Trump Impeachment: Democratic Senator Calls For Censure Of President As Arguments Wrap Up

As President Trump’s Senate impeachment trial moved toward a close Monday, Sen. Joe Manchin said he thinks that though there are not enough votes in the Senate to remove Trump from office, he believes there are enough votes to censure the president.

“The question is not whether the president’s conduct warrants his removal from office but whether our nation is better served by his removal by the Senate now the impeachment or by the decision that voters will make in November,” said Manchin, D-W.Va., a moderate who is friendly with the president.

Trump is accused of attempting to leverage $391 million in military aid to Ukraine in exchange for political dirt on former Vice President Joe Biden.

Manchin said Trump’s behavior was unacceptable and cannot go unchecked.

“Censure would allow this body to unite across party lines and, as an equal branch of government, formally denounce the president’s actions and hold him accountable,” Manchin said.

The Senate is scheduled to vote on whether to convict Trump of abuse of power and obstructing Congress at 4 p.m. Wednesday.

Earlier Monday, Rep. Adam Schiff, one of the House impeachment managers, warned senators they “can’t trust this president to do the right thing” as he made a final plea for conviction.

Monday’s arguments were little more than a formality given that senators voted 51-49 Friday not to call any witnesses, despite reported revelations from former national security adviser John Bolton’s forthcoming book that Trump explicitly linked the aid to an investigation of Biden.

Schiff said Trump has no “character or ethical compass.”

“You can’t trust this president to do the right thing, not for one minute, not for one election, not for the sake of our country, you just can’t. He will not change, and you know it,” Schiff said, arguing that leaving the decision to voters risks allowing Trump to undermine the November general election.

"Can we be confident that Americans and not foreign powers will get to decide [the election]?" Schiff asked.

In a bid to get at least one Republican to vote to convict, Schiff asked: “Is there one among you who will say, ‘Enough?’”

Rep. Jason Crow, another of the impeachment managers, channeled “Harry Potter” during his presentation, quoting Professor Dumbledore: “It is our choices that show who we truly are, far more than our abilities.”

Trump’s legal team hit familiar themes: The subpoenas issued by the House were defective and therefore Trump did not have to honor them; the impeachment managers did not meet their burden of proof; Democrats are trying to overturn the 2016 election and interfere with the 2020 campaign; Democrats have been out to impeach Trump since the day he was elected.

“The only appropriate result here is to acquit the president and to leave it to the voters to choose their president,” White House Counsel Pat Cipollone said.

Senate Republicans Sunday defended their decision against calling witnesses and their likely votes for acquittal, admitting Trump’s actions were wrong but saying they did not rise to the level of impeachable crimes.