Trump attorney Sekulow (to reporters): "Are we having an impeachment over a phone call? Or, has this been a 3 year attempt to take down a president who was duly elected?"
SCHIFF: "They risked everything. Their careers. And, yes, I know what you're asked to decide may risk yours, too. But if they could show the courage, so can we."
Schiff wraps up the day's arguments at 9:40 pm, asking senators to show the same courage as the current or former Trump Administration officials who came forward to testify, including Marie Yovanovitch, Bill Taylor, Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman and Fiona Hill...
A recurring theme for Schiff: "Everyone was in the the loop" in the Ukraine shakedown.
After a dinner break, impeachment manager Rep. Schiff opens what he says will be about 2 1/2 hours of arguments. He says that will be it for the night.
The office of Sen. Blumenthal (D/CT) offers this quote: "Rep. Adam Schiff crafted a coherent, cohesive narrative that powerfully answered the question: 'Why should we care? What difference does it make?' The president’s actions have threatened our national security & jeopardized the pillars of our democracy."
GRAHAM (earlier, at a press availability): "I wouldn't give them the time of day. They're on a crusade to destroy this man."
Senators are required to remain silent during arguments, but there is no such requirement in the halls. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R/SC) is furious, saying Republicans won't agree to subpoena White House documents and witnesses, which the President refuses to turn over...
NADLER: "This is the story of a corrupt, government-wide effort that drew in ambassadors, Cabinet officials, Executive Branch agencies and the Office of the President."
At 4 pm, impeachment manager Rep. Jerry Nadler (D/NY) steps up to make his argument.
Just before 3:30 pm, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell calls for a 20 min. recess.
Schiff has argued that Trump's behavior represents a threat to national security, adding, "There is no remedy for such a threat other than removal from the office of President of the United States."
SCHIFF, in his wrap-up: President Trump has violated his Oath of Office, acting in a manner "grossly incompatable with self-governance."
Weds., 1/22, 3:20 pm: Impeachment manager Rep. Adam Schiff (D/CA) is into the third hour of a meticulous, multi-media prosecutor's argument. He opened with quotes from Alexander Hamilton.
This is the Associated Press summary of the afternoon so far:
(AP) Rep. Adam Schiff of California, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and leader of the prosecution team, launched into opening arguments referring to Alexander Hamilton and the country’s other Founding Fathers who wrote impeachment into the Constitution.
'We are here today in this hallowed chamber, undertaking this solemn action for only the third time in history because Donald J. Trump, the 45th president of the United States, has acted precisely as Hamilton and his contemporaries feared,” Schiff said.
The House prosecutors will have 24 hours over the next three days to present their case. The president's lawyers will follow with another 24 hours over three days to mount a defense. They are expected to take only Sunday off.
After that, there will be 16 hours for senators, who must sit quietly at their desks, no speeches or cellphones, to ask written question, and another four hours for deliberations.
By the end of next week there is expected to be one last vote on whether or not they want to hear from more witnesses, and it appears increasingly likely that will be the end.
In Davos, Trump repeated his attacks on Democratic House managers serving as prosecutors in the trial, saying that he'd like to "sit right in the front row and stare at their corrupt faces" on the Senate floor during the trial but that his attorneys might have a problem with it.