US President Donald Trump's legal team issued a fiery response yesterday before opening arguments in his impeachment trial while House Democrats laid out their case in forceful fashion, saying the President had betrayed public trust with behaviour that was the "worst nightmare" of the founding fathers.
The duelling statements previewed arguments both sides intend to make once Trump's impeachment trial begins in earnest on Wednesday. Their challenge will be to make a case that appeals to senators who will render the verdict and for an American public bracing for a presidential election in 10 months.
The House's 111-page brief pulled together the private and public testimony of a dozen witnesses — ambassadors and national security officials at high levels of government — who raised concerns about the President's actions with Ukraine. The document underscored the extent to which the impeachment proceedings are a political rather than conventional legal process.
The Trump team similarly offered a taste of the rhetoric expected to be deployed by the President's defenders in the Senate.
In their brief, the House managers overseeing the prosecution wrote it was clear the "evidence overwhelmingly establishes" Trump is guilty of both charges for which he was impeached last month: abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. "The only remaining question is whether the members of the Senate will accept and carry out the responsibility placed on them by the Framers of our Constitution and their constitutional Oaths," the brief states.
