The Trump administration published a new filing on Monday emphasizing the president's innocence one day before the start of the Senate impeachment trial against him. The senators will be considering the two articles of impeachment, abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, that passed the House last month.
"The Articles themselves—and the rigged process that brought them here—are a brazenly political act by House Democrats that must be rejected," Trump's defense team wrote.
"The process that brought the articles here violated every precedent and every principle of fairness followed in impeachment inquiries for more than 150 years," the memo continues. "Even so, all that House Democrats have succeeded in proving is that the President did absolutely nothing wrong. All of this is a dangerous perversion of the Constitution that the Senate should swiftly and roundly condemn."
The memo maintains that even if Democrats prove that Trump is guilty of the articles against him, the Senate cannot remove him from office.
The seven designated impeachment managers for the Democrats called that a "chilling assertion" with their own memo pushing back at the White House's narrative.
"President Trump maintains that the Senate cannot remove him even if the House proves every claim in the Articles of impeachment," the managers write. "That is a chilling assertion. It is also dead wrong. TheFramers deliberately drafted a Constitution that allows the Senate to remove Presidents who, likePresident Trump, abuse their power to cheat in elections, betray our national security, and ignore checks and balances."
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Democrats will lay out their case for impeachment starting Tuesday. Trump's defense team, which includes high profile hitters like Kenneth Starr and Alan Dershowitz, will have their chance to respond by next week.
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