Deseret News reporter Matthew Brown is in Washington D.C., and will be publishing updates about the trial throughout the day.
Senators meeting before and after today’s trial to prep for tomorrow’s questioning
12:50 p.m. MST
The questioning phase begins tomorrow and senators are meeting to formulate the queries to House managers and Trump’s defense team. The questioning will last 16 hours, or two days.
Senators will submit their written questions to the chief justice who reads them to the attorneys they are directed to. The process is not just orderly, but also orchestrated in a way that senators can work with legal counsel to make sure their side of the story is told.
Wyoming Republican Sen. John Barrasso explained Saturday how the GOP conference will handle questions:
“We will meet as a conference and decide what questions we want to pose and what the order may be of those questions. It seems like the chief justice is going to go back and forth, one Republican question, one Democrat question. And some questions may be to just bring out more information from the White House counsel and some may be specifically to go after what the House” managers have said.
Romney busted for drinking chocolate milk on Senate floor
12:25 p.m. MST
This from Natalie Andrews of the Wall Street Journal:
Republican senators want to read Bolton transcript
9:56 a.m. MST
Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee supports a proposal to read former national security adviser John Bolton’s book transcript in a classified setting to help senators decide whether to call Bolton as a witness.
Fellow GOP Sen. Mitt Romney caused a firestorm among Republicans on Monday when he made a case to hear from Bolton during the ongoing impeachment trial.
Lee told KSL that he supports Republican Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford’s idea as does Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.
Graham said Monday that senators should have an opportunity to read the manuscript before deciding whether to call Bolton as a witness.
Let the chief justice rule on witnesses
9:26 a.m. MST
Chief Justice John Roberts has been relatively invisible during the impeachment trial he’s presiding over.
But a proposal by Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland would change that.
According the Washington Post, Van Hollen is considering reintroducing a motion that would allow Roberts to decide which witnesses should be heard.
The contentious issue of calling witnesses reignited Monday after the manuscript of former national security adviser John Bolton’s unpublished book surfaced and undercut Trump’s defense that there was no quid pro quo.
Utah Republican Sen. Mitt Romney is a leading proponent for having Bolton testify, but not many Republicans agree and fear it could prolong the trial as senators from both parties haggle over who and how many witnesses to have. The White House could also assert executive privilege to block witnesses.
But Van Hollen said Roberts could also decide executive privilege issues to avoid delays.
Romney hosted GOP dinner Monday night amid flap over witnesses
8:20 a.m. MST
Utah Republican Sen. Mitt Romney has angered some Republicans for his forceful pitch to have former national security adviser John Bolton testify at the impeachment trial.
But he’s still fitting in with his colleagues, “even hosting the party’s informal dinner on Monday with helpings of Chick-fil-A,” Politico reported.
Romney rocked the Capitol on Monday by renewing his call to hear from Bolton in the wake revelations that Bolton wrote in a yet-to-be published book that President Donald Trump tied aid to Ukraine to investigations into Democrats. The alleged quid pro quo is central to House Democrats’ abuse of power impeachment charge.
Romney made a forceful pitch to hear from Bolton in a private GOP lunch before the trial reconvened Monday. Some Republican senators aren’t happy with the freshman senator’s push, which would prolong a trial they want to get behind them as soon as possible.
But Romney’s not backing down.
“It has been pointed out so far by both the House managers as well the defense that there has not been evidence of a direct nature of what the president may have said or what his motives were or what he did,” Romney said on Monday evening. “The article in the New York Times I think made it pretty clear that [Bolton] has some information that may be relevant. And I’d like to hear relevant information before I made a final decision.”
Dershowitz: Conduct Bolton describes is not abuse of power or an impeachable offense
7:20 a.m. MST
In his defense of President Donald Trump, renowned attorney and Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz brought up the explosive revelations about President Donald Trump in former national security adviser John Bolton’s unpublished book.
“Let me repeat, nothing in the Bolton revelations, even if true, would rise to the level of an abuse of power or an impeachable offense,” Dershowitz said.
Dershowitz was the last among Trump’s defense team to speak last night. They will wrap up their defense today.