Democrats scrapped plans to call witnesses in Donald Trump’s impeachment trial on Saturday, setting the stage for a swift vote on whether to convict the former president of inciting an insurrection.
After a brief interlude on Saturday morning when both the prosecution and Trump’s legal team weighed subpoenaing witnesses and other evidence — which could have delayed the trial for several weeks — the two sides reached an agreement to admit a statement from Republican congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler to the record before moving ahead with closing arguments.
A vote on Trump’s guilt or innocence was expected by the end of the day.
Jamie Raskin, the Democratic congressman from Maryland who acted as de facto chief prosecutor, wrapped up the House impeachment managers’ arguments on Saturday afternoon by appealing to senators to think about how history will remember them.
“Senators, this trial in the final analysis is not about Donald Trump. The country and…