Historic Impeachment Trial of Trump Begins
2020-01-17
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1The United States Senate officially opened the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump on Thursday.
2It marks only the third time the legislative body has held such a trial in U.S. history.
3Chief Justice John Roberts of the Supreme Court was sworn in to preside over the trial.
4He then asked all senators to raise their right hands to take an oath to "do impartial justice according to the Constitution and laws, so help you God?"
5The U.S. Constitution says the chief justice serves as the presiding officer in the trial.
6But only the 100 members of the Senate will pass judgement.
7Earlier in the day, Democrats from the House of Representatives led by Adam Schiff read the charges, or articles of impeachment, in the Republican-led Senate.
8"With the permission of the Senate, I will now read the articles of impeachment," said Schiff.
9"House Resolution 755 Impeaching Donald John Trump, president of the United States, for high crimes and misdemeanors," Schiff began, reading the nine pages of the impeachment document.
10Trump is charged by the House of Representatives with abuse of presidential power by pressuring Ukraine to investigate Democratic opponent Joe Biden.
11He is charged with withholding military aid to the country in exchange for an announcement of the investigation.
12Trump is also charged with blocking the Congressional investigation.
13The president has repeatedly called the House impeachment hearing a "hoax."
14His administration has told its officials not to answer orders from the House for testimony and documents.
15Before the Senate met, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) said Thursday that the Trump administration had violated federal law in withholding military aid to Ukraine.
16It said, "The law does not permit the President to substitute his own policy priorities for those that Congress has enacted into law."
17The GAO is an independent agency that reports to Congress.
18On Wednesday, Schiff released new records from Lev Parnas about Trump's actions regarding Ukraine.
19Parnas was working with Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani.
20Parnas has claimed that Trump knew of his efforts to find information that could hurt his political opponent.
21House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, said the new information shows the need for the Senate to consider additional evidence about the president's actions toward Ukraine.
22She suggested that a special government lawyer could investigate the issue.
23The president has suggested that he would be open to a quick vote to simply dismiss the charges.
24Last December, Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters that impeachment is a political process and not a judicial process.
25"The House made a partisan political decision to impeach," he said.
26"I would anticipate we will have a largely partisan outcome in the Senate. I'm not impartial about this at all."
27Democrat lawmaker Adam Schiff told the Associated Press, "The challenge is to get a fair trial."
28He noted, "It shouldn't be a challenge - if the senators are really going to live up to their oath to be impartial, they'll want a fair trial."
29Republicans control the U.S. Senate with a 53-47 majority.
30However, it takes 51 votes during the trial to approve changes to the rules or to call witnesses.
31It also takes 51 votes to dismiss the charges against Trump.
32Several Republican senators, including Susan Collins of Maine, Mitt Romney of Utah, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Lamar Alexander of Tennessee want to hear from more witnesses during the trial.
33Romney said he wants to hear from former national security advisor John Bolton.
34Several witnesses have said Bolton was worried about the actions of Giuliani, the president's personal lawyer, in Ukraine
35Opening arguments are to begin next Tuesday after the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.
36The historic trial will be a test of the Trump presidency as he is running for re-election.
37It also is expected to be a test of the nation's three branches of power and its constitutional system of checks and balances.
38I'm Mario Ritter.
1The United States Senate officially opened the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump on Thursday. It marks only the third time the legislative body has held such a trial in U.S. history. 2Chief Justice John Roberts of the Supreme Court was sworn in to preside over the trial. He then asked all senators to raise their right hands to take an oath to "do impartial justice according to the Constitution and laws, so help you God?" 3The U.S. Constitution says the chief justice serves as the presiding officer in the trial. But only the 100 members of the Senate will pass judgement. 4Earlier in the day, Democrats from the House of Representatives led by Adam Schiff read the charges, or articles of impeachment, in the Republican-led Senate. 5"With the permission of the Senate, I will now read the articles of impeachment," said Schiff. 6"House Resolution 755 Impeaching Donald John Trump, president of the United States, for high crimes and misdemeanors," Schiff began, reading the nine pages of the impeachment document. 7Trump is charged by the House of Representatives with abuse of presidential power by pressuring Ukraine to investigate Democratic opponent Joe Biden. He is charged with withholding military aid to the country in exchange for an announcement of the investigation. Trump is also charged with blocking the Congressional investigation. 8The president has repeatedly called the House impeachment hearing a "hoax." His administration has told its officials not to answer orders from the House for testimony and documents. 9More accusations 10Before the Senate met, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) said Thursday that the Trump administration had violated federal law in withholding military aid to Ukraine. It said, "The law does not permit the President to substitute his own policy priorities for those that Congress has enacted into law." 11The GAO is an independent agency that reports to Congress. 12On Wednesday, Schiff released new records from Lev Parnas about Trump's actions regarding Ukraine. Parnas was working with Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani. Parnas has claimed that Trump knew of his efforts to find information that could hurt his political opponent. 13House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, said the new information shows the need for the Senate to consider additional evidence about the president's actions toward Ukraine. She suggested that a special government lawyer could investigate the issue. 14A quick end to the trial? 15The president has suggested that he would be open to a quick vote to simply dismiss the charges. 16Last December, Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters that impeachment is a political process and not a judicial process. 17"The House made a partisan political decision to impeach," he said. "I would anticipate we will have a largely partisan outcome in the Senate. I'm not impartial about this at all." 18Democrat lawmaker Adam Schiff told the Associated Press, "The challenge is to get a fair trial." He noted, "It shouldn't be a challenge - if the senators are really going to live up to their oath to be impartial, they'll want a fair trial." 19Republicans control the U.S. Senate with a 53-47 majority. However, it takes 51 votes during the trial to approve changes to the rules or to call witnesses. It also takes 51 votes to dismiss the charges against Trump. 20Several Republican senators, including Susan Collins of Maine, Mitt Romney of Utah, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Lamar Alexander of Tennessee want to hear from more witnesses during the trial. 21Romney said he wants to hear from former national security advisor John Bolton. Several witnesses have said Bolton was worried about the actions of Giuliani, the president's personal lawyer, in Ukraine 22Opening arguments are to begin next Tuesday after the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. 23The historic trial will be a test of the Trump presidency as he is running for re-election. It also is expected to be a test of the nation's three branches of power and its constitutional system of checks and balances. 24I'm Mario Ritter. 25Hai Do adapted this story for VOA Learning English based on reports from the AP. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor. 26Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page. 27_________________________________________________________________ 28Words in This Story 29oath - n. a formal promise to tell the truth or to do something 30misdemeanor - n. a crime that is less serious 31hoax - n. an act that is meant to trick or deceive people 32priority - n. something that is more important than other things 33partisan - adj. strongly support one cause over another 34anticipate - v. to expect 35challenge - n. a difficult task or problem 36checks and balances - phrase, a system in which the different parts of an organization (like a government) have powers that affect and control the other parts so no part can become too powerful