WTF Just Happened Today

Tuesday, January 21, 2020

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1/ The first day of Trump’s impeachment trial began with senators debating rules proposed by Mitch McConnell that will guide the Senate proceedings. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer introduced an amendment to compel acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney to turn over any “documents, communications and other records” kept by the White House regarding Trump’s 2019 phone calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the decision to withhold aid to Ukraine, probes into the Bidens, and Ukraine’s role in the 2016 election. The Senate voted 53-47 along party lines to kill the amendment and two others efforts to issues subpoena for documents from the State Department and the Office of Management and Budget, which enforced the freeze on nearly $400 million in aid to Ukraine. The Government Accountability Office, a nonpartisan government watchdog, found that OMB’s hold on the aid to Ukraine was illegal. [Editor’s note: The Senate will continue debating the proposed amendments before they adopt an organizing resolution, which will set the rules for the impeachment trial. This post will be updated whenever something happens.] New York Times / Washington Post / Wall Street Journal / Politico / NBC News / The Guardian / Axios / CNN / CBS News / ABC News)

2/ Mitch McConnell made last-minute, handwritten changes to the proposed impeachment trial rules following criticism from Democrats and key Republicans. McConnell initially circulated the proposed organizing resolution late Monday night, which would have provided House impeachment managers and Trump’s legal team each 24 hours over two days to make their opening arguments. McConnell’s proposal would have also put the decision of whether to admit the House evidence to a Senate vote. Following complaints from lawmakers, however, McConnell revised the resolution, instead giving House prosecutors and White House lawyers each 24 hours over three days to present their opening arguments, as well as a provision to automatically enter evidence collected during the House impeachment inquiry. The change means the trial days, which start at 1 p.m., will likely now conclude daily around 9 p.m. – instead of after midnight. The condensed timeline also raises the prospect that the trial will conclude before Trump’s Feb. 4 State of the Union address. (CNN / NPR /