The Senate impeachment trial of Donald Trump began in acrimonious fashion on Tuesday, with the Republican-dominated chamber voting down 11 Democratic proposals for amendments to the rules, including the rejection of subpoenas for ex-national security adviser John Bolton and White House acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney to give testimony on the Ukraine scandal.
Democratic impeachment managers Adam Schiff and Jerrold Nadler complained the marathon process was “ass-backwards” and accused Republicans of “voting for a cover-up”, observing: “Only guilty people hide the evidence.”
Looking on from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, President Trump fired out 50 retweets in support of his cause overnight while insisting he was “making great progress” at the global summit, as a new poll makes bleak reading for his supporters ahead of 2020.
Download the new Independent Premium app
Sharing the full story, not just the headlines
Please allow a moment for our live blog to load
House managers of the US Senate impeachment trial against Donald Trump have begun delivering their opening statements, with House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff reading a letter from Alexander Hamilton to George Washington from 1792.
Trump inaugural committee sued for ‘grossly overpaying’ president’s Washington hotel
The attorney general of Washington D.C. has filed a lawsuit against Donald Trump’s inaugural committee, alleging an abuse of non-profit funds that ultimately benefited the first family’s private business.
Attorney General Karl Racine said in the lawsuit that the committee was made to “grossly overpay for event space” at the Trump International Hotel in Washington during the president’s inauguration, while failing to seek out cheaper options.
Mr Trump’s inaugural committee funding has been steeped in controversy ever since it was reported to have spent over $100m (£76m) on lavish events — far more than past inaugural budgets — and more than $1m (£761,300) at the Trump hotel.
“District law requires non-profits to use their funds for their stated public purpose, not to benefit private individuals or companies,” the attorney general said when announcing the lawsuit on Wednesday. “In this case, we are seeking to recover the nonprofit funds that were improperly funnelled directly to the Trump family business.”
Here’s my latest:
Tulsi Gabbard sues Hillary Clinton for calling her a “Russian asset”
Tulsi Gabbard, the Hawaii Democrat and 2020 hopeful, has filed a lawsuit against Hillary Clinton claiming the former 2016 Democratic nominee defamed her by insinuating on a podcast that she was a “favourite of Russians”.
The Independent’s Clark Mindock has more on the $50 million lawsuit filed on Wednesday in the Southern District of New York.
Donald Trump returns to Washington amid impeachment trial
The president tweeted that he was returning to the US after a “very successful” trip to Davos, while also tweeting out a video that showed him shaking the hands of numerous world leaders.
Senate impeachment trial to reconvene for opening statements
With the Senate impeachment set to reconvene shortly for opening statements, Florida Republican Rick Scott has told CNN’s Dana Bash that he would like to hear from new witnesses – despite yesterday’s vote to block Democratic subpoenas – but says now is not the right time. Hmmmm.
Is Trump a modern day Andrew Johnson?
Graig Graziosi compares Trump – the third American president to be impeached – with the first, who succeeded Abraham Lincoln after he was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth on 15 April 1865 and was himself charged by Congress with violating the Tenure of Office Act three years later.
George Conway on Trump’s lawyers: ‘They’re treating the Senate, like they’re morons. It’s just outrageous’
Kellaynne’s husband has been talking to Jake Tapper and once again places his happy home life on the line to hold the president to account. Good show!
President sued over inaugural committee’s DC hotel payments
Donald Trump is being sued by the attorney general of Washington, DC, in a civil lawsuit alleging his inauguration committee abused its non-profit status by spending $175,000 (£133,000) per day to rent the resort’s ballroom in January 2017, “grossly overpaying” to line the incoming president’s pockets.
Chris Riotta has the latest.
Clip of president bragging about obstructing Congress at Davos goes viral
Here’s a moment from Trump’s madcap Davos Q&A earlier that perhaps didn’t get the attention it deserved amid the deluge of wild answers he was giving. It’s now doing the rounds on social media and deserves a closer.
During his session with journalists, the president appeared to openly boast about obstructing Congress through stonewalling – i.e. the second article the House of Representatives voted to impeach him with.
It’s hard to find a more perfect illustration of precisely why the Democrats are so exasperated by Senate Republicans blocking their attempts to subpoena new evidence and summon additional witnesses to testify at his trial.
Mike Pence speaks alongside Memphis bishop who says ‘demonic spirit’ inspires homosexuality
As part of the Trump administration’s ongoing efforts to court the Christian vote this election year, the White House livestreamed vice president Mike Pence’s speech at the Holy City Church of God In Christ in Memphis Tennessee on YouTube on Sunday.
But Pence wasn’t the only person to speak.
Enter Bishop Jerry Wayne Taylor, who also took to the pulpit to say homosexuality is inspired by a “demonic spirit”.
“We have to encourage young men and women to get married,” Taylor said. “It’s a demonic spirit that causes a woman to want to lie with another woman. It’s a demonic spirit that causes a man to be attracted to another man.”
“God didn’t make us for that. He made a man to be a man,” he continued, adding: “You never see two male animals coming together.”
“We’ve got to expose what the devil is doing,” he said.
Here’s Greg Evans for Indy100 with more.
Fox host claims Trump is a ‘civil rights leader’
I really have no words for the idiocy of this argument from Geraldo Rivera, guesting on Fox and Friends.
Fortunately, Conrad Duncan is on the case.
Trump says Obama officials should be punished for investigating him
In addition to CNBC, Trump has also been speaking (nonsense) to Maria Bartiromo of Fox Business since landing in Davos, pledging juicy tax cuts for the middle class, blowing yet more smoke about his impact on the US economy and saying the Obama-era Justice Department should be punished for having the temerity to investigate his campaign in 2016.
Trump moves to allay fears of coronavirus outbreak
The president also used his interview there to reassure the public that the coronavirus is “completely under control” after the first case was discovered in the US earlier this week.
Chris Riotta has the latest on that.
President praises Elon Musk: ‘He does good at rockets’
Trump has been talking to Joe Kernan on CNBC’s Squawk Box and praised the eccentric Silicon Valley tech tycoon in gloriously inarticulate fashion.
He also had a kind word for Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, who continues to refuse to police his political advertising.
Trump was also critical of Boeing, again inflated his record on African American unemployment and attacked the Fed and Michael Bloomberg.
He even found time to touch on impeachment and post-Brexit trade with Britain in what was another scattergun media appearance.
Andrew Griffin has more.
Trump pushes Bernie conspiracy, calls Tom Steyer ‘major loser’
In Davos, Trump has unleashed another deluge of partisan retweets in the last hour from Mitch McConnell, Lindsey Graham, Ted Cruz, Louis Gohmert, Mark Levin and Dan Bongino and repeated his ludicrous conspiracy theory that the impeachment trial is really about dragging Bernie Sanders off the campaign to serve as a juror to derail his 2020 presidential campaign.
This on Tom Steyer is just mean.
This endorsement of Levin’s attack on progressive Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is also pretty noteworthy.
Clark Mindock has more on that latter point.
Kellyanne Conway defends Bernie Sanders in bizarre tweet
The beef that erupted between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders yesterday – after it emerged that the beaten 2016 candidate told a Hulu documentary crew that “nobody likes” the Vermont socialist – created such hysteria on Twitter that even Kellyanne Conway found herself defending Trump’s possible 2020 challenger.
Rogue rival candidate Tulsi Gabbard summed it all up rather nicely…
Sirena Bergman explains all for Indy100.
White House Twitter account confuses Iraq with Iran
As discussed, Trump is due to meet up with the president of Iraq later today at the World Economic Forum.
Someone should tell whoever’s in charge of the White House YouTube account. His sitting down with Hassan Rouhani of Iran really would be a story…
Here’s Andre Griffin’s report.
Senate Democrat calls out ‘draconian’ reporting restrictions at the
New Mexico Democrat Martin Heinrich has written to the Senate’s sergeant-at-arms Michael Stenger to complain about the “draconian” restrictions on the press being observed at the impeachment trial.
Mitch McConnell has been working hard to protect Trump’s interests in drawing up his rules for the process and the president’s own views on the press are well known.
He said in Davos just now that he hopes the Fourth Estate can be “straightened out”, seemingly threatening an ominous new encroachment on a key democratic check on executive power.
What DC insiders really think of Mitch McConnell’s trial rules
For Indy Voices, Andrew Feinberg has the inside track on the impeachment trial from Capitol Hill.
Ivanka Trump blanks reporter asking about impeachment trial
Also in Davos yesterday, Ivanka Trump was involved in an awkward stand-off with CNN reporter Jim Acosta, once booted out of a White House press briefing by her father’s administration.
Here’s Oliver O’Connell again.
