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White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham accused Democrats of waiting to send articles of impeachment to the Senate in order to help certain Democratic candidates for president, according to an interview she did with Fox Business.
Grisham, who wasn’t specific in her allegation, said it was something she’s been “wondering about.”
Grisham went on to defend her boss, President Trump, saying that his critics were just going to “yell words.”
“Russia, Mueller, racism, they’ve used all these words and none of them is sticking because he doesn’t do any of those things, now we’ve got impeachment. So they’re going to continue to yell those words, and it’s only going to make him stronger,” she said.
The press secretary, who hasn’t given a single briefing since assuming her role, also discussed the US-China trade deal and how it “feels to be part of that history.”
Grisham said she continues to be “so proud of this President.”
“It has been very obvious that the more he wins, and the more he does for this country, the more the Democrats are actually working against him which is sad. It’s very sad,” she claimed.
Senate leaders Mitch McConnell and Chuck Schumer just released an official photograph of the moment senators took their oath today at the impeachment trial of President Trump.
According to Article 1 of the Constitution, senators shall “be on oath or affirmation” when they try impeachments. The oath is spelled out in Rule XXV and specifically mentions impartiality.
Here’s the moment:
On Thursday, it became official: The Senate impeachment trial into President Donald Trump is underway.
While the ultimate outcome seems predetermined — it’s very hard to see 67 senators voting for Trump’s removal — that doesn’t mean the way we get from here to there doesn’t matter and won’t be potentially politically consequential.
While 67 votes are necessary to remove Trump, the rules governing the proceedings — including the question on whether witnesses should be called — are determined by a simple majority. Which means that any coalition of 51 senators can overrule the wishes of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and, by extension, Trump.
With that in mind, here’s a look at eight senators to keep an eye on as the trial continues:
Reporters on Capitol Hill are facing a security crackdown that limits their ability to question US senators during the impeachment trial of President Trump.
Sarah Wire, the chair of the Standing Committee of Correspondents, a group that represents reporters on Capitol Hill, told CNN Business that several measures that curtail reporters’ access were implemented today.
One measure prohibits reporters from walking with senators and questioning them as the lawmakers are in transit from the Capitol Hill basement to the elevator, a common practice in the US Capitol. Another measure forces reporters behind roped off lines and into pens, hindering their ability to approach senators and ask questions, another common practice.
Such restrictions, which aid senators who wish to avoid the press, were not communicated to journalists ahead of time as typically expected, Wire told CNN Business.
“Reporters [are] learning about the restrictions in real time,” Wire said.
Some more context: In a letter sent on Tuesday to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, the Standing Committee of Correspondents, said it “vigorously” objected to such restrictions.
When asked about Rudy Giuliani associate Lev Parnas today, Vice President Mike Pence said, “I don’t know the guy.”
Pence called Parnas’ charge that he was aware that all outreach to Zelensky was about getting Ukraine to investigate the Bidens “completely false.”
What is this all about: Parnas — the Soviet-born businessman whose work in Ukraine with Giuliani stands at the center of the impeachment inquiry — implicated the President yesterday in an interview with CNN.
Parnas, who was indicted on campaign finance charges last year, said that their efforts were “all about 2020” and not about working in the interest of the United States.
Parnas also alleged that Pence did not attend Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s inauguration because Ukraine had not announced an investigation into Joe Biden.
The following video shows Parnas discussing Pence with CNN’s Anderson Cooper:
President Trump strongly supported his personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, while speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, calling him “one of the great crime fighters in the history of our country.”
When asked about a letter that Giuliani allegedly wrote that says the President was aware of his activities in Ukraine, Trump said he wasn’t aware of it.
“He was also the greatest mayor in the history of the New York,” he added.
“Having him on my side is a great honor for me,” Trump continued, saying that Giuliani did a, “phenomenal job over a long period of time in fighting crime.”
“I didn’t know about a specific letter, but if he wrote a letter it wouldn’t be a big deal,” Trump said.
WATCH HERE:
President Trump’s acting budget director Russ Vought just tweeted on the Government Accountability Office’s report that said the Trump administration violated the law by withholding Ukraine aid.
In his tweet, Vought said the administration “complied with the law at every step.”
Vought was subpoenaed by House committees during the House impeachment inquiry last year but never appeared.
Read his tweet:
We’re on Capitol Hill, where the third Senate impeachment trial of a US president has officially begun.
CNN’s Lauren Fox is there. What questions do you have for her?
Watch her live here:
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said Lev Parnas’ allegations and the Government Accountability Office’s report “strengthen our push” for witnesses and documents in the Senate trial.
He added that “no witnesses would be a dramatic break with precedent.”
During a news conference, Schumer said he expects votes on Tuesday to try to force Republicans to take a position on witnesses. But he said he won’t know for sure until he sees Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s organizing resolution.
About Parnas and the report: Parnas, the Soviet-born businessman whose work in Ukraine with President Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani stands at the center of the impeachment inquiry, implicated the President Wednesday in an interview with CNN in which he said that their efforts were “all about 2020” and not about working in the interest of the United States.
Earlier today, the GAO said the Trump administration broke the law when it withheld US security aid to Ukraine last year that had been appropriated by Congress, a decision that’s at the heart of the House’s impeachment case against Trump.
The GAO, a nonpartisan congressional watchdog, said in a decision that the White House budget office violated the Impoundment Control Act, a 1974 law that limits the White House from withholding funds that Congress has appropriated.
President Trump just tweeted about his frustration with the impeachment proceedings.
