Democrats make case against Trump at historic impeachment trial

In a somber and hushed Senate chamber, Democrats began presenting their opening arguments in the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump on Wednesday, accusing him of using the power of his office to cheat in the upcoming election.

Adam Schiff, the head of the prosecution team from the House of Representatives, took the floor of the Senate after lawmakers were told by the sergeant-at-arms to remain silent during the historic proceedings.

"President Trump solicited foreign interference in our democratic elections, abusing the powers of his office to seek help from abroad to improve his re-election prospects at home," the California lawmaker said.

"And when he was caught, he used the powers of that office to obstruct the investigation into his own misconduct," said Schiff, who headed the probe that led to Trump's December 18 impeachment by the Democratic-controlled House.

Schiff shrugged off Republican arguments that American voters -- and not the Senate -- should decide in November whether Trump should remain in the White House.

"The president's misconduct cannot be decided at the ballot box for we cannot be assured that the vote will be fairly won," Schiff said. "The president has shown that he believes he is above the law and scornful of restraint."
"The Constitution entrusts to you the responsibility of acting as impartial jurors," he said. "Our duty is to the constitution and the rule of law."
Trump, who was attending the World Economic Forum in Davos as the historic trial got underway on Tuesday, blasted the proceedings as a "witchhunt" and a "hoax" and said he expected the Republican-led Senate to clear him "fairly quickly."
The president defended the Republicans' rejection of Democratic efforts to force former national security advisor John Bolton and others to testify at his trial saying of Bolton, for example, that it would present a "national security problem."
"John, he knows some of my thoughts," Trump said. "He knows what I think about leaders. What happens if he reveals what I think about a certain leader and it's not very positive?"