Adam Schiff

Senators weighing impeachment charges against President Trump spent Thursday firing questions at lawyers as they did the day before, just as the prospect of former national security adviser John Bolton's appearance as a witness continues to stoke speculation. The Senate will enter its next phase Friday — considering whether to allow witnesses and evidence.

The Senate on Wednesday night concluded the first of two days full of questions in the impeachment trial of President Trump. The proceeding offered clues about the thinking of senators, but the session consisted mostly of trial lawyers on both sides magnifying arguments they have already delivered.

President Trump's defense team completed its arguments Tuesday against his removal from office in the Senate impeachment trial. "I think we've made our case," White House counsel Pat Cipollone said. "All you need in this case is the Constitution and your common sense." The trial resumes Wednesday, Jan. 29, 10 a.m. PT / 1 p.m. ET.

On day 4 of the impeachment trial in the U.S. Senate, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., warned in some of his strongest language yet that what he called Trump's venality and moral bankruptcy would only grow worse if Congress allows him to remain president after what Democrats say he's committed.

With the ground rules having been settled in the early hours after sometimes bitter litigation between the House delegation and Trump's legal team, senators returned Wednesday to hear the formal opening of the case.

The House speaker made the announcement Thursday morning at the Capitol, a day after the first hearing by the panel that would draft those articles. Republicans said the move "weakened this nation."

The inquiry into Trump's dealing with Ukraine is moving from fact-gathering to considerations of law. House Republicans are knocking the process as rushed, unfair and guided by anti-Trump fervor.

The poll shows just how locked in most Americans are in their partisan positions, even as nearly a dozen people have either testified or are set to testify in the impeachment inquiry.

Marie Yovanovitch described a pressure campaign to oust her from Kyiv. President Trump tweeted negatively about her during her hearing; Rep. Adam Schiff called it "witness intimidation."

President Trump's lawyer has been ordered to give evidence to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence as its probe accelerates in the Ukraine affair.