Trump’s legal team targets Schiff in effort to undercut impeachment case

For each of the three nights of prosecutors’ opening arguments, Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.) delivered emotional finales to the day’s impeachment testimony that received high praise from Democrats and even from some of President Trump’s closest GOP allies.

But when Trump’s legal defense team took over Saturday morning, Schiff went from lauded orator to the top target of the effort to undercut the House managers’ case against the president. The president’s lawyers bookended their two-hour presentation with attacks on Schiff’s character and credibility.

Democrats were delighted when Schiff’s passionate appeal to Republican senators to put country before Trump went viral — a cinematic moment for the congressman from Hollywood who once dreamed of writing screenplays.

His performance this past week even prompted Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), one of Trump’s friends in the Senate, to stop him in the Capitol on Wednesday night to tell him “good job” and praise him as “well-spoken.” Graham said he praised Schiff’s performance to Trump, too.