Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) slammed the Republicans’ defense of the president as “unprepared, confused and totally unconvincing” during a press conference on Wednesday.
Schumer said, “The House managers made a very clear and compelling case, not only on the glaring need for evidence but also on the gravity of the president’s offenses.”
He then blasted the White House lawyers, saying, “The White House defense were unprepared, confused and totally unconvincing. The White House counsel resorted to the kind of histrionics you see on Fox News evening broadcasts rather than any sober-minded argument that could persuade thoughtful senators.”
Schumer said that the White House lawyers were “far more preoccupied with making inflammatory and inaccurate statements about House managers than providing an actual defense of the president’s conduct.” He added, “This does not bode well for the president’s case if this pattern continues over the course of the trial.”
Here’s a clip of those remarks:
Sen. Chuck Schumer: "The White House defense were unprepared, confused and totally unconvincing. White House counsel resorted to the kind of histrionics you see on Fox News evening broadcasts." https://t.co/C7AyPvvSTr pic.twitter.com/60XWHReLfj
— ABC News (@ABC) January 22, 2020
The Senate began their impeachment trial this week and it’s shepherded, in part, by the seven House impeachment managers. During the opening phase of the Senate trial on Tuesday, the White House lawyers spent a lot of time attacking the impeachment managers.
The confrontation between the White House team and the House managers got so testy that Chief Justice John Roberts, who is overseeing the trial, admonished both of them, telling them to “remember where they are.”
But while his lawyers began arguing his case on the floor of the United States Senate, President Donald Trump was thousands of miles away at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. But impeachment still seems to be the top thing on his mind, he’s tweeted about it constantly and addressed it during a press conference in Davos on Wednesday, saying, “When I finish, I think that this is going to go down as one of the greatest things I’ve done for our country.”