After most Americans had gone to bed Tuesday night, House impeachment manager Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., charged on the Senate floor that with their "treacherous votes," Republican senators were engaging in a "cover-up" of crimes by the president and voting "against the United States" by tabling every proposal by Democrats for witnesses and new evidence prior to the trial of President Trump.
Nadler was arguing in favor of a resolution by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to subpoena former Trump National Security Advisor John Bolton to testify at the impeachment trial.
"The president is on trial in the Senate. But the Senate is on trial in the eyes of the American people," Nadler said.
"Will you vote to allow all of the relevant evidence to be presented here? Or will you betray your oath to be an impartial juror? Will you bring Ambassador Bolton here? Will you permit us to present you with the entire record of the president’s misconduct? Or will you instead choose to be complicit in the President’s cover-up?"
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Nadler said that many senators were "voting for a cover-up, voting to deny witnesses."
"An absolutely indefensible vote," he said. "Obviously, a treacherous vote. A vote against an honest consideration of the evidence against the president. A vote against an honest trial. A vote against the United States."
See Nadler on the Senate floor:
"Either you want the truth or you, and you must permit the witnesses or you want a shameful cover-up," he said. "History will judge and so will the electorate."
Nadler particularly had in mind "moderate" Republican Sens. Mitt Romney of Utah, Susan Collins of Maine, Cory Gardner of Colorado and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.
Democrats will need their votes when they asked next week, after opening arguments, for witnesses and evidence.
'You're not in charge here'
Nadler was followed by a sharp retort by White House counsel Pat Cipollone.
"The only one who should be embarrassed, Mr. Nadler, is you for the way you addressed this body," Cipollone said.
"This is the United States Senate. You're not in charge here."
See Cipollone's reply to Nadler:
Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, presiding over the trial, chastised both Nadler and Cipollone.
"I think it is appropriate at this point for me to admonish both the House Managers and the president's counsel in equal terms to remember they are addressing the world’s greatest deliberative body," he said.
"One reason it has earned that title is because its members avoid speaking in a manner and using language that is not conducive to civil discourse."
Roberts noted that in the 1905 Swain trial, "a senator objected when one of the managers used the word 'pettifogging' and the presiding officer said the word ought not to have been used."
"I don't think we need to aspire to that high a standard, but I do think those addressing the Senate should remember where they are," Roberts said.
See Roberts' reaction: