Video Playlist: Answers to written questions from Senators | Senate Impeachment Trial Day 9

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During the Senate impeachment trial day 9, Thursday, January 30, 2020, the Senators will continue with questions asking questions of House managers and President Donald Trumpโ€™s defense team as they weigh whether to call witnesses in the impeachment trial.

All Video Playlist: Trump impeachment Trial โ€“ January 30, 2020

Below are Videos of President Donald Trumpโ€™s defense team delivering arguments

Video 6: Legal scholar was โ€˜very criticalโ€™ of House impeachment process, Patrick Philbin says

Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, and other Republican senators asked in the impeachment trial about House managersโ€™ decision to evoke arguments made by law professor Jonathan Turley, who testified to the House against the impeachment of President Donald Trump. White House deputy counsel Patrick Philbin responded that โ€œtaking snippets out of what [Turley] said does injustice to totality of his testimony.โ€ While he acknowledged that Turley did not argue that a president cannot be impeached unless a crime has been committed, Philbin said he still argued that neither obstruction of Congress or abuse of power are sufficient enough charges to impeach Trump.

Video 8: Impeachment amounts to โ€˜massive election interference,โ€™ Trump lawyer says

Eric Herschmann, a member of President Donald Trumpโ€™s legal team, warned against the divisive nature of impeachment in response to a question from Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., about previous statements made by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. Herschmann noted that this is the first time an impeachment trial has taken place in an election year, and called it โ€œthe most massive election interference weโ€™ve ever witnessed.โ€ He further said that the Democrats who started the impeachment investigation into Trump should be held politically accountable to the American people. โ€œWe should never consider removing the name of a president from the ballot on a purely partisan basis in an election year, he said.

Video 9: Who is paying Rudy Giuliani? Sekulow debates ethics of his conduct

Sekulow said he found it ironic that Democratic lawmakers would question Trumpโ€™s conversations with foreign governments when they themselves sent a letter to the general prosecutor of Ukraine in 2018 raising concerns that the Trump administration would pressure Ukraine into obstructing the Mueller investigation. Senators had a second day to ask questions of the House managers and President Donald Trumpโ€™s legal team on Thursday, Jan. 30. That came after both sides were given three days, respectively, to present their case.

Video 11: Philbin argues delay on Ukraine funds posed ‘no damage’ to U.S. national security

Deputy White House counsel Patrick Phlibin said that holding funds for Ukraine until the end of September posed โ€œno damage whatsoever to the national security of the United States,โ€ in response to a question from Republican senators. Philbin argued that it was released at the end of the fiscal year, in a way that was โ€œconsistent with the timing in past years.โ€ He noted that officials familiar with the situation, including Ambassador Kurt Volker, had testified that the brief pause on aid to Ukraine imposed by the Trump administration was not significant. โ€œThe hold came and went so quickly,โ€ said Philbin, that one official didnโ€™t even notice the change.

Video 13: Herschmann uses Trumpโ€™s approval rating to argue he isnโ€™t a threat to the nation

Responding to a question from Republican Senators, Eric Herschmann, a member of President Donald Trumpโ€™s legal team, pushed back against House managersโ€™ claims that the president poses a threat to the nation and the American people. Herschmann said Trumpโ€™s approval rating is at an all-time high, and Americans are the happiest theyโ€™ve been with the state of the country in 15 years. โ€œWe trust the American people to decide who should be our president,โ€ said Herschmann, adding that the Democrats only view Trump as an immediate threat to them and their candidates. Herschmann then listed a number of other accomplishments by the Trump administration including on trade and the economy. If those accomplishments are โ€œsolely for Trumpโ€™s political gain, Herschman said, he should โ€œkeep doing it.โ€

All Video Playlist: Trump impeachment Trial โ€“ January 31, 2020

Video 14: Philbin explains that President was Denied Due Process

Summary of the House of Representative 3 Stage Investigation and how the President was denied due process combined with Schiff’s leaks during the house investigation and these due process violations make this impeachment the fruit of the poisonous tree.

Video 16: Dems, Trump lawyers debate whether investigating a U.S. citizen is appropriate

Sen. Susan Collins, R.-Maine, asked House managers and President Donald Trumpโ€™s attorneys during the impeachment trial whether there are legitimate circumstances for the president to investigate a U.S. citizen, including a political rival. White House deputy counsel Patrick Philbin argued it could be โ€œperfectly legitimateโ€ to ask for an investigation into a U.S. citizen overseas, even if it didnโ€™t result in a criminal investigation domestically.

