Trump 'should be removed': Impeachment trial
Washington: Lead House impeachment manager Adam Schiff called dramatically for the Senate to remove President Donald Trump from office Thursday, saying the US leader cannot be trusted to put the country's interests ahead of his own.
"The American people deserve a president they can count on, to put their interest first," said Schiff.
His impassioned words capped a long day in which Democrats detailed Trump's illicit scheme to pressure Ukraine to help his 2020 reelection campaign.
"You know, you can't trust this president to do what is right for this country. You can trust he will do what's right for Donald Trump," Schiff added.
"He'll do it now. He's done it before. He'll do it for the next several months. He'll do it in the election if he's allowed to. This is why, if you find him guilty, you must find that he should be removed." "Because right matters. And truth matters. Otherwise we are lost."
As the 100 senators sat as jurors and millions of Americans watched on television, House impeachment managers mustered scores of videos, internal documents and extensive witness testimony to lay out a strong case that the US leader abused his powers.
Schiff's prosecution team detailed how Trump flagrantly undertook last year to force Kiev to help him tarnish his possible 2020 reelection rival, former vice president Joe Biden.
"President Trump used the powers of his office to solicit a foreign nation to interfere in our elections for his own personal benefit," House Judiciary Committee Chair Jerry Nadler told the chamber.
"Since President George Washington took office in 1789, no president has abused his power in this way," Nadler said.
"The president has repeatedly, flagrantly, violated his oath... The president's conduct is wrong. It is illegal. And it is dangerous." Over nine hours the Democrats methodically dismantled Republican claims that Trump did nothing wrong.
They left few doubts that Trump's sole motivation in secretly freezing aid to Ukraine last July was to force Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky to announce one investigation into Biden and a second into an unsupported story that Kiev helped Democrats in the 2016 election.
To puncture a key White House argument that the US constitution requires a specific crime to remove a president, they played old videos in which two of Trump's closest defenders, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham and storied criminal defense attorney Alan Dershowitz, said that abuse of power itself is a clear impeachable offense.
And they detailed the extensive role of Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani in the scheme to pressure Zelensky, even while US intelligence and diplomatic chiefs disagreed with it.
"Donald Trump chose Rudy Giuliani over his own intelligence agencies. He chose Rudy Giuliani over his own national security advisors... That makes him dangerous to our country," said Schiff, who leads the House Intelligence Committee.
Yet, three days into arguments into the historic trial, there were few signs that any of the Republican majority that Trump commands in the Senate would buy into the evidence and turn against him.
"What we heard from the managers yesterday, the day before, it is the same thing, day after day after day," said Republican Senator John Barrasso.
"We're hearing the same things over and over," said Trump attorney Jay Sekulow. "We will be putting on vigorous defense of both facts and rebutting what they've said."
At the White House, Trump unleashed a barrage of tweets attacking the process as "loaded with lies and misrepresentations." "Most unfair & corrupt hearing in Congressional history!" he tweeted
Democratic prosecutors will complete their arguments Friday with a focus on the second impeachment charge, obstruction of Congress, before Trump's legal team holds the floor in his defense for three days.
Democrats are hoping their arguments will at least persuade some Republicans, who hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate, to support their call to issue subpoenas next week for four top current and former Trump aides to testify, and for internal White House records about the Ukraine affair.
But all indications were that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, in coordination with the White House, will seek to stifle witness requests and bring the trial to a close with a vote to acquit Trump by the end of next week.
Both Trump and McConnell said early this week that the White House could claim executive privilege to refuse the subpoenas, forcing a court challenge that could prolong the case well into February.
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Devine’s all-round brilliance trumps Nandini’s hat-trick as GG edge DC by 4 runs
Navi Mumbai (PTI): Nandini Sharma’s maiden hat-trick went in vain as Sophie Devine starred with a breathtaking 95 and a superb final over under pressure to steer Gujarat Giants to a thrilling four-run win off the last ball over Delhi Capitals in a Women’s Premier League match here on Sunday.
This was Gujarat Giants' second win on the trot, while DC slipped to their second loss.
Sent in to bat, Giants opener Devine smashed seven fours and eight sixes in her 42-ball knock, adding 94 runs for the opening wicket with Beth Mooney (19) to set the platform.
Skipper Ashleigh Gardner kept the momentum going with a brisk 49 off 26 balls, but Nandini turned the tide with remarkable figures of 5 for 33, including a hat-trick, as Gujarat were bowled out for 209.
Chasing a stiff target, opener Lizelle Lee struck a scintillating 86 off 54 balls, studded with 12 fours and three sixes. She put on 41 runs with Shafali Verma (14) before adding 90 off 55 balls with Laura Wolvaardt (77 off 38) to keep Delhi firmly in the hunt.
Once Lee was dismissed by Kashvee Gautam (1/48) in the 15th over, Rajeshwari Gayakwad removed Chinelle Henry (7) to leave Delhi at 146 for three.
Needing 64 off the last 25 balls, skipper Jemimah Rodrigues (15) joined Wolvaardt as the pair plundered 58 runs in 23 balls to bring the equation down to seven off the final five deliveries.
Devine then returned to the spotlight, dismissing both batters and conceding just two runs in the final over to seal a dramatic win.
Earlier, Devine set the tone early, striking three fours off Chinelle Henry before taking Nandini apart with two fours and a six in the fourth over. She was particularly severe on Sneh Rana, hammering two fours and four successive sixes in an over that yielded 32 runs and powered Gujarat Giants to 80 without loss in the powerplay.
The New Zealander brought up her half-century in just 25 balls before Shree Charani broke the opening stand with a sharp caught-and-bowled effort in the ninth over to remove Mooney. Devine briefly regained control, hitting Charani for three sixes, but fell in the 11th over bowled by Nandini Sharma.
Skipper Ashleigh Gardner kept Gujarat Giants on course with a brisk 49 off 26 balls, smashing four boundaries and three sixes to take the side past the 200-mark.
Jemimah Rodrigues pulled off a fine catch to dismiss Georgia Wareham (3), while Henry removed Gardner and Bharti Fulmali (3).
Nandini then capped a memorable outing by picking up four wickets in the final over, including three off the last three balls, to complete her maiden hat-trick.
