Impeachment trial day 8: questions and answers

Senators aren't allowed to speak during the trial. Instead, they are submitting their questions in writing. The questions will first be fielded through leadership on both sides, who have said their main object is to weed out duplicates or repetitive questions.

  The Hill

I suppose we can guess what their not-main object is.

The questions will then be passed, alternating between parties, to Chief Justice John Roberts, who is presiding over the trial.

Roberts will read out the question, which side it is addressed to and which senators submitted it. When duplicative questions are merged, Roberts is expected to read out the name of each senator who originally submitted the questions.

This is silly. If they're going to name the senators asking the questions, why not let the senators read their own question?

"Questions can be directed to House managers or the president’s counsel. Senators can’t ask each other questions," a GOP aide added, outlining how the proceeding will go.

Well that's a relief.

Senators and aides said they expected House Democrats and Trump’s team to take up to five minutes to respond per question — the same amount of time as during the Clinton trial. But that limit wasn’t strictly enforced in 1999.

Roberts referenced then-Chief Justice William Rehnquist laying out the five-minute limit on Tuesday, indicating that he would like to enforce the same standard.

And what happens if the answer isn't actually an answer to the question asked?

Questions from Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin (W.Va.), Doug Jones (Ala.) and Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) will be under close scrutiny, with the three Democrats viewed as potential swing votes on whether or not to convict or acquit Trump.

Manchin and Jones have described themselves as undecided on Trump's removal, while Sinema, who does not do hallway interviews in the Capitol, has pledged to keep an open mind during the impeachment proceedings.

[...]

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) unveiled nine questions he wants to ask, each of which will focus on top GOP areas of interest including the intelligence community whistleblower whose complaint helped spurred the impeachment inquiry, as well as Hunter Biden.

Things that have nothing to do with Trump's behavior.

Hawley, for example, wants to ask House managers if President Obama was aware of Biden’s work for Burisma, a Ukrainian gas company, while his father, former Vice President Joe Biden, was handling Ukraine policy.

What administration are we in, Josh?

Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), asked to muse on what questions he had, said he remained curious about why the House didn’t dig into the fight over getting former national security adviser John Bolton’s testimony.

Apparently,for Senator Cramer, the whole shebang began when the articles of impeachment were delivered to the senate.

He added that he was also curious about the House managers' view on Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s personal attorney.

“You know there's been so much talk about him,” Cramer said. “They really never pursued Rudy Giuliani … I’d like a little more clarity on that.”

You know what? So would I.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.