WATCH: 'Everyone knew' Giuliani was Trump's gatekeeper on Ukraine, Nadler says - First impeachment

Trump's first impeachment - 2020

Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, asked during the impeachment trial whether President Donald Trump’s mention of his personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, on the July 25 call to President Volodymr Zelensky established the real purpose of the call as a domestic political errand. House manager Rep. Jerry Nadler said there’s “overwhelming evidence” that Giuliani played a “key role” in executing pressure on Ukraine to carry out an investigation on Trump’s political rival, Joe Biden. “Everyone knew that Mr. Giuliani was the gatekeeper to the president on Ukraine,” said Nadler. Nadler cited documents that Giuliani’s associate Lev Parnas produced to the House Intelligence Committee that show Giuliani acted with Trump’s “knowledge and consent” in requesting a meeting with Zelensky, and noted that Trump often deferred to Giuliani on these affairs. He also said Giuliani was mentioned four times in Trump’s July 25 call to Zelensky, and that the president’s attorney sought repeatedly to investigate the Bidens, not corruption in Ukraine. Senators had their first chance to ask questions of the House managers and President Donald Trump’s legal team on Wednesday, Jan. 29. That came after both sides were given three days, respectively, to present their case. The House of Representatives impeached Trump in December on two articles -- abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. The questions come ahead of a vote on whether to bring forward witnesses and documents as part of the Senate trial. The Senate must now decide whether to acquit the president or convict him of the charges and remove him from office.

For more on who’s who in the Trump impeachment inquiry, read

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