The Senate trial of President Donald Trump resumed Monday with closing arguments by lawyers for both sides in preparation for a final vote to convict or acquit the president on two articles of impeachment.
Trial managers for the House of Representatives and members of the White House defense team each had two hours to wrap up their cases beginning at 11 a.m. EST, followed by individual senators taking the floor for speeches.
After that the Senate adjourned until Wednesday for a final vote, when it is expected Trump will be acquitted on charges of withholding military aid to pressure Ukraine into announcing politically motivated investigations into former Vice President Joe Biden, a Democratic presidential rival in the 2020 election.
Another impeachment article accuses him of blocking the House's investigation into the matter.
The outcome appeared sealed after the Republican majority narrowly voted to deny a motion allowing the testimony of witnesses and introduction of new evidence into the trial.
Trump on Sunday again insisted the impeachment charges against him were without merit and politically motivated.
"It's been a very, very unfair process," Trump said during a Fox News interview aired before the Super Bowl. "It should never happen to another president."
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But Rep. Adam Schiff, chairman of the House intelligence committee and the lower chamber's lead trial manager, said his team "proved the corrupt scheme that they charged in the articles of impeachment" and cited comments from some Republican senators indicating that while Trump's actions may have been wrong, they were not impeachable.
"That's pretty remarkable when you now have senators on both sides of the aisle admitting the House made its case and the only question is: 'Should the president be removed from office because he's been found guilty of these offenses?'" Schiff said on CBS News' Face the Nation.
