Trump impeachment team to only take 1 of its 2 allotted days

The arguments in former President Donald Trump's second impeachment trial are moving toward an end, with the former president's team planning to conclude by Friday.

Democratic House impeachment managers on Thursday continued making their case for convicting Trump in his second impeachment trial, and the arguments from Trump's defense are set to begin Friday. But CNN reports the president's team isn't expected to use the 16 hours they've been allotted for presentations, and they expect to be done with their arguments by Friday night.

Trump adviser Jason Miller confirmed on Twitter that "we will finish up our presentation tomorrow." Miller also told Fox News' John Roberts the former president's team expects to finish Friday with enough time that senators can begin asking questions. "After opening arguments, senators still have up to four hours to ask questions," The Hill reports.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

This timeline, CNN's Manu Raju noted, would set the stage for a final vote to potentially take place on Saturday.

Indeed, Politico's Kyle Cheney reports that "senators appear to be coalescing behind the notion that the trial will end Saturday," adding that "the House managers haven't said if they plan to call witnesses, but senators seem to assume they won't." Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) told reporters, "Saturday is looking better all the time I would think for a final vote," per The Hill, although Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.V.) suggested it "may be more like Sunday."

On Friday, CNN reports attorneys David Schoen, Bruce Castor, Michael van der Veen, and William Brennan are expected to speak, but "because the legal team is so disorganized, Trump's allies are apprehensive about how the defense will go."