A7
THE ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2020
Trump’s lawyers urge dismissal of ‘fl imsy’ impeachment
By ZEKE MILLER, ERIC TUCKER
and LISA MASCARO
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — President Donald
Trump’s legal team asserted Monday he did
“absolutely nothing wrong,” urging the Sen-
ate to swiftly reject the “fl imsy” impeachment
case against him as rigged, while the Capitol
braced for a contentious trial.
The brief from Trump’s lawyers, fi led as
senators prepare to return to Washington for
opening arguments, offers the most detailed
look at the lines of defense they intend to use
against Democratic efforts to convict the pres-
ident and oust him from offi ce over his deal-
ings with Ukraine. It is meant as a counter to
a fi ling two days ago from House Democrats
that summarized weeks of testimony from
more than a dozen witnesses in laying out the
impeachment case.
“All of this is a dangerous perversion of
the Constitution that the Senate should swiftly
and roundly condemn,” the lawyers wrote.
“The articles should be rejected and the presi-
dent should immediately be acquitted.”
The 110-page brief from the White House,
plus a scheduled House Democratic response,
come as fi nal preparations were underway at
the Capitol for the Senate trial. With the trial
taking place in an election year, some of the
very senators running to replace Trump as
president are sitting as jurors.
The White House fi ling shifted the tone
toward a more legal response but still echoed
with campaign-style slogans. It hinged on
Trump’s assertion he did nothing wrong
and did not commit a crime — even though
impeachment does not depend on a material
violation of law but rather on the more vague
defi nition of “other high crimes and misde-
meanors” as established in the Constitution.
With security tightening at the Capitol, the
‘ALL OF THIS IS A DANGEROUS PERVERSION
OF THE CONSTITUTION THAT THE SENATE SHOULD
SWIFTLY AND ROUNDLY CONDEMN. THE ARTICLES
SHOULD BE REJECTED AND THE PRESIDENT
SHOULD IMMEDIATELY BE ACQUITTED.’
excerpt from brief from Trump’s lawyers
House prosecutors made their way through
crowds of tourists in the Rotunda to tour the
Senate chamber. The White House legal team
led by Pat Cipollone and Jay Sekulow soon
followed, both sides under instructions to
keep the chamber doors closed to onlookers
and the press. Four TV monitors were set up
inside to show testimony, exhibits and poten-
tially tweets or other social media, according
to a person familiar with the matter but unau-
thorized to discuss it who spoke on condition
of anonymity.
Senators are poised for only the third trial
of its kind in U.S. history but fi rst they must
contend with a rules fi ght and whether to
allow new witnesses. The White House legal
team said Monday it supports whatever pack-
age Senate Majority Leader Mitch McCon-
nell puts forward, including one that would
give both sides 24 hours over just two days
each to argue their case.
In their own fi ling Monday, House pros-
ecutors replied to Trump’s not guilty plea by
making fresh demands for a fair trial in the
Senate.
“President Trump asserts that his impeach-
ment is a partisan ‘hoax.’ He is wrong,” the
prosecutors wrote.
The House Democrats led by Chairman
Adam Schiff of the Intelligence Commit-
tee said the president can’t have it both ways
— rejecting the facts of the House case but
also stonewalling congressional subpoenas
for witnesses and testimony. “Senators must
honor their own oaths by holding a fair trial
with all relevant evidence,” they wrote.
The White House document released
Monday says the two articles of impeach-
ment brought against the president — abuse
of power and obstruction of Congress —
don’t amount to impeachment offenses. It
asserts that the impeachment inquiry, cen-
tered on Trump’s request that Ukraine’s pres-
ident open an investigation into Democratic
rival Joe Biden, was never about fi nding the
truth.
“Instead, House Democrats were deter-
mined from the outset to fi nd some way —
any way — to corrupt the extraordinary
power of impeachment for use as a political
tool to overturn the result of the 2016 election
and to interfere in the 2020 election,” Trump’s
legal team wrote. “All of that is a dangerous
perversion of the Constitution that the Senate
should swiftly and roundly condemn.”
The impeachment case accuses Trump of
abusing power by withholding military aid
from Ukraine at the same time that he was
seeking an investigation into Biden, and of
obstructing Congress by instructing admin-
istration offi cials not to appear for testimony
or provide documents, defying congressional
subpoenas.
In a brief fi led earlier, House Democrats
called Trump’s conduct the “worst night-
mare” of the framers of the Constitution.
“President Donald J. Trump used his offi -
cial powers to pressure a foreign government
to interfere in a United States election for his
personal political gain,” the House prosecu-
tors wrote, “and then attempted to cover up
his scheme by obstructing Congress’s investi-
gation into his misconduct.”
