Dismissing Bolton allegations, White House wraps up impeachment defense

With Republican Senators facing uncertainty over whether to call witnesses like former national security adviser John Bolton, President Donald Trump's legal team wrapped up its opening arguments in the President's impeachment trial on Tuesday by calling on the Senate to reject the case from House Democrats.

"It is time for this end end here now," said White House Counsel Pat Cipollone. "We urge the Senate to reject these articles of impeachment."

After almost completely ignoring the question of whether Bolton could tell a story about the President's actions regarding Ukraine, the Trump legal team took on Bolton directly on Tuesday afternoon.

"Nothing in the Bolton revelations, even if true - even if true - would rise to the level of abuse of power or an impeachable offense," said the President's personal lawyer Jay Sekulow.

"You cannot impeach a President on an unsourced allegation," Sekulow concluded, as he said the President's defense was 'compelling.'

Originally, the White House legal team seemed to be ready to go until close to dinner - but instead used less than two hours of arguments in their third and final day before the Senate.

Bubbling underneath the surface of the final summary by the White House legal team was the question of whether GOP Senators would agree to call Bolton - and others as witnesses.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said there would not be a scenario where just one witness would be called by the Senate in this impeachment trial.

"If people want witnesses, we're going to get a lot of witnesses," Graham told reporters before Tuesday's impeachment session began, as he said the GOP would be interested in calling Joe Biden, Hunter Biden, the whistleblower and more.

Democrats felt like the White House wrap up was lacking.

"It's clear that they are still reeling from the revelations of John Bolton's book,” said lead House manager Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA).

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