John T Bennett: Trump was not bragging Wednesday when he noted the White House possesses information about its Ukraine policies that it blocked House Democrats from obtaining, a spokesman said.
“What the president was clearly saying was that the evidence was all on our side,” Hogan Gidley, White House principal deputy press secretary, told reporters.
White House defends policy making it more difficult for pregnant migrants to enter the US
From The Independent's Washington DC bureau chief John T Bennett: Saying the Trump administration closed a “glaring immigration loophole,” White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham defended a move to make it harder for pregnant women from other countries to enter the United States.
“The birth tourism industry threatens to overburden valuable hospital resources and is rife with criminal activity, as reflected in Federal prosecutions,” she said in a statement.
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....And we're back!
The Senate has now reconvened for the day's impeachment trial, with Democrats still making their case.
House impeachment managers began that effort yesterday, and have 24 hours total to lay out their argument (and they can take up a total of three days for it).
Democrats continue to make case for impeachment on Senate floor
From The Independent's Washington DC bureau chief John T Bennett: House Intelligence Committee chairman Adam Schiff began the third day of the trial by joking that he knows how difficult it is for United States senators to sit "still" and "silent" for hours and hours.
The quip drew audible laughter from those senators assembled in the chamber.
On a more serious note, House Judiciary chairman Jerold Nadler then began making Democrats' case that Mr Trump abused the power of the office of the president by saying he "placed his own personal political interests first."
Pivoting off Mr Trump's "America first" governing philosophy, he said the president's actions toward Ukraine were "Donald Trump first." "The president's conduct was wrong," Mr Nadler said. "No president has ever used his offer to compel a foreign nation to cheat in ... an election."
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