26 January
Lawyers for US President Donald Trump have begun their defense in his impeachment trial, saying the president "did absolutely nothing wrong."
Trump has been charged with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress over his dealings with Ukraine. The Senate trial will decide if he should be removed from office.
White House counsel Pat Cipollone is leading the defense team. He criticized Democrats on Saturday for the way they presented their arguments over a telephone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, which is at the center of the impeachment.
Cipollone argued that Democrats showed only the parts of the transcript that are convenient for them.
He also said Democrats are "asking you not only to overturn the results of the last election," but "they're asking you to remove President Trump from the ballot in an election that's occurring in approximately nine months."
The defense has 24 hours over up to three days to make its case. But it spent only about two hours on Saturday, as there are fewer TV viewers on weekends.
Defense arguments are scheduled to resume on Monday.
NHK
