Sen. Lofgren said bipartisanship stemmed from 'clear abuse' in Nixon case | Trump impeachment trial

Trump's first impeachment - 2020

Sen. Lamar Alexander, among other Republican senators, asked House managers to describe the level of bipartisanship amid past impeachment inquires. Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., said the impeachment case against former President Richard Nixon started along partisan lines, but "as the evidence emerged, a bipartisan consensus emerged on the committee." She continued: "And a number of Republicans ... couldn't turn away from the evidence that their president had committed abuse of power, cheat an election and they had to vote to impeach him." Similar to Nixon, the case against then-President Bill Clinton started along partisan lines, but also ended along partisan lines, Lofgren said. "And I believe the reason why was that we never had a high crime and misdemeanor," the senator said, while, with Nixon, there was "clear abuse" of the president's authority. Senators had a second day to ask questions of the House managers and President Donald Trump’s legal team on Thursday, Jan. 30. 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

Stream your PBS favorites with the PBS app

Find more from PBS NewsHour at

Subscribe to our YouTube channel

Snapchat: @pbsnews

Subscribe:

PBS NewsHour podcasts

Newsletters