Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters Tuesday a "steady drip-drop of information" and "the truth" are "leaking out" in media reports, bolstering Democratic calls for more witnesses and documents in the trial for the U.S. president.
He said the president and Bolton said "diametrically opposed things," but only one "is willing to testify under oath. Who do you believe?"
Speaking before President Donald Trump's attorneys begin their third and final day of defense arguments in the impeachment trial Schumer maintained Democrats would not bargain on witnesses and said he believes the chamber's minority is in "better shape today" than it was a month ago.
Borrowing a term from the president's defense lawyer Jane Raskin, who yesterday warned Senators that Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani is a "shiny object designed to distract," Schumer said Republicans are always "looking for a shiny object to divert attention from the facts and the president."
Schumer also repudiated a new idea from prominent Trump supporters who are trying to figure out how to handle a New York Times report that claims former National Security Advisor John Bolton has written a manuscript in which he says the president said he was holding back Ukraine aid in exchange for an investigation into political adversaries. Senators Lindsey Graham and Senator James Lankford have suggested Senators be allowed to read the manuscript in a classified setting.
"What an absurd proposal," Schumer said. "It's a book. There's no need to be read in the SCIF [Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility]."
Schumer cited news reports that alleged the president ordered former national security advisor John Bolton not to testify, and that Bolton was concerned Trump was granting favors to autocratic leaders.
"Did the president have financial interests at stake?" Schumer asked. "Maybe his kids had some economic interest at stake."
Though Schumer noted those questions are not at the center of today's trial, he asked if they had impacted the nation's foreign policy.
Former President Donald Trump was fined $5,000 on Friday after a disparaging social media post about a key court staffer in his New York civil fraud case was allowed to linger on his campaign website after the judge ordered it deleted.
Lawyer Kenneth Chesebro pleaded guilty to a felony on Friday just as jury selection was getting underway in his trial on charges accusing him of participating in efforts to overturn Donald Trump’s loss in the 2020 election in Georgia.
Republicans dropped Rep. Jim Jordan on Friday as their nominee for House speaker, making the decision during a closed-door session after the hard-edged ally of Donald Trump failed badly on a third ballot for the gavel.
Canada has removed 41 of its diplomats from India as tensions rise between the two nations.
Mitt Romney said he believes right-wing media is the reason for the radicalization of the GOP party.
An Army private who fled to North Korea before being returned home to the United States last month has been detained by the U.S. military, two officials said Thursday night, and is facing charges including desertion and possessing sexual images of a child.
Israel bombarded Gaza early Friday, hitting areas in the south where Palestinians had been told to seek safety, and it began evacuating a sizable Israeli town in the north near the Lebanese border, the latest sign of a potential ground invasion of Gaza that could trigger regional turmoil.
The Justice Department has secured a $9 million settlement with Ameris Bank over allegations that it avoided underwriting mortgages in predominately Black and Latino communities in Jacksonville, Florida, and discouraged people there from getting home loans.
Israel pounded the Gaza Strip with airstrikes on Thursday, including in the south where Palestinians were told to take refuge, and the country's defense minister told ground troops to “be ready” to invade, though he didn’t say when.
Addressing the nation from the Oval Office, President Joe Biden has made his case for major U.S. backing of Ukraine and Israel in a time of war.
