Thread by @HeidiNBC

🧐Trump is being acquitted -- in FIRST Senate impeachment trial in history w no witness testimony -- on premise the House process was unfair.

(THREAD on this misleading premise)👉

1. 17 witnesses w knowledge of Trump withholding of Ukraine aid testified. The GOP called, and got

, Amb Volker & Tim Morrison.

2. Trump blocked anyone in position to exonerate him & R's made no attempt to call them: Mulvaney, Blair, Pompeo.

3. The GOP witnesses denied -- the whistleblower & Hunter Biden -- have nothing to offer on Trump's motives in withholding Ukraine aid

They are immaterial. Sen. Cornyn, T-Texas, even said this about Hunter.

4. On scorn for Schiff for failing to "do his job" and call Bolton. House Dems badly wanted to call him but Bolton wouldn't do it. He said .. take me to court. It wasn't until EARLY JAN that he agreed.

5. Attys and lawmakers from BOTH PARTIES cross examined these witnesses. (They were initially deposed. This is how the Senate woulda done it too.) These were the so-called "secretive" meetings which any R serving on 3 committees was welcome to attend.

Among the lawmakers who "stormed" the SCIF, where the depositions were held, were those who had clearance to attend in the first place.

6. The president's attorneys were invited to participate in a Judiciary Committee hearing and cross examine the lead Democratic attorney ..

investigating the case (like when Ken Starr presented his case against Clinton) and WH refused.

7. According to a leaked manuscript, Bolton would give firsthand testimony Trump held back aid Ukraine needed to protect itself from Russia until ...

the new anti-corruption president would announce a baseless investigation of Joe Biden (any legit probe would go thru law enforcement, not Rudy, Parna and the "3 amigos.") He will also, reportedly, say POTUS own attorney is a witness to Trump coordinating the scheme with Rudy.

8. Cipollone closed his argument of how unfair it's all been to Trump by, again, saying he didn't get to cross examine witnesses.

This. is. what. trials. are. for.

Now that the Senate, run by Republicans (McConnell said he's in total coordination with Trump) is in total control, they are choosing not to call any witnesses.

But Sen. Lamar Alexander, the retiring Republican from Tennessee, said that's not even necessary because ...

House managers have proved the case against Trump "with what they call a ‘mountain of overwhelming evidence."

What POTUS did in leveraging $400 million in funds Congress approved to defend an important ally (that's lost tens of thousands of lives to Russian aggression) was

"inappropriate" but not impeachable, he said.

500 U.S. const. law experts disagreed several weeks ago. Alan Dershowitz, who repped OJ & Epstein, is still practically alone in his contention a modern day statutory "crime" (like lying about sex under oath) is needed to impeach.

#ImpeachmentHearing #ImpeachmentTrial
@NBCNews

@NBCPolitics

Here's @tribelaw on about the only scholar Dersh can cite:

https://twitter.com/tribelaw/status/1220790495837872129?s=20