The US Senate approved on Wednesday / January 22 the basic rules for how the trial of US President Donald Trump in the accountability aimed at his dismissal will take place, after a marathon hearing that lasted for hours that extended until dawn .
And the prosecution teams of seven Democrats, and President Trump´s attorneys, started the three-day discussion sessions (for each team) discussions of the issue of isolation and evidence presented by the Democrats, from which 11 proposals were deleted after being rejected by their Republican counterparts.
After that, members of the Senate will have 16 hours to ask questions from the two parties, then Senators will have the opportunity to vote on their desire to hear additional witnesses or see other documents, which Democrats are demanding, which is not expected to be agreed. It must be because Republicans have a majority of 53 members, compared to 45 Democrats and two independents, while approval of new witnesses requires a majority of 51 members.
The House, by its Republican majority, rejected all the proposals submitted by the Democrats, between requesting proof documents and the presence of some personalities to testify, which prompted the Democrats to criticize the Republicans for rejecting their proposals, considering that "the rules as they are written will not allow a vote based on documents and witnesses."
The prosecution and defense teams made brief observations on the ninth and tenth amendments (from the deliberations), but they did not agree on that before the session ended at half past one in the morning, Wednesday, thus the two amendments failed to obtain the majority of votes, while the first Republican vote was registered in favor of the tenth proposal between All proposals submitted.
The eighth request, which included calling the former National Security Adviser John Bolton to testify, was rejected by 53 votes to 47 in favor of the proposal, in the early hours of Wednesday dawn, Washington time, which included all the amendments demanded by Democrats in the rejection basket.
The House had voted against the seven amendments submitted by the leader of the democratic minority, New York State Senator Chuck Schumer, related to requesting documents and summoning witnesses in connection with the issue of withholding military aid to Ukraine, where the Senate voted by a majority of 53 votes to 47 on all the amendments, which It highlights the trial process and that it will proceed according to partisan affiliation, which Trump wants and will ultimately provide him with no condemnation.
On Tuesday, the Senate began discussions in the context of the trial of US President Donald Trump, who is accused of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
The session started with a procedural battle over the controls of this historic trial presented by the Republican majority and denounced by the Democrats.
The trial is a milestone in US history, as it is only the third time that Congress has tried the president in an isolation mechanism, after Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Bill Clinton in 1999.
At the heart of the isolation issue is the issue of Trump´s phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelinsky in July 2019, asking him to open an investigation against former Vice President and Democratic opponent Joe Biden, who is considered the favorite to defeat Trump.
The Democrats who control the House of Representatives took charge of the investigation, and on the basis of which they accused Trump of blackmailing Kiev by freezing military aid to Ukraine and stipulating that the investigation be opened against Biden to grant it.
Democrats are demanding to hear the testimonies of four key parties in the Ukrainian issue, including White House chief of staff Mick Mulvini and former National Security Adviser John Bolton, which seems unlikely now.
