Donald Trump told his actions 'shame' even Nixon in Day 3 of impeachment trial
Donald Trump was accused of behaviour which would “shame” even Richard Nixon on Thursday as Democrats outlined why his “dangerous” actions warrant removal from office.
The Democratic congressmen leading the case against the US president used their second day of arguments in the Senate trial to focus on his alleged abuse of power.
They argued that by holding back almost $400 million in aid to Ukraine while seeking an investigation into political rival Joe Biden the president had undercut his country's interests.
“The president’s conduct is wrong. It is illegal. It is dangerous. And it captures the worst fears of founders and framers of the Constitution,” said Jerry Nadler, the Democrat from New York.
He said the argument from Mr Trump’s legal team that because laws were not broken the president should remain in office was “terrifying” because it excuses all other wrongs.
“This conduct is not American first, it is Donald Trump first,” Mr Nadler said, inverting one of Mr Trump’s slogans from his 2016 election campaign.
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Addressing the president’s alleged attempt to stifle the impeachment investigation into the Ukraine scandal, Mr Nadler said: “It puts even President Nixon to shame.”
Mr Nixon, a Republican, was the only US president ever to have resigned from the office. He was brought down by the Watergate scandal in 1974 as impeachment loomed.
Thursday was the third day of the full Senate trial, with procedural rows dominating on Tuesday and the Democrats beginning their arguments on Wednesday.
There have been few signs on Capitol Hill that the Democratic arguments are swaying either the 53 Republican senators or the occupant of the White House himself.
Mr Trump sent a record 141 tweets on Wednesday, many retweets of supportive messages, as he travelled back from a world leaders meeting in Davos, Switzerland.
On Thursday the president was at it again with Adam Schiff, the Democratic congressman leading the case against him, a common target of his ire.
Mr Trump tweeted that “Shifty Schiff” gave a presentation to the Senate “loaded with lies and misrepresentations”, repeatedly using the derogatory nickname in tweets.
After spending Thursday on abuse of power, the first article of impeachment passed by the House of Representatives last month, the Democrats will turn to the second, obstruction of Congress, on Friday.
Their presentations, which have included video clips of past witnesses being shown to senators, will be followed by up to three days of argument from Mr Trump’s legal team, followed by up to 16 hours of questions from senators.
The big question looming over proceedings remains whether the Democrats can convince four Republicans to join them into backing new witnesses and evidence.
The issue is likely to come to a head mid-next week. Democratic leaders in the Senate renewed their calls on Thursday, questioning why Republicans were hiding from the “truth”.
Polls suggest two thirds of Americans want new witnesses to testify. Yet they also downplayed suggestions that there could be a “one plus one” deal, where the Republicans agree each party can call a single witness.
That could allow the Republicans to call Mr Biden, the Democratic presidential hopeful, or his son Hunter Biden. Both have denied wrongdoing in Ukraine.
