CNN anchor John Berman had harsh words for senators who did not stay inside the Senate chamber as the House impeachment managers presented their case against President Trump on Wednesday.
Berman especially called out Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY).
"The presentation from the House managers is earning praise even from Republicans. We have a picture to show you, late last night, that’s Senator Lindsey Graham, one of the president’s fiercest defenders, telling lead manager Adam Schiff that he had done a good job. Really well-spoken, he said. Although it does beg the question, how would Senator Graham know? He wasn’t in his chair for chunks of the arguments," Berman said.
"In fact, many of the senators of both parties were not at their desk at different times despite the rules which will require the apparently herculean task of sitting down for a few hours. "This isn’t digging ditches, this isn’t manning a fox hole, this isn’t working an assembly line. This is sitting in a chair and enjoying all the milk you can drink," he continued. "But I guess it’s not like the future of the Republic is at stake. Oh, wait, it is! Remember, this is the so-called upper House, the cooling saucer, the higher chamber. Those cushy six-year terms, which apparently aren’t long enough for some to spare a few minutes to sit down."
Berman later noted throughout the show that Paul was working on a crossword puzzle during the arguments.
With regards to the case Schiff was presenting to the Senate, Jay Sekulow, a member of President Trump's defense team, told reporters how it was wrong for Schiff to invoked the phrase "quid pro quo" when talking about Trump's phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky since "quid pro quo" is not one of the two impeachment articles.
"That’s because they didn’t exist. So, you know, there is a lot of things we’ll rebut but we will do it in an orderly and I hope more systematic fashion," he said.
House Democrats impeached Trump on abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.