The Senate’s impeachment trial of President Donald Trump is expected to conclude this week, starting with up to four hours of closing arguments beginning at 11 a.m. Monday.
A final vote on the two articles of impeachment is slated for Wednesday afternoon — when GOP senators, led by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), are expected to hand Trump an acquittal.
Last week’s marathon proceedings concluded Friday, when GOP senators voted down a measure to hear testimony from witnesses, with two GOP senators — Mitt Romney (Utah) and Susan Collins (Maine) — breaking ranks and joining Democrats. The vote dealt a final blow to Democrats’ efforts to push for a fair and transparent trial.
After the vote Friday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) denounced the result as a “grand tragedy.”
“America will remember this day, unfortunately, where the Senate did not live up to its responsibilities and turned away from truth,” he said. “If the president is acquitted with no witnesses, no documents, the acquittal will have no value, because Americans will know that this trial was not a real trial.”
Read live coverage of Monday’s closing arguments below: