Trump’s lawyers to give a masterclass in disinformation during opening arguments in impeachment trial

President Donald Trump’s lawyers will take center stage Saturday as they begin their opening arguments in his historic impeachment trial. Trump was impeached last month for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. Both articles of impeachment relate to his efforts to coerce Ukraine to launch politically motivated investigations targeting former Vice President Joe Biden, a 2020 Democratic frontrunner and Trump’s political rival, and the Democratic Party as a whole. While doing so, the president withheld $391 million in vital military aid to Ukraine, as well as a White House meeting that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky desperately sought and still hasn’t gotten. Beginning at 10 a.m. ET, Trump’s defense team will lay out what they say is a preview of “coming attractions” as they argue that the charges against him are constitutionally invalid and should be tossed out.

The Trump team’s opening arguments come after three days of opening arguments from seven impeachment managers, lawmakers from the House of Representatives who act as prosecutors in Trump’s impeachment trial. The group is led by Rep. Adam Schiff of California, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, which oversaw majority of the impeachment hearings against Trump last year.