The U-S Senate moves into closing arguments in President Trump’s impeachment trial today with no witnesses being called after Republicans said “no” Friday night. Hamline University analyst David Schultz says that brings the trial’s legitimacy into question. “This is the first time in American history that the Senate has sat in trial and not allowed for witnesses to testify,” Schultz says. “And so this puts it dramatically out-of-character with anything we’ve seen in past precedent.”
But Schultz says it’s unclear whether Democrats’ allegations of a “sham trial” would influence enough undecided voters to tip the balance away from the president in November. “Possibly, but it’s not clear, because we’re talking about an incredibly small number of people who haven’t already pre-judged all of this. Will it be something that they remember, come November? It’s just not clear right now.”