Adam Schiff delivers message to senators: 'If the truth doesn't matter, we're lost'

Adam Schiff.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

During Thursday's impeachment trial, House managers made their case before the Senate that President Trump's conduct amounted to an abuse of power.

The House prosecutors argued that when it came to Ukraine, Trump didn't care about corruption — he just wanted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to announce an investigation of his political rival, former Vice President Joe Biden. To make this happen, Trump held out on having a meeting with Zelensky and froze approved military aid to Ukraine. This was all done "in the interest of just one person: Donald J. Trump," Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) said.

In his closing statement, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said when the managers are done presenting their case, they will have proven "overwhelmingly" that Trump is guilty. "That is, he's done what he's charged with," Schiff said. "He withheld the money. He withheld the meeting. He used it to coerce Ukraine to to do these political investigations. He covered it up. He obstructed us. He is trying to obstruct you. And he's violated the Constitution."

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"If the truth doesn't matter, we're lost," he continued. "The framers couldn't protect us from ourselves if right and truth don't matter. But here, right is supposed to matter. It's what made us the greatest nation on earth. No Constitution can protect us if right doesn't matter any more. And you know, you can't trust this president to do what's right for this country."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.