PBS News Hour - Politics

On their second day of arguments in President Trump's Senate trial, House managers focused on their first article of impeachment, abuse of power. They accused Trump of "extorting" Ukraine's government by withholding $400 million in critical military aid and a White House meeting until Ukraine delivered an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter. Nick Schifrin reports.

House impeachment managers are now in their second day of prosecuting the case to remove President Trump from office. On Thursday, they laid out why they believe Trump abused his presidential power. Yamiche Alcindor and Lisa Desjardins join Judy Woodruff to discuss the Democrats' presentation, how senators in the chamber appeared to be receiving it and what we're hearing from Trump himself.

Former Congressman Bob Barr, a Georgia Republican, was a House manager during the impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton in 1999. He joins Judy Woodruff to discuss how the roles of the impeachment managers during the Clinton trial were different from today, what he thinks about the current managers' performance so far and why he believes the articles of impeachment are "fatally flawed."

On Wednesday, House impeachment managers began making their case for the removal of President Trump. Georgetown University's Victoria Nourse, John Hart of Mars Hill Strategies, former Democratic Secretary of the Senate Martin Paone of Prime Policy Group and former Republican Secretary of the Senate Elizabeth Chryst of Congressional Global Strategies join Judy Woodruff to discuss the arguments.

The Senate impeachment trial of President Trump got underway on Capitol Hill Tuesday. The first day of proceedings involved hours of debate over the trial rules Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had proposed; ultimately, some changes were accepted. Nick Schifrin reports, and Yamiche Alcindor, Lisa Desjardins and The Washington Post's Robert Costa join Judy Woodruff to discuss the takeaways.

What did we learn from the first day of substantive proceedings in President Trump's Senate impeachment trial? Brookings Institution's Margaret Taylor, John Hart of Mars Hill Strategies, former Democratic Secretary of the Senate Martin Paone of Prime Policy Group and former Republican Secretary of the Senate Elizabeth Chryst of Congressional Global Strategies join Judy Woodruff to discuss.

On Monday, President Trump's legal team released its first official defense in advance of his Senate impeachment trial, which begins Tuesday. The president's attorneys say Trump didn't condition military aid to Ukraine on investigations into the Bidens. Meanwhile, the House impeachment managers were preparing their counterarguments. Lisa Desjardins reports and joins Judy Woodruff to discuss.

Huge numbers of gun-rights supporters gathered in Richmond, Virginia, Monday to protest a wave of gun-control measures being proposed by the state's new Democratic majority. Despite fears of violence, the demonstrations remained peaceful as thousands of demonstrators (some heavily armed) rallied to defend the Second Amendment. William Brangham reports and joins Nick Schifrin to discuss.

Former Rep. William Cohen was among a handful of Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee in 1974 to vote for the impeachment of President Nixon. Cohen later served as secretary of defense under President Clinton, who was impeached during that time. Former Sec. Cohen joins Judy Woodruff to discuss his unique perspective on impeachment as President Trump's Senate trial dawns.