But Trump’s team contended Monday that
even if Trump were to have abused his power
in withholding the Ukraine military assis-
tance, it would not be impeachable, because
it did not violate a specifi c criminal statute.
The president’s team issued several opin-
ions from the Justice Department’s Offi ce of
Legal Counsel to back up its claims and sup-
port its position that it had not illegally defi ed
Congress.
One OLC opinion said the House inves-
tigation was not formally opened until after
some subpoenas were issued, making the
demands legally unenforceable, while two
others said that senior advisers of the presi-
dent were immune from being forced to tes-
tify in part because they handled national
security matters.
Opening arguments are expected within
days following a debate Tuesday over rules,
including about whether witnesses are to be
called in the trial.
Trump signaled his opposition to wit-
nesses, tweeting Monday: “They didn’t want
John Bolton and others in the House. They
were in too much of a rush. Now they want
them all in the Senate. Not supposed to be that
way!”
That’s a reference to former national secu-
rity adviser John Bolton. House Democrats
wanted him to testify but chose not to pursue
a subpoena and risk an extended struggle in
court. But he has said he is willing to testify
in the Senate if subpoenaed.
Trump takes victory lap at farm bureau convention
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
The serpentine throng of people waiting to
clear a security checkpoint and see President
Donald Trump was no deterrent to Texas cat-
tleman Larry Bumpurs.
With Trump’s successful trade negotia-
tions and his “draining the swamp” of over-
zealous federal bureaucrats, it was time well
spent to hear the president speak at the Amer-
ican Farm Bureau Federation’s annual con-
vention, Bumpurs said.
“This line is too short for me to tell you
everything I like about Trump,” he said.
Though the president may be criticized
for his rancorous approach to politics, that’s
of less consequence than his ability to get
things done for agriculture, said Joe Cater,
a fellow Texas cattlemen attending Trump’s
Sunday speech in Austin, Texas.
“This is not a personality contest,” Cater
said.
Bumpurs echoed this sentiment, noting
that he wouldn’t be troubled even if Trump
would “fart in public.”
“He don’t have an edit button on his
mouth,” Bumpurs said.
Trump’s popularity among growers
attending the Farm Bureau’s 101st conven-
tion — his third annual appearance at the
event — was never much in question.
As the president pointed out during his
speech, a recent poll pegged his approval
rating at an all-time high of 83% among
farmers.
“I’m wondering, who are the 17%?”
Trump asked the crowd, referring to dis-
approving farmers. “Who the hell are the
17%?”
After a moment, Trump seemed to recon-
sider the question.
“Don’t raise your hand,” he joked.
While his previous appearances before
the Farm Bureau were also met with gusto,
Trump’s hardline approach to trade has been
a source of concern for farmers who are par-
ticularly dependent on exports.
This time around, though, the passage of
the United States-Mexico-Canada Agree-
ment and a partial resolution of the trade dis-
pute with China appeared to relieve some of
the tension about Trump’s strategy.
Trump himself acknowledged the eco-
nomic pain that farmers have suffered from
the trade confl ict with China, saying they
were “targeted” with retaliatory tariffs on
agricultural goods.
He thanked the crowd for standing with
him and noted it was their “fortitude, devo-
tion and perseverance that made it all
possible.”
“Sometimes, you have to walk away from
a deal to make the right deal,” Trump said.
“And we had to walk away from this deal a
lot, didn’t we?”
Farmers for Free Trade, a nonprofi t that’s
openly argued against trade hostilities, is not
fully convinced the “phase one” agreement
with China will calm the waters.
China has committed to purchasing up
to $40 billion of U.S. farm products during
each of the next two years, roughly doubling
the amount it bought before the trade dispute
erupted.
“We’re skeptical that’s going to happen,”
said Brian Kuehl, the group’s co-executive
director.
The agreement is written with enough
wiggle room for China to try renege on that
commitment by arguing market conditions
don’t justify the higher import levels, he said.
“I’m worried the U.S. and China are
talking past each other,” he said.
The deal doesn’t explicitly eliminate tar-
iffs on U.S. farm products and it’s hard to
envision how farmers can increase their
exports unless China takes that step, Kuehl
said.
Ramping up crop and meat shipments
also takes time, he said. “The trade war has
disrupted our supply chains.”
Even so, Kuehl said he credits the deal
for fi nally reducing non-tariff trade barriers
by standardizing import procedures for meat,
milk and crops that have been in discussions
for years.
