Ukraine

If there is a successful second Trump term, his impeachment will shrink into insignificance. If things go the other way, the Senate's vote to acquit him may seem a missed opportunity.

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., spoke with NPR's Steve Inskeep on Thursday, a day after the Senate voted to acquit President Trump of the charges against him. Read the transcript of the interview.

The Senate found President Trump not guilty of the impeachment charges against him. "We went through hell, unfairly," he said in a statement at the White House.

Senators voted as expected to clear President Trump on both articles of impeachment filed by the House. Now Washington must try to pick up the pieces.

Both sides made their closing arguments in the president's impeachment trial in the Senate. On Wednesday, the Senate is widely expected to acquit the president.

Early on, Chief Justice John Roberts refused to read a question from Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. Paul's question may have identified the whistleblower whose complaint sparked the impeachment inquiry.

Trump's legal team argued that accepting election information from foreign sources does not violate federal laws. Democrats called the assertion shocking.

President and CEO John Lansing is sending a letter "demanding answers." Earlier Tuesday, President Trump appeared to praise Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for yelling at another NPR reporter.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told Republicans during a closed-door meeting that he does not now have the votes to defeat Democrats' push for witnesses, but he is not declaring defeat.

President Trump's lawyers finished their presentation Monday night, dismissing the need for additional witnesses and saying former National Security Adviser John Bolton's testimony is not needed.

In the 2018 recording, the president can be heard ordering the firing of his top envoy to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch. "Get rid of her," he says.

Impeachment trial rules say senators are not to talk. They can't have their phones. And coffee is banned from the chamber. And so, some senators are grappling with something basic: staying awake.