From Far & Near US Impeachment Watch_4 Democrats Complete Opening Arguments By Shashi Malla Democrats closed their case against President Donald Trump declaring he must be removed from office for upsetting the balance of power – between the executive and judiciary branches of government – envisioned by the Constitution. Adam Schiff, the Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and the lead manager/prosecutor in the Senate trial, also attempted to head off some of the arguments Trump’s legal defenders will propose in their rebuttal (CNN). Most of Friday’s arguments focused on the second article of impeachment, which argues Trump obstructed Congress. Democrats outlined forcefully the White House effort to squash their investigation into Trump’s efforts to hold up taxpayer-funded, congressionally approved aid to Ukraine, a U.S. ally and currently in armed conflict with neighbouring Russia. House Democrats highlighted the unprecedented lack of cooperation from the executive branch as they tried to find out what had happened. Jerry Nadler, Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and the deputy manager, accused Trump of acting like a dictator for ignoring lawmakers. Trump had no respect for the representatives of the people and considered himself above the law. Previously, Schiff spent hours talking about the importance of the US in the world and the danger Russia posed to its immediate neighbours. His argument went into great detail to drive home the notion of the U.S. as  a model of democracy. At the same time, Schiff promoted the narrative that Trump’s actions in Ukraine, emboldening Russia and making US allies question American reliability [also seen in abundance in East Asia and the Middle East], is as damaging as the imbalance Trump has caused in the domestic balance of power. Trump, after all, is only interested in his own political survival. The final words Democrats uttered in their opening arguments were about witnesses. It’s not clear if they will get the four Republican votes they would need to side with them in favour of witnesses. “Give America a fair trial. She’s worth it,” Schiff said. Republican Tactics “It’s not the Senate’s job to clean up after what the House did,” White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said on Fox News, opposing witnesses. The White House and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have been laying the groundwork for weeks to lock down opposition to moving forward on new witnesses. Republicans argue that pursuing witnesses such as Mulvaney and Bolton would result in thorny, problematic legal issues if the President invokes executive privilege. And this could tie up the trial for weeks or months in the courts. Timeline The President’s defence lawyers began their arguments on Saturday, wrapping up early and giving senators a chance for some rest and other activity. It was more of a ‘sneak preview’ of the case they will detail next Monday. Then the senators get to ask written questions [sent to the presiding officer, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court] of both sides. This will set the stage for a looming vote over additional witnesses and documents as requested by the Democrats. They will require the votes of four Republican senators to achieve the simple majority needed. Republican Senate and White House sources are confident they will be able to defeat this motion. If the vote fails to move forward on new witnesses, the Senate could move to acquit Trump by the end of next week. Trump could then bask in the sunshine of exoneration during his ‘State of the Union’ speech in the House of Representatives on February 4 ! The writer can be reached at: shashipbmalla@hotmail.com