The Senate’s impeachment trial of President Donald Trump enters its fourth day Thursday as Democratic managers from the House of Representatives look to wrap up their opening arguments for why the president should be removed from office.
The impeachment trial of President Donald Trump is in full swing.
Noam Galai/Getty Images
Overseen by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, the trial will continue in the Senate at 10 a.m. PT/1 p.m. ET and is set to run six days a week, including Saturdays, for potentially three to five weeks. After the rules were hashed out in a 13-hour day 1 session on Tuesday, Friday continues the 24 hours of time spread over the past three days that the impeachment managers have been allotted to state their case against the president. The president’s lawyers will then have a similar 24-hour window spread over three days to mount a defense, starting on Saturday and then continuing next week.
At issue is whether Trump should be removed from office for his conduct in dealing with Ukraine. That includes a phone call in July in which he appears to have asked the president of Ukraine to investigate former US Vice President Joe Biden, currently a Democratic presidential candidate, and his son Hunter Biden’s ties to a Ukrainian gas company, in exchange for US military aid.
In the December vote, the House passed two articles of impeachment accusing Trump of abusing power and obstructing Congress. Both votes were largely across party lines in the Democratic-controlled House. The votes of 67 senators in the Republican-controlled Senate are required to remove the president from office.
Full coverage of the impeachment trial can be found at CBS News here.
How can I watch?
Various news networks and outlets will livestream the day’s events. A number of broadcasters, including PBS and cable news channels Fox News, MSNBC, CNN and C-SPAN, have been preempting regular programming to offer live broadcasts. (Disclosure: CNET is a division of CBS Interactive, which is owned by ViacomCBS.)
Local broadcasters CBS, ABC and NBC have all preempted regular programming to broadcast the first few days of the trial.
You can also livestream the trial for free online at sites such as C-SPAN or through YouTube channels for various news outlets including CBS News.
What time does it start?
The Senate trial is set every day except Sundays at 10 a.m. PT/1 p.m. ET.
Who else has been impeached?
Trump joins Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton as the third president to be impeached by the House since the Constitution was adopted in 1788.
Richard Nixon resigned before the House had a chance to impeach him for his role in the Watergate scandal. Both Johnson and Clinton were acquitted by the Senate in their respective impeachment trials.
What does Trump have to say?
In a six-page letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in December before the House vote, Trump blasted the proceedings and said “more due process was afforded to those accused in the Salem Witch Trials.”
“It is time for you and the highly partisan Democrats in Congress to immediately cease this impeachment fantasy and get back to work for the American people,” the president wrote. “While I have no expectation that you will do so, I write this letter to you for the purpose of history and to put my thoughts on a permanent and indelible record.”
He has since commented and tweeted many times about the impeachment, calling it a “disgrace” and a “hoax.” On Friday morning the president once again tweeted that he has done “nothing wrong.”
The Impeachment Hoax is interfering with the 2020 Election – But that was the idea behind the Radical Left, Do Nothing Dems Scam attack. They always knew I did nothing wrong!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 24, 2020
Where can I learn more about impeachment?
CBS News has full coverage of the impeachment process, inquiry and proceedings.
Originally published Nov. 12 and updated on a regular basis.
Correction, Nov. 14: An earlier version of this story incorrectly described Joe Biden. He’s a Democratic presidential candidate.