Democrats know they don't have the votes to convict President Donald Trump when the Senate convenes as the Court of Impeachment. But they are pursuing the case in the court of public opinion.
It became a defining moment one that stunned Washington after the House impeached Trump when Speaker Nancy Pelosi declined to immediately transmit the charges to the Senate.
The abrupt move vexed the Republican president and his party, annoying some, angering others, and caused a political firestorm as the days turned to weeks. It was approaching a month.
It was also a strategy. On Friday, it neared an end with Pelosi announcing the House would take steps next week to send the articles of impeachment to the Senate for the president's trial.
While the delay produced an avalanche of theories and strategies about the sudden impasse, it hasn't much changed the widely expected final verdict: Trump's acquittal of charges he abused power and obstructed Congress in pressuring Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden.
Yet in the lull, something else happened. New evidence and documents emerged, including emails showing more of the administration's internal deliberations over Trump's actions. Former White House national security adviser John Bolton announced he would be willing to appear, if a subpoena was sent.
Attention shifted from the airy Constitutional arguments for and against impeachment to the earthy details of how to conduct the rare Senate trial, only the third in the nation's history.
There's nowhere near the 67 votes needed for conviction in the Senate, where Republicans with Majority Leader Mitch McConnell hold a slim 53-47 majority.
But a handful of Republican senators who will decide how things go are suddenly infused with new power, and clouded with political risk. Just 51 votes will set the rules.
As McConnell works to hold them in line, Democrats will try to sway four GOP senators, particularly those up for re-election this year, to join in calling for a more witnesses and documents that McConnell is reluctant to allow.
Republican Sen. Susan Collins said Friday she is discussing with her colleagues a possible process for hearing new testimony. Alaska GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski has expressed discomfort with the leader's close coordination with the White House. Utah
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said McConnell is a clever fellow and understandably frustrated that his plan for swift acquittal has been stalled. But Pelosi has done just the right thing.''
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