Senate to question legal teams in Trump impeachment trial

The U.S. Senate will begin up to two days of questioning the prosecution and defense in President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial on Wednesday, ahead of a crucial vote later in the week on whether to call witnesses.

The questions, which will alternate between Republican and Democratic senators, will be submitted in writing and read aloud by U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts, who is presiding over the trial to determine if Trump should be removed from office.

The questions can be directed at either the Democratic House prosecutors or Trump’s legal team, and will take up to eight hours a day over Wednesday and Thursday. There is no time limit on the answers, which cannot be challenged by senators, Senate aides said.

The questions follow the conclusion of three days of opening arguments by each side in the trial on charges Trump abused his office by pressuring Ukraine to investigate political rival Joe Biden, a Democratic presidential contender, and impeded a congressional probe of the matter.

Once the questioning wraps up, the Senate is expected to turn on Friday to a debate and vote on whether to call witnesses in the trial.

The Republican president, who has denied wrongdoing and denounced the impeachment process as a sham, is expected to be acquitted in the Senate, where a two-thirds vote is required to convict and remove a president from office. No Republican has voiced support for his ouster.

Democrats have pushed for witnesses including former national security adviser John Bolton, whose explosive allegations in an unpublished book manuscript about Trump’s actions have increased pressure on wavering Republican senators to back witness testimony.