Trump acquitted

Former President Trump has been acquitted in his historic second impeachment trial, with seven Republican senators joining 50 Democrats voting to convict, fewer than the 17 needed.

The Senate is on track to acquit former President Trump of inciting the insurrection at the Capitol, with Democrats failing to reach the threshold of Republicans needed to convict him — at least 17.

The Senate is voting on whether to convict former President Trump on one article of impeachment for inciting the Capitol riot.

It follows a day of surprise and confusion after a motion to seek witnesses passed. The Senate then went into a break to discuss how to move forward, reports CNN.

They ultimately agreed to enter a statement from Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler – describing a phone call between former President Trump and House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy – into the record instead of calling her as a witness.

Both sides then made closing arguments that have now concluded, reports CNN.

Former President Trump's defense team just concluded their closing speech.

House impeachment manager Jamie Raskin is now rebutting some of attorney Michael van der Veen's claims.

In his closing remarks, former President Trump’s defense attorney Michael van der Veen slammed Democrats for pursuing impeachment.

“This impeachment has been a complete charade from beginning to end. The entire spectacle has been nothing but the unhinged pursuit of a long-standing political vendetta against Mr. Trump by the opposition party,” he said, reports CNN.

“Democrats were obsessed with impeaching Mr. Trump from the very beginning of his term. … And now they have conducted a phony impeachment show trial when he's a private citizen out of office,” van der Veen added. 

Van der Veen said Democrats’ fear of Trump possibly being elected to public office in the future is driving this impeachment trial, reports CNN.

He called the proceedings a “maniacal crusade” by House Democrats and urged senators to not “go down this dark path of anonymity and division.”  

Donald Trump's defense team is now making closing arguments in the second impeachment trial against the former President.

The House managers have already made their speeches. Rep. Jamie Raskin, lead impeachment manager, argued that Trump was the "inciter-in-chief" of the violence that happened on Jan. 6 and "supported the mob," reports CNN.

"We've proved he betrayed his country, we've proved he betrayed the Constitution, we proved he betrayed his oath of office," Raskin said.

"Senators, this trial in the final analysis is not about Donald Trump, the country and the world knows who Donald Trump is. This trial is about who we are, who we are," he added. 

Moments earlier, House managers and Trump's defense team agreed to enter a statement from Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler describing a phone call between former President Trump and House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy into the record, reports CNN.

House impeachment managers had asked the Senate this morning to call witnesses in Trump's second impeachment trial.

Instead, Senate and trial lawyers agreed hours later to insert the statement into the trial record, moving the trial toward a final vote later today, reports CNN.

House impeachment manager Joe Neguse went through the reasons he believes that former President Trump and his legal team have offered up “distractions” during the impeachment trial, including claims of the denial of due process. 

“We had a full presentation of evidence, adversarial presentations, motions. The President was invited to testify. He declined. The President was invited to provide exculpatory evidence. He declined. You can't claim there's no due process when you won't participate in the process,” Neguse said in his closing argument. 

“We know this case isn't one that requires a complicated legal analysis. You all lived it. The managers and I, we lived it. Our country lived it," he said.

Neguse also mentioned Trump’s defense presenting a video compilation of Democratic lawmakers using words like “fight,” reports CNN

“What you will not find in those video montages that they showed you is any of those speeches, those remarks, culminating in a violent insurrection on our nation's Capitol,” Neguse said. “That’s the difference.” 

The Senate resumed closing arguments after a brief pause, again, following an objection to video being shown by House impeachment manager Madeleine Dean.

Dean argued the statement was already on record but there was confusion over admitting the video – as new evidence is not allowed to be admitted at this stage of the trial, reports CNN.

Impeachment manager Rep Madeleine Dean began her closing argument this afternoon by playing a video montage of former President Trump repeating the false claim that the election had been rigged.

"Donald Trump invited them, he incited them, then he directed them," she said of the mob that attacked the US Capitol before playing the video, reports CNN.

Dean then played the video which included Trump lying repeatedly.

"There won't be a transfer, frankly," Trump said. "There will be a continuation."

"The only way we're going to lose is if there's mischief, mischief and it will have to be on a big scale," he said. "So, be careful."

Impeachment managers have resumed their closing arguments.

Moments ago, Sen. Mike Lee, a Republican from Utah, interrupted impeachment managers' closing arguments, pausing the trial, reports CNN.

Lee seemed to be objecting to a timeline about a call he had with former President Trump on Jan. 6 as the Capitol riot was underway.

Closing arguments are on hold after Sen. Mike Lee, a Republican from Utah, interrupted the proceedings.

Lee seemed to be objecting to a timeline about a call he had with former President Trump on Jan. 6 as the Capitol riot was underway, reports CNN.

Earlier, Lee was seen handing over his phone records to managers.

“It’s now clear beyond doubt that Trump supported the actions of the mob” on Jan. 6, lead impeachment manager Rep. Jamie Raskin said in his closing arguments. “And so he must be convicted. It's that simple.”

Raskin said that the former president sided with those who stormed the Capitol and failed to protect lawmakers, including his Vice President, reports CNN. 

His “dereliction of duty … was central to his incitement of insurrection, and inextricable from it,” Raskin said. 

The revelation of the former President’s call with House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy “confirm that Trump was doing nothing to help the people in this room or this building,” Raskin said, reports CNN.

“President Trump must be convicted for the safety and security of our democracy and our people,” Raskin added in his last statement. 

Sen. Mike Lee, a Republican from Utah, could be seen handing over various phone records to House impeachment managers.

According to a CNN report published earlier, former President Trump first called the personal cell phone of Lee shortly after 2 pm ET on Jan 6.

At that time, the senators had been evacuated from the Senate floor and were in a temporary holding room, as a pro-Trump mob began breaching the Capitol, reports CNN.

House impeachment managers are now making their closing arguments.

It follows a day of surprise and confusion after a motion to seek witnesses passed, reports CNN.

The Senate then went into a break to discuss how to move forward.

They ultimately agreed to enter a statement from Rep Herrera Beutler – describing a phone call between former President Trump and House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy – into the record instead of calling her as a witness, reports CNN.

House managers and Trump's defense team agreed to enter a statement from Rep Herrera Beutler describing a phone call between former President Trump and House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy into the record.

House impeachment managers had asked the Senate this morning to call witnesses in former President Trump's second impeachment trial, reports CNN.

Instead, Senate and trial lawyers instead agreed hours later to insert the statement into the trial record, moving the trial toward a final vote later Saturday.

Lead impeachment manager Jamie Raskin read the statement from Herrera Beutler of Washington state into the trial record when the Senate resumed session on Saturday, admitting the statement into the trial evidence.

The managers and Trump’s team then moved onto closing arguments without making any more calls for witnesses, reports CNN.

Former President Trump's defense team claims they have a list of 300 witnesses prepared, a source says.

It should be noted that, the Senate will not call all of those witnesses.

It is not up to the defense team to determine what witnesses will ultimately be called.

According to the rules of the trial agreed to by the Senate, each witness that each side requests will need to be approved by a simple majority vote, reports CNN.

The Senate is now in recess until 12:30 pm ET.

The break follows a period of confusion on the Senate floor after a vote to call witnesses passed, reports CNN.

A source familiar with the work of the House managers says former Vice President Mike Pence’s Chief of Staff Marc Short has been contacted about providing information about threats to Pence. 

Short has not responded, the source said. 

House managers are also seeking information from Chris Hodgson, Pence’s former head of legislative affairs. House managers believe he was also with Pence that day. 

The Senate is on a break following senators' votes this morning to allow witnesses at former President Trump's second impeachment trial.

Following the vote, there appeared to be some confusion on the Senate floor about the move, with one senator even asking what exactly they just voted on.

Now, during the break, bipartisan groups of conversations formed.

“There clearly is confusion among senators” right now, according to CNN correspondent Jeff Zeleny, as the lawmakers take a quorum after the Senate voted to call witnesses in former President Trump’s second impeachment trial.

Sen. Dan Sullivan of Alaska at one point asked what exactly the vote was on — if it was on one witness or calling all witnesses — and Sen. Patrick Leahy, who is presiding, said he was not allowing for debate on the Senate floor. 

The Senate just agreed to allow motions for specific witnesses. Here's what happens now:

1. There needs to be another vote on a simple majority basis to subpoena specific witnesses, such as GOP Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler — who the Democrats specifically said they'd like to subpoena — or anyone else. 
2. If they vote to subpoena a witness, then the trial will slow down dramatically. They may need to recess and find a time to depose them. 
3. Then after the deposition, the chamber would need to set new guidelines on what to do to with the testimony that derives from the witness.

Michael van der Veen elicited laughter from senators when he suggested that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Vice President Kamala Harris should be among those deposed as part of the impeachment trial, and they should have to appear in-person at his office in Philadelphia, reports CBS News.

"None of these depositions should be done by Zoom," he said. "We didn't do this hearing by Zoom."

As laughter rang out in the chamber in response to his suggestion Pelosi and Harris have their depositions taken in Pennsylvania, van der Veen grew more incredulous, reports CBS News.

 "I don't know how many civil lawyers are here, but that's the way it works, folks. When you want somebody's deposition you send a notice of deposition and they appear at the place where the notice says. That's civil process," he said. "I don't know why you're laughing."

People on former President Trump’s impeachment team are surprised by the turn of events this morning. Some who have been helping the team had been making travel plans to leave on Monday, according to a source familiar.

As of 9 a.m. ET this morning the team was under the impression there would be no witnesses. Now, the source groaned “it will never end.” 

A majority of senators have voted to call witnesses in the second impeachment trial of former President Trump.

The vote was 55 to 45. Five Republicans voted alongside Democrats to pass the motion.

They were Sens. Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Mitt Romney Ben Sasse and Sen. Lindsey Graham.

Graham, a Republican from South Carolina and staunch Trump ally, changed his vote to "aye" at the last minute – presumably to support Trump's lawyers also calling witnesses in addition to the impeachment managers' request.

South Carolina Republican and staunch Trump ally Sen. Lindsey Graham changed his vote to "aye" in favor of calling witnesses during former President Trump's impeachment trial.

Five Republicans, including Graham, voted in favor of calling witnesses.

Seators are now voting on if witnesses should be called in the second impeachment trial of former President Trump.

Lead impeach manager Jamie Raskin moments ago announced that they'd like to subpoena at lest one witness: Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, a House Republican who first revealed a conversation between House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy and Trump, where the former President said the rioters cared more about the election results than McCarthy did.

After House managers said they would like to seek witnesses at former President Trump’s second impeachment trial, Trump’s defense attorney said he’s “going to need at least over 100 depositions, not just one.”

Rep Jamie Raskin just announced that House managers are seeking to subpoena Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, a House Republican who first revealed a conversation between House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy and Trump, where the former President said the rioters cared more about the election results than McCarthy did.

Beutler mentioned the conversation in a town hall earlier this week, and it was confirmed to CNN by Herrera Beutler and other Republicans briefed on the conversation.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told Republican colleagues that he will vote to acquit former President Donald Trump in his impeachment trial, according to a source familiar with the matter.