Closing pitches made in impeachment trial

Leave it to voters, Trump lawyers urge senators, while Democrats cite 'betrayal'

With US President Donald Trump's acquittal on impeachment charges all but assured, senators on Monday listened to closing arguments by House of Representatives managers and the president's legal defense team.

Both sides were given two hours to deliver closing remarks. Trump's lawyers urged senators to "leave it to the voters".

House Democratic impeachment leader Adam Schiff said Trump "has betrayed our national security, and he will do so again".

Trump was scheduled to deliver his third State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday. The vote by the Senate on whether to remove him from office is expected on Wednesday afternoon.

"A man without character or ethical compass will never find his way, even as the most recent and most egregious misconduct was discovered," Schiff said in his closing argument. "He was unapologetic, unrepentant－and more dangerous."

Schiff argued that the president will not change: "He has compromised our elections, and he will do so again. You will not change him. You cannot constrain him. He is who he is. Truth matters little to him. What's right matters even less, and decency matters not at all."

As he closed his remarks, Schiff appealed to Senate Republicans: "I do not ask you to convict him because truth or right or decency matters nothing to him, but because we have proved our case, and it matters to you," he said. "Truth matters to you. Right matters to you. You are decent. He is not who you are."

Trump's lawyer Pat Cipollone told senators that the US people, not the Senate, should determine the president's fate.

"So at the end of the day, we put our faith in the Senate," he said. "We put our faith in the Senate. Because we know you will put your faith in the American people. You will leave this choice to them, where it belongs."

Cipollone said Trump is eager to face the voters.

'It should be our last'

White House lawyer Jay Sekulow argued that House Democrats had presented "the first totally partisan presidential impeachment in our nation's history" and urged "it should be our last".

"They have cheapened the awesome power of impeachment," Sekulow said.

"And unfortunately, of course, the country is not better for that. We urge this body to dispense with these partisan articles of impeachment for the sake of the nation, for the sake of the Constitution."

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer praised Schiff, telling reporters he had delivered "just about the best speech I ever heard".

"He moved me," Schumer said of Schiff. "I hope he moved some Republicans."

Senator Mike Braun said that Schiff had been "sanctimonious" in his remarks.

"I think that worked good to his district there in Hollywood," Braun said. "I don't think that appealed to the broad section of middle America. I can tell you, Adam Schiff, no one's listening to him in Indiana."

Senator Joe Manchin, a Democrat, on Monday called for the Senate to censure Trump following his impeachment trial, even as he said he remained undecided on whether to convict or acquit Trump when the chamber votes on a verdict on Wednesday.

"Censure would allow this body to unite along party lines," Manchin said in a speech on the Senate floor. "His behavior cannot go unchecked by the Senate."

The Senate trial is in recess until Wednesday at 4 pm, when the senators are scheduled to take final votes on the articles of impeachment.

The House impeached Trump for alleged abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. The crux of the case against him is the allegation that he withheld military aid and a White House meeting to pressure Ukraine to investigate former US vice-president Joe Biden and his son. Hunter Biden served on the board of Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company, while his father was US vice-president.

A coalition of groups, including Public Citizen, the Women's March, Greenpeace and the Sierra Club, has announced plans to hold rallies on Capitol Hill and across the nation on Wednesday to denounce Trump's expected acquittal.