WATCH: Democrats’ impeachment case has ‘inherent flaw,’ Trump lawyer argues- First impeachment

Trump's first impeachment - 2020 On the final day of opening defense arguments in the impeachment trial, Deputy White House counsel Patrick Philbin said there is an “inherent flaw” in the articles of impeachment against Trump if senators do not think a president must commit a crime to be impeached. The abuse of power charge “is so malleable based on purely subjective standards that it does not provide any cognizable notice of an offense,” Philbin said on Jan. 28. Philbin also argued that other parts of Democrats’ arguments, including accusations that Trump tried to cover up the contents of his July call with Ukraine’s president, rely too much on speculation about the president’s motives. Trump’s team is making arguments as pressure grows for senators to call witnesses, specifically national security adviser John Bolton. The New York Times reported this week that Bolton’s upcoming book indicates Trump told him he wanted to withhold U.S. aid to Ukraine until that nation agreed to announce an investigation into Trump’s political rivals — a claim that could undermine the Trump legal team’s defense. The House of Representatives impeached the president in December based on two articles — abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. The Senate must now decide whether to acquit Trump or convict and remove him from office. For more on who’s who in the Trump impeachment inquiry, read: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/whos-who-in-the-trump-impeachment-inquiry Stream your PBS favorites with the PBS app: https://to.pbs.org/2Jb8twG Find more from PBS NewsHour at https://www.pbs.org/newshour Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/2HfsCD6 Follow us: Facebook: http://www.pbs.org/newshour Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/newshour Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/newshour Snapchat: @pbsnews