In an initial written response to the president’s being charged, Trump’s lawyers said that the articles of impeachment – passed by the majority-Democrat House of Representatives – “are a dangerous attack on the right of the American people to freely choose their president,” a source close to the defense team told reporters. “This is a brazen and unlawful attempt to overturn the results of the 2016 election and interfere with the 2020 election,” the source said. “The articles of impeachment are constitutionally invalid on their face: they fail to allege any crime or violation of law whatsoever,” the source said. The House managers, or prosecutors in the impeachment trial, filed their official brief on Saturday, in which they said that Trump’s conduct “is the Framers’ worst nightmare,” referring to the authors of the US Constitution. “President Trump abused the power of his office to solicit foreign interference in our elections for his own personal political gain, thereby jeopardizing our national security, the integrity of our elections, and our democracy.” -- AFP

Source: New Strait Times January 18, 2020 23:15 UTC