In all caps, he tweeted:
About the call: On the July call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Trump pressured the Ukrainian president to investigate Joe Biden, his potential 2020 rival. Trump has pushed an unproven accusation that then-Vice President Biden improperly tried to help his son, Hunter, by pressuring the Ukrainian government to fire the country’s prosecutor general. Hunter Biden served on the board of a Ukrainian natural gas company at the time.
President Trump said he was still planning on going to Davos next week even though the impeachment trial will be under way in the Senate.
The President is set to leave for the World Economic Forum in Switzerland on Monday and the Senate is set to begin the impeachment trial at 1 p.m. on Tuesday.
The President touted the economy in his answer and claimed that other world leaders tell him how “incredible” the US is doing economically. Trump said he planned to meet with both business and foreign leaders while he is in Davos.
President Trump, speaking to reporters today in the Oval Office, said the Senate impeachment trial “should go very quickly.”
Trump called the proceedings a “hoax” and repeatedly insisted his phone call with Ukraine’s president Zelensky was “perfect.”
He denied any knowledge of a recently revealed letter from his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani to Zelensky requesting a private meeting. In the letter, Giuliani wrote he had Trump’s “knowledge and consent” for the request.
WATCH HERE:
President Trump continues to insist he doesn’t know Lev Parnas, an associate of Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani who now says Trump was aware of efforts to surface dirt on political rivals.
Speaking in the Oval Office, Trump said he didn’t know anything about Parnas, with whom he’s posed with in photographs.
Trump said he takes thousands of photos at fundraisers, but suggested that did not mean he knows Parnas.
Trump said he did not believe he’d ever spoken to Parnas.
He added he would “probably” be attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, despite the event coinciding with his impeachment trial.
Some context here: Parnas — a central figure in the White House’s alleged Ukraine pressure campaign — said yesterday that Trump “knew exactly what was going on” despite his repeated denials of wrongdoing.
“He was aware of all my movements. I wouldn’t do anything without the consent of Rudy Giuliani, or the President,” Parnas told MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow. “I have no intent, I have no reason, to speak to any of these officials.”
Parnas asserted he was the one “on the ground” doing Trump and Giuliani’s work, “and that’s the secret that they’re trying to keep.”
WATCH: Lev Parnas tells Anderson Cooper ‘Trump is lying’
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer spoke this afternoon on the atmosphere in the Senate chamber today as he and his fellow lawmakers were sworn in for the impeachment trial of President Trump.
Schumer went on to say: “The feeling in the Senate chamber was solemn, serious, profound. The weight of history, the eyes of history, you feel it upon you. I know every one of my colleagues felt it. I hope my colleagues on the other side of the aisle felt it.”
WATCH HERE:
Republican Sen. James Inhofe was not at the Capitol today, and missed the impeachment trial oath.
Inhofe will have to be sworn in when he returns next week. This means 99 senators were sworn in today.
According to his spokesperson:
CORRECTION: Some posts below have been updated to reflect how many senators were sworn in Thursday for the impeachment trial. Sen. Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma was absent Thursday and will be sworn in separately.
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders called on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to allow witnesses during the impeachment trial against President Trump.
Sanders also said he’s hoping for a fair trial.
“We have a constitution. We have a rule of law. It is absolutely imperative that no president can be above the law no matter who you are. And if we allow this President to be above the law, it sets a terrible precedent for future presidents and for the future of this country. So I would hope that senator McConnell allows us to have a full and fair trial,” Sanders said.
WATCH HERE:
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell discussed the schedule for the impeachment trial of President Trump this afternoon.
McConnell provided the deadlines for briefs that can be filed on behalf of the President and House.
“I ask unanimous consent that in recognition of the unique requirements raised by the impeachment trial of Donald John Trump, President of the United States, the sergeant of arms shall install appropriate equipment and furniture in the Senate chamber during all times that the senate is sitting for trial with the chief justice of the United States presiding,” McConnell said.
The Senate has adjourned until 1 p.m. ET Tuesday, when the formal trial will begin.
WATCH HERE:
The Senate has adjourned until 1 p.m. ET Tuesday when the formal trial will begin.
Ninety-nine senators were sworn in. Republican Sen. James Inhofe was not at the Capitol today, and missed the impeachment trial oath.
Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts was also sworn in. He will preside over the impeachment trial.
WATCH HERE:
As senators walked up to be sworn in for the impeachment trial against President Trump today, none received a souvenir pen.
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell slammed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on the Senate floor today for handing out “golden pens on silver platters, a souvenir to celebrate the moment” on Wednesday during the signing of the impeachment articles.
McConnell also tweeted this clip of his speech, and said the ceremony was “the House’s partisan process distilled into one last perfect visual. Not solemn or serious. A transparently political exercise from beginning to end.”
On the opening day of the Clinton impeachment trial in 1999, after senators were sworn in, they were called up to the front of the Senate chamber to sign a registry signifying that they had taken the oath to be a juror. Each senator was then given the pen he or she used to sign the registry – a keepsake or souvenir to remember the historic moment.
White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham quoted a tweet from CNN’s Lauren Fox featuring a photo of all the pens Pelosi used to sign the articles of impeachment, criticizing her use of pens.
“Nancy Pelosi’s souvenir pens served up on silver platters to sign the sham articles of impeachment… She was so somber as she gave them away to people like prizes,” Grisham wrote.
The Senate has drafted a document on decorum guidelines for the impeachment trial, including rules that senators — who will be serving as jurors — must follow.
John Roberts, the chief justice of the Supreme Court, will preside over the trial, and senators have been told they must be in attendance for all proceedings.
Here are a few of the rules mentioned in the guidelines:
