The articles of impeachment had been signed and licensed.Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California formally signed the articles of impeachment in an “engr
The articles of impeachment had been signed and licensed.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California formally signed the articles of impeachment in an “engrossment ceremony,” earlier than the seven lawmakers named as impeachment managers walked them throughout the Capitol to the Senate.
Beneath a portrait of George Washington within the stately Rayburn Room within the Capitol, Ms. Pelosi signed the paperwork. Cheryl L. Johnson, the Home clerk, licensed the paperwork, identified formally as an engrossed decision.
Ms. Pelosi was joined by the committee leaders who oversaw the impeachment inquiry and the impeachment managers as, within the speaker’s phrases, they “ready to cross an important threshold in American historical past.”
“Right now, we are going to make historical past,” Ms. Pelosi mentioned, framing the impeachment articles as a protection of the Structure. “As we make that historical past, we’re making progress for the American individuals.”
These lawmakers flanked Ms. Pelosi as she used a variety of pens to signal the decision. Earlier than the ceremony started shortly after 5:15 p.m., aides fastidiously adjusted the blue tablecloth the place the paperwork had been signed. An indication with the caucus’s hashtag for the second — #DefendOurDemocracy — held on the entrance of the desk.
Some lawmakers, together with Representatives Madeleine Dean and Mary Homosexual Scanlon of Pennsylvania, and Jackie Speier of California, lined the partitions to observe the ceremony. (Ms. Dean joined photographers to snap photos of the unsigned articles and pens lined on silver dishes.)
As soon as she completed signing, Ms. Pelosi then handed the pens to the lawmakers who surrounded her for the ceremony.
Trump is of ‘two minds’ on trial witnesses, Rand Paul mentioned.
Senator Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky and a frequent ally of President Trump, mentioned the president was “of two minds” on whether or not he want to see witnesses known as within the Senate trial.
“Like quite a lot of us are,” Mr. Paul mentioned of the president’s divided views on witnesses. “I feel he feels that he’s been unjustly accused, and want to current his aspect of it.”
However he mentioned in an interview that the president additionally believed ending the trial shortly can be interesting. “I feel it’s laborious to type of flip down the concept that we might have a movement to finish this factor after opening arguments,” Mr. Paul mentioned.
Safety was arrange within the halls of the Capitol.
Golden stanchions with maroon velvet ropes had been arrange all through the principle hallway of the Capitol’s second flooring as Home managers ready to march towards the Senate to ship the articles of impeachment. Journalists — who’re used to freely roaming the halls — shall be required to face behind the ropes because the formal procession passes by.
The managers are anticipated to march two by two from the Home chamber, by means of the Statuary Corridor and the Rotunda and previous the Previous Senate Chamber, earlier than arriving on the entrance to the Senate, the place they may ship the articles.
Simply tuning in to impeachment? Right here’s a primer on how the method works.
C-SPAN’s president urged McConnell to permit the community’s cameras within the Senate for the trial.
The president of C-SPAN has urged Senator Mitch McConnell, the bulk chief, to permit the cable information group to place one in every of its cameras contained in the Senate chamber throughout the impeachment trial.
At present, the everlasting cameras within the chamber are managed by the Senate Recording Studio, which is operated by Senate staff. The video feed from these cameras is offered to C-SPAN, however the community doesn’t management the place the cameras are pointed.
In her letter written in December however launched Wednesday, Susan Swain, the president and co-chief government of the community, wrote that the present state of affairs gave viewers “a restricted view of the Senate flooring debates.” She argued that the American public deserved “a extra complete view of the Senate trial.”
Ms. Swain famous that Congress had previously allowed C-SPAN-operated cameras contained in the Home chamber to cowl occasions of significance such because the State of the Union tackle.
“The historic nature of a Senate trial and the extreme curiosity on the a part of hundreds of thousands of Individuals — and the world — argues for the same method within the Senate,” Ms. Swain wrote within the letter.
The request is unlikely to be granted. The Senate has guarded its cameras and has very hardly ever allowed different cameras into the chamber. In a message posted on Wednesday to C-SPAN’s…