Trump Impeachment: What Are The Trial Rules? Democrats Accuse 'Moscow Mitch' McConnell Of Rigging

As President Trump talked up the U.S. economy at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the U.S. Senate Tuesday turned its attention to the impeachment charges against him in only the third such trial in U.S. history.

Proceedings were scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. EST.

The House has accused Trump of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress for trying to leverage $391 million in U.S. military aid to Ukraine for political dirt on former Vice President Joe Biden, the leading candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Trump’s legal team Monday submitted a brief calling the impeachment charges defective because they don’t allege a statutory crime – an argument that has been rejected by numerous legal scholars. They argue the presidency would be weakened permanently if Trump is removed from office over what they called policy and political differences.

Trump brushed aside concerns, saying: “It’s a hoax. It goes nowhere because nothing happened.”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell unveiled the rules that will govern the proceedings, giving both sides 24 hours to present their cases over two days. They call for no vote on whether additional witnesses should be called until the presentations are over. Democrats want that vote up front. Debate on the rules kick off Tuesday’s proceedings.

McConnell has said his rules model those adopted for Bill Clinton’s impeachment trial 21 years ago. At that time, senators adopted the rules 100-0. That’s not expected to happen this time, with Democrats accusing Trump of systematically blocking testimony and refusing to turn over any documents to the House, and demanding the Senate rectify the situation.

The debate on the rules will be handled by the House managers and Trump’s defense team, not the senators themselves, unless they go into private session.

Oral arguments could begin as early as Wednesday.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., criticized McConnell’s rules as an “Alice in Wonderland-type proceeding” in a CNN interview.

Former Washington Post investigative reporter Carl Bernstein on Monday referred to McConnell as "Midnight Mitch" for his controversial trial rules. McConnell also has been pegged with the nickname “Moscow Mitch,” after refusing to move forward with legislation to protect the U.S. electoral system from foreign attacks.

House Democrats sent a letter to White House counsel Pat Cipollone, demanding he testify as a fact witness because his office was involved directly in the events at the center of the case.

“In light of your extensive knowledge of these key events, your personal representation of President Trump threatens to undermine the integrity of the pending trial. You may be a material witness to the charges against President Trump even though you are also his advocate,” Democrats wrote, telling him he must disclose everything to U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Roberts, who is presiding over the impeachment proceedings.

The Washington Post reported Trump’s legal team and Senate allies are working to prevent former national security adviser John Bolton, who has said he has information material to the case, from testifying in public should Democrats win the looming vote on whether to call witnesses. Among the options is requiring the testimony to be taken in a classified setting.

Sixty-seven senators would have to vote to convict Trump for him to be removed from office, something McConnell says has “no chance” of happening.