As Donald Trump prepared on Tuesday to address the billionaires gathered in Davos, the US Senate prepared to hear opening arguments in an impeachment trial that could remove Trump from the presidency, if not from his seemingly unassailable perch in the public eye. But as his Senate trial got under way in earnest, Trump received a powerful boost of support from the majority leader, Mitch McConnell, who on Monday night unveiled a resolution designed to move the trial forward with unanticipated speed. Cocooned by the fidelity of a Republican party intolerant of the least criticism of their leader, even as the trial begins Trump appeared to be safe in his post. But the Senate trial may hold hidden pitfalls for Trump, including some that could be beyond the power of his sworn allies in the Senate leadership to prevent. One of the most flagrant assertions in the Trump legal brief, according to scholars, was an attack on subpoenas issued by the House during the impeachment proceedings as “defective”.

Source: The Guardian January 21, 2020 06:11 UTC