"Most Senators will be pretty well informed on which way they are going to vote and won't need any additional information," said Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY), who echoed other Republicans on the evidence presented by House Democrats.
"I stayed awake, but I didn't hear anything new," Barrasso told reporters just off the Senate floor.
Republicans say they haven't heard anything "new" in the impeachment trial Wednesday
— Allan Smith (@akarl_smith) January 23, 2020
Sen. Barrasso: "Six hours of testimony so far today since I didn't hear anything new, at all."
Jay Sekulow: "We're hearing the same things each time."https://t.co/xLR5ErJ1QE
Sen. Hawley: “I haven’t heard any evidence in there that the president’s done anything wrong”
— Burgess Everett (@burgessev) January 23, 2020
"What we ought to be presented is evidence by witnesses that have personal knowledge," said Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX). "That should have been done in the House, and not here in the Senate."
Beginning up to 24 hours of opening arguments, House impeachment managers used over seven hours of time as they started Wednesday to lay out the basics of their case against President Donald Trump, arguing the evidence is overwhelming.
"President Trump has acted in a manner grossly incompatible with self-governance," said Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), the lead House impeachment manager.
"His conduct has violated his oath of office and his constitutional duty to faithfully execute the law," Schiff added from the Senate floor.
"Everybody was in the loop," Schiff said Wednesday night, pressing the case that from President Trump on down, top officials knew what was happening with respect to Ukraine and efforts to force the government to announce investigations which would benefit the President's 2020 re-election bid.
I don't see how any Senator—Democrat or Republican—could sit on the floor, hear Adam Schiff and the House Impeachment Managers, and not demand witnesses and documents. #TrumpImpeachmentTrial pic.twitter.com/pN1Dyx7K7z
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) January 22, 2020
While Senators are required to be in their seats for the impeachment proceedings, some Democrats complained that a number of GOP Senators had left the chamber during the House manager arguments.
"We do have a series of our colleagues, particularly on the other side of the aisle, who seem to get up quite a bit, and often leave the chamber for extended periods of time," Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) told CNN.
"I guess they just don't want to listen to the rest of the House testimony," Menendez added.
The trial will resume at 1 pm ET on Thursday.
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