Senator Marco Rubio (R., Fl.) released a statement ahead of the Senate’s Friday vote on calling impeachment witnesses, explaining that he opposed both new witnesses and voting to remove the president based on a “political judgment — one that takes into account both the severity of the wrongdoing alleged but also the impact removal would have on the nation.”Rubio, who said in November that a decision on impeachment “should be made on what is in the best interest of our country,” echoed his previous comments in arguing a distinction between presidential misconduct and removable offenses.“The two are not the same. Just because actions meet a standard of impeachment does not mean it is in the best interest of the country to remove a President from office,” Rubio stated. “. . . Can anyone doubt that at least half of the country would view his removal as illegitimate — as nothing short of a coup d’état? It is difficult to conceive of any scheme Putin could undertake that would undermine confidence in our democracy more than removal would.”> pic.twitter.com/oyMXo0SV0R> > -- Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) January 31, 2020The Florida Republican also called impeachment an “extraordinary power” and “a last-resort remedy to protect the country.” He signaled that the upcoming 2020 election played a factor in his determination, saying that “voters themselves can hold the President accountable in an election, including the one just nine months from now.”“That is why Hamilton wrote that in these trials our decisions should be pursuing ‘the public good,’” Rubio added. He pointed to resisting calls to impeach President Obama in 2014 as proof of his commitment to “this high bar.”“I will not vote to remove the President because doing so would inflict extraordinary and potentially irreparable damage to our already divided nation,” Rubio concluded.Rubio’s statement accompanied a number of other Republican senators making their intentions on the vote public ahead of Friday’s hearing. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R., Alaska) became the second Republican swing vote to publicly oppose additional witnesses, likely ensuring that the trial will not include further witnesses.

Former White House chief of staff John Kelly said Friday that ending the impeachment trial against President Trump without calling in witnesses is “a job only half done.”Kelly made the comments at an event at Drew University in New Jersey just hours...

Friday was expected to mark the last day in the drawn-out bitterly partisan proceedings, but both House impeachment managers and White House counsel now want more time to make their closing arguments, Politico reported.

The bombshell report came as the Senate prepared to vote on whether to allow witnesses in Trump's impeachment trial.

The Democrats' demand to call witnesses in the Senate impeachment trial of President Trump evidently failed Friday.

As the Senate prepares to bring an end to Donald Trump's impeachment trial, Monica Lewinsky criticised a Republican Senator whose key swing vote could hinge on whether any witnesses will be introduced.Among the most famous witnesses in a presidential impeachment trial following her affair with former president Bill Clinton, Ms Lewinsky's private life was heavily scrutinised and ridiculed, then entered into the public domain during a videotaped interview in which she contradicted Mr Clinton's sworn statement about his "sexual relations" with her, part of a probe led by prosecutor Ken Starr — who now is part of Mr Trump's defence team.

(Bloomberg) -- Senator Elizabeth Warren is flooding Iowa’s airwaves to reassure voters she can beat President Donald Trump, releasing three TV advertisements in the state ahead of Monday’s caucus.The ads are all aimed at addressing voters’ concerns about whether Warren is too progressive to unite the Democratic Party and whether a woman can beat Trump.One 30-second ad being played in Iowa titled “She Can Win” begins with a voter who said he caucused for Trump in 2016 but was now switching parties to caucus for Warren. The voter says the fact that Warren is a woman is not an obstacle.“The people that say that a woman can’t win, I say nonsense,” an older, white man from Waukon, Iowa, listed only as Stephen, says. “I believe a woman can beat Trump and I believe Elizabeth is that woman.”The question of whether a woman can beat Trump has been a key point in the race after Warren had a very public spat over whether rival Bernie Sanders told her in private that it couldn’t be done.Another 30-second clip called “Great for America” sought to ease voter concerns about whether Warren can unite the divided party despite her calls for sweeping structural change. Three voters, one who caucused for Hillary Clinton, one who backed Sanders and another who voted for Trump say they support the Massachusetts senator.“If a former Trump supporter can be energized by Elizabeth Warren, then Elizabeth Warren is doing something great for America,” the ad ends, while highlighting the editorial endorsement she received from the Des Moines Register and the Storm Lake Times.On Monday, Warren is scheduled to release a similar advertisement in New Hampshire, a state that will be holding its primary one week after Iowa.Warren’s Des Moines Register endorsement is featured in the third clip, which highlighted how the editorial board called her “the best leader for these times” and shows images of Warren next to former President Barack Obama.Warren is scheduled to return to Iowa on Friday to resume campaigning, after spending the week in Washington for the impeachment hearing. Warren is trying to assure voters that efforts to fight corruption will work to unite voters across the ideological spectrum.Polling averages show Warren trailing Joe Biden and Sanders in Iowa, and stuck in a tight race for third and fourth place with Pete Buttigieg.(Disclaimer: Michael Bloomberg is also seeking the Democratic nomination for president. Bloomberg is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.)To contact the reporter on this story: Misyrlena Egkolfopoulou in Des Moines at megkolfopoul@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Wendy Benjaminson at wbenjaminson@bloomberg.net, Magan Crane, Max BerleyFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.