“The Trump administration has carried it
across the fi nish line and that’s good, that’s
what we want to see happen,” he said.
SEVENDAY FORECAST FOR ASTORIA
TODAY
WEDNESDAY THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
American Farm Bureau Federation
President Donald Trump speaks at the American Farm Bureau Federation convention Sunday
in Austin, Texas.
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REGIONAL FORECAST
Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.
Seattle
50 44
51 49
53 47
54 47
53 44
Rain
Showers
possible
Breezy with rainBreezy with rain Periods of rain
53 43
Cloudy
52 43
A chance of rain
Aberdeen
Olympia
48/43
50/43
Wenatchee
Tacoma
Moses
Lake
49/41
ALMANAC
UNDER THE SKY
TODAY'S TIDES
Astoria through Sunday
Tonight’s Sky: Due south, the
Winter Circle is in good view by
around nightfall and fi lls almost
an entire quadrant of the sky.
Astoria / Port Docks
Temperatures
High/low ................................ 59/46
Normal high/low .................. 50/38
Record high .................. 66 in 2005
Record low .................... 16 in 1935
Precipitation
Sunday ..................................... 0.11”
Month to date ........................ 9.02”
Normal month to date ......... 6.56”
Year to date ............................ 9.02”
Normal year to date ............. 6.56”
Forecasts and graphics provided by
AccuWeather, Inc. ©2020
Source: Jim Todd, OMSI
Sunrise today .................. 7:50 a.m.
Sunset tonight ............... 5:04 p.m.
Moonrise today .............. 5:15 a.m.
Moonset today .............. 2:15 p.m.
First
Full
High (ft.) Time Low (ft.)
10:01 a.m. 9.0 4:02 a.m. 3.4
11:41 p.m. 7.1 5:24 p.m. -0.2
Cape Disappointment
9:41 a.m. 9.1 3:17 a.m. 3.9
11:36 p.m. 7.0 4:40 p.m. -0.1
Hammond
SUN AND MOON
New
Time
Last
9:52 a.m. 9.3 3:39 a.m. 3.5
11:39 p.m. 7.2 4:54 p.m. -0.4
Warrenton
9:56 a.m. 9.4 3:46 a.m. 3.5
11:36 p.m. 7.5 5:08 p.m. -0.1
Knappa
10:38 a.m. 9.2 5:03 a.m. 2.9
none
6:25 p.m. -0.1
Depoe Bay
Jan 24 Feb 1
Feb 8 Feb 15
8:55 a.m. 9.3 2:46 a.m. 4.0
10:52 p.m. 7.0 4:10 p.m. -0.3
City
Atlanta
Boston
Chicago
Dallas
Denver
Honolulu
Houston
Los Angeles
Miami
New York City
Phoenix
San Francisco
Wash., DC
Wed.
Hi/Lo/W
43/26/s
29/20/s
27/18/s
54/39/pc
51/30/c
81/67/pc
58/40/pc
64/49/pc
71/43/pc
35/26/s
64/49/pc
57/49/r
39/24/s
50/34/s
37/27/s
34/29/pc
49/44/r
52/25/c
81/65/pc
58/54/r
65/49/s
67/62/sh
38/29/s
68/48/s
59/46/pc
43/28/s
Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy,
c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms,
r-rain, sf-snow fl urries, sn-snow, i-ice.
37/32
Hermiston
The Dalles 43/34
Enterprise
Pendleton 41/27
43/36
41/33
La Grande
42/29
50/44
NATIONAL CITIES
Today
Hi/Lo/W
36/30
Kennewick Walla Walla
41/35 Lewiston
42/36
48/44
Salem
Pullman
39/29
Longview
50/44 Portland
49/45
38/32
Yakima 39/31
47/42
Astoria
Spokane
35/27
Corvallis
50/43
Albany
50/44
John Day
Eugene
Bend
52/43
43/32
44/28
Ontario
43/29
Caldwell
Burns
40/22
45/30
Medford
47/39
Klamath Falls
39/29
City
Baker City
Brookings
Ilwaco
Newberg
Newport
Today
Hi/Lo/W
41/26/sf
50/44/r
50/45/r
49/44/r
50/45/r
Wed.
Hi/Lo/W
39/34/sh
51/50/sh
52/50/r
50/48/r
51/49/r
City
North Bend
Roseburg
Seaside
Springfi eld
Vancouver
Today
Hi/Lo/W
52/46/r
54/44/r
50/45/r
52/44/r
49/44/r
Wed.
Hi/Lo/W
54/49/r
54/46/r
52/50/r
51/49/r
49/47/r