Video 17: Trump lawyer says Giulianiโ€™s conduct in Ukraine didnโ€™t violate Logan Act

Republican and Democratic senators jointly submitted a question about whether the Logan Act — which prohibits U.S. citizens from communicating with foreign governments in dispute with the U.S. — applies to the president. White House deputy counsel Patrick Philbin said โ€œthere was no conduct of foreign policy carried out by a private personโ€ in the case of Rudy Giuliani, Trumpโ€™s personal lawyer who pushed for the ousting of the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine. Philbin cited testimony from Ambassador Kurt Volker, who told the House during the impeachment probe that he understood Giuliani was simply a source of information for the president. He also pointed out that other presidents, such as George Washington and Franklin D. Roosevelt, have relied on private citizens to assist them when conducting foreign policy.

Video 21: Rep. Schiff and Sekulow debate whistleblower protections | Trump impeachment trial

Asked by senators from both parties about reports that the whistleblower who flagged concerns about President Donald Trumpโ€™s conduct was connected with the Obama administration and the House Intelligence committee staff. Jay Sekulow, the personal attorney to Trump, pushed back on the idea that whistleblower should be granted total anonymity.

Video 26: Philbin says Trumpโ€™s conduct wasnโ€™t bribery | Trump impeachment trial

Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., asked during the impeachment trial whether President Donald Trumpโ€™s actions could constitute bribery given Supreme Court decision McDonnell v. United States — in which the court ruled what constitutes an โ€œofficial actโ€ under the federal bribery statute. White House deputy counsel Patrick Philbin said Trumpโ€™s actions would not fall under the Supreme Courtโ€™s definition. First, he said there is no charge of bribery or extortion charged in the articles of impeachment. Second, he said the McDonnell case made clear that simply arranging a meeting as Trump and his associates did cannot be treated as an โ€œofficial actโ€ under the bribery statute, and thus canโ€™t support a charge of bribery.

Video 27: Democrats accuse Trump team of spinning conspiracy theories | Trump impeachment trial

Asked by Republican senators about the Steele dossier during the Trump impeachment trial, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., dismiss the question and accused Republicans of peddling conspiracy theories. โ€œThis is the worldโ€™s greatest deliberative body, and all you offer us is conspiracy theories?โ€ Jeffries said. Jay Sekulow, the personal attorney to Trump, responded, saying the Trump teamโ€™s arguments do not constitute conspiracy theories but are facts.

Video 32: Sen. Murkowski says Bolton book revelation โ€˜weighs in favorโ€™ of calling witnesses

Patrick Philbin, a member of Trumpโ€™s legal team, said House Democrats ultimately chose not to subpoena Bolton. He added that Bolton hasn’t verified the assertions he made in his book manuscript.

Video 35: Trump lawyer Patrick Philbin says impeachment should be the ‘very last resort’

Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., along with other Republicans, asked President Donald Trump’s lawyers if Congress had other methods “less damaging” than impeachment proceedings to address presidential conduct. Patrick Philbin, a member of Trumpโ€™s legal team, said Congress does have a “lot of incremental steps short of impeachment to address friction or conflicts with the executive branch.” “But impeachment is the very last resort for the very most serious conflict, where there is no other way to resolve it,” he said. Philbin said there are “multiple intermediary steps” that ought to be used to check a president before impeachment. “And that’s exactly what didn’t happen in this case,” he said.

Video 36: Lawyer argues Trump shouldnโ€™t be impeached even if Bolton testified to a quid pro quo

Patrick Philbin, a member of President Donald Trumpโ€™s legal team, argued against the need to call former national security adviser John Bolton to testify. โ€œThere was no quid pro quo,โ€ Philbin said, but then added even if Bolton testified that there was, โ€œthe articles of impeachment still wouldnโ€™t rise to an impeachable offense.โ€ Philbin said abuse of power โ€” the first article of impeachment โ€” is too โ€œmalleableโ€ an accusation and relies too much on guessing the presidentโ€™s motive to be impeachable.

Senate Impeachment Trial Days

Senate Impeachment Trial Day 10

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