Futile plea from impeachment leader: 'Find the courage' to convict Trump

Preaching to posterity

With the expected acquittal arranged for Wednesday, opposing advocates in President Donald Trump's Senate trial crafted their closing arguments over removing him as if speaking to future audiences and November's voters. 

"We put our faith in the Senate," White House counsel Pat Cipollone said Monday, "because we know you will put your faith in the American people. You will leave this choice to them, where it belongs."

According to former national security adviser John Bolton's recent writings, Cipollone was among those who heard Trump discuss stalling aid to Ukraine to leverage the announcement of "investigations" — and could have been a witness himself.

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), the lead House impeachment manager, warned senators they couldn't trust Trump to refrain from abusing his constitutional power again. He urged Republicans "find the courage to stand up to him."

“You can’t trust this president to do the right thing, not for one minute, not for one election, not for the sake of our country, you just can’t. He will not change and you know it,” said Rep. Val Demings (D-Fla.), an impeachment manager. “This is a defining moment in our history and a challenging time for our nation."

Demonstrations are scheduled nationwide to coincide with the party-line acquittal vote. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) called for a bipartisan censure vote rather than removal. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said she agreed with Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) in saying the president's actions on Ukraine were wrong but she, too, will vote to acquit.

The Wednesday vote is due to commence at 4 p.m. Newsday's Tom Brune describes the big picture.

Night of the raucous caucus

At some point, someone who works in the system might say “Iowa big apology.”

But not yet. Democratic candidates were expected to leave the state early Tuesday without the immediate gratification of knowing who won and who lost the first contests as a new digital results-reporting app and backup phone systems reportedly broke down.

Former Vice President Joe Biden's campaign emailed Iowa Democratic Party chairman Troy Price and executive director Kevin Geiken, raising concerns about “considerable flaws” in the caucus reporting system, The Washington Post reported. The Biden campaign cited “acute failures” and demanded “full explanations and relevant information.”

The state party officials on Monday night spoke of “quality checks” and “inconsistencies” in the data being transmitted, and denied a hack.

Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) addressed supporters without the results, expressing optimism.

Meanwhile, Pete Buttigieg, the former South Bend, Indiana, mayor, indicated he was moving on to New Hampshire for its primary next week “victorious,” whatever that may turn out to mean.

As of 1 a.m., no predictions were available on when there might be results.

Trump's campaign manager Brad Pascale gloated, saying in an email that Democrats produced the “sloppiest train wreck in history." The president, who canceled several primaries in his own party, won Iowa’s noncontested GOP delegates Monday.

State of disunion

Trump is scheduled at 9 p.m. Tuesday to address the deeply divided Congress in his annual State of the Union address. In last year's address, he called for a "new era of cooperation."

If such an era has begun, nobody has noticed it. But the president on Monday was promising a "very positive" speech. In 1999, the only other time a president delivered a State of the Union while impeached, Bill Clinton avoided the issue, instead focusing his 77-minute speech on his domestic agenda, as Newsday's Laura Figueroa Hernandez recounts.

Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) said of Trump's impeachment: "If I were him, I'd avoid that subject" in the speech.

Viral chaos

Federal and state officials struggled Monday with how to enforce new travel restrictions ordered by the Trump administration and where to quarantine passengers arriving from China to control the spread of coronavirus, The Washington Post reported.

State officials said the order came Friday with no advanced notice and little planning.

“The way this was rolled out is concerning. This is not the kind of thing you want to do on the fly because that creates chaos,” said Hawaii Lt. Gov. Josh Green, a physician. “When you rush, you make mistakes, and this isn’t a case where we can afford mistakes.”

What else is happening:

• Trump preened, fidgeted and waved his hands as if to conduct the band as "The Star-Spangled Banner" was sung at his Super Bowl party at Mar-a-Lago. Others stood respectfully, as he lectures everyone to do.
• The president's confusion on Twitter about where the Kansas City Chiefs play elicited further concerns and mockery about his mental faculties.
• Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, former associates of Rudy Giuliani, are due to begin trial Oct. 5 in an alleged scheme to illegally funnel foreign money into U.S. elections.
• A pro-Trump sign lacking the required permit was taken down briefly in front of a Port Jefferson ice cream shop but was soon reposted, Newsday's Carl MacGowan reports.
• Fake claims of voter fraud spread on social media on the cusp of the Iowa caucuses.

By Dan Janison

dan.janison@newsday.comDanJanison

Dan Janison is a member of the Newsday editorial board.