Seventeen Republicans would need to vote with all Senate Democrats to convict Donald Trump in his impeachment trial. That outcome is not expected at this point.
A new report from Bloomberg says that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has signaled to members that their vote to convict is a conscience vote and that McConnell is still not sure how he will vote.
The day began with a graphic nearly 15-minute video about the insurrection.
The Senate voted 56-44 that it had the jurisdiction to try a former president following arguments from House managers led by Jamie Raskin and an alternately bewildering and angry argument from Trump’s lawyers Bruce Castor and David Schoen.
Trump was reportedly furious about Castor’s meandering performance, the NYT reports: “On a scale of one to 10, with 10 being the angriest, Mr. Trump ‘was an eight,’ one person familiar with his reaction said. And while he was heartened that his other lawyer, Mr. Schoen, gave a more spirited performance, Mr. Trump ended the day frustrated and irate, the people familiar with his reaction said.”
CNN adds: “Castor, who is representing Trump alongside attorney David Schoen, delivered a meandering argument during the first day of the Senate impeachment trial, including praise for the House impeachment managers for a presentation that he said was ‘well done.’ Trump was almost screaming as Castor struggled to get at the heart of his defense team’s argument, which is supposed to be over the constitutionality of holding a trial for a president no longer in office. Given that the legal team was assembled a little over a week ago, it went as expected, one of the sources told CNN.”
