The Senate impeachment trial of Donald Trump was thrown into confusion Saturday as lawmakers voted to consider hearing witnesses, a step that could extend the proceedings and delay a vote on whether the former president incited the deadly Capitol insurrection.
Trump called Michael Atkinson a "disgrace" after informing Congress late Friday night that he intended to fire him. In letters to the House and Senate intelligence committees, Trump wrote that he had lost confidence in Atkinson but gave little detail.
President Trump on Friday abruptly fired the inspector general of the intelligence community, sidelining an independent watchdog who played a pivotal role in his impeachment even as his White House struggled with the deepening coronavirus pandemic.
Trump, on a high after his acquittal last week on impeachment charges, launched an assault on the Democrats who tried to remove him from office, calling the episode a "pathetic partisan crusade."
Senators will get another chance Thursday to ask questions of House managers and President Donald Trump's defense team starting at 1 p.m. Thursday. Watch live here.