While presiding over the Senate impeachment trial of U.S. President Donald Trump, apparently Chief Justice John Roberts will not allow questions that are targeted to the origination of the House impeachment plot.  WATCH:

“Are you aware that House intelligence committee staffer Shawn Misko had a close relationship with Eric Ciaramella while at the National Security Council together; and are you aware -and how do you respond to- reports that Ciaramella and Misko may have worked together to plot impeaching the President before there were formal house impeachment proceedings?“

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Earlier today Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced an agreement with Minority Leader Chuck Schumer for the Senate questioning phase of the impeachment trial that begins tomorrow.

Senator Schumer and McConnell have agreed to alternating back-and-forth questions from Republicans and Democrats over the course of two days totaling a maximum of sixteen hours.   The alternative would have been 8 hours of questioning by Democrats followed by 8 hours of republican questions.  Obviously, and curiously, McConnell and Schumer see a benefit to alternating back-and-forth over the two days.
Additionally, according to several media reports, McConnell took a ‘whip of the Senate’ regarding witness testimony and does not currently have enough republican votes to block the pre-planned House Managers’ unconstitutional scheme to call witnesses.
The appropriate constitutional position for the Senate to take would be that the House investigates; the House calls witnesses within their investigation; the House assembles articles of impeachment; and the Senate is the trier of fact from those articles.
Ergo if a witness was not included in the article assembly, that would be a defect of the House articles; incurable in the Senate.  However, it appears there are enough republicans willing to establish a new extra-constitutional process whereby the House can assemble speculative supposition; avoid the executive branch using their lawful process to appeal to the judicial branch for opinion; and put the burden of witness testimony on the Senate.

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We might not align on all issues, but whooo doggies…. Rep. Elise Stefanik swings big timber and fights when needed during this impeachment fiasco.  If I had a $10 budget for lunch, I’d send it to her reelection campaign and wait to eat til dinner…. she’s worth it.
Most of the interview with Trump’s legislative defense team is in this video, but don’t miss the moments at 20:05 when Stefanik takes the mic.

President Trump attorney, Jay Sekulow, outlines the closing statement from the impeachment defense team.   Mr. Sekulow warns about the construction of the partisan impeachment and how the House process has run afoul of the constitution itself.
Mr. Sekulow walks through the history of a U.S. Government that has targeted Donald J Trump since before he even took office (DOJ/FBI Crossfire Hurricane); then continued that targeting after he took office (DOJ/FBI Mueller Special Counsel); and now ultimately a sitting president finds himself remaining a target with this impeachment effort.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=As3WLG9tuaM&w=640&h=380]
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There will be 24 hours of presentation by House Impeachment Managers (over 3 days); 24 hours of presentation by Defense team (over 3 days); 16 hours of Senate questioning; 4 hours of closing arguments, equally divided; and then a Senate debate/vote on further motions to include witnesses. If there are going to be witnesses, they will first be deposed prior to testimony. No witness testimony will be permitted without first being deposed.
The Senate Trial continues today on day six at 1:00pm ET. Today is the second day of the Trump defense and will continue with approximately 8 hours of presentation.
Fox News Livestream – Fox Business Livestream – Alternate GST Livestream Link

Representative John Ratcliffe appears with Maria Bartiromo to discuss the fraudulent construct of the House impeachment articles.  Ratcliffe highlights how the ‘whistle-blower’ (CIA Eric Ciaramella) and the Intelligence Community Inspector General, Michael Atkinson, have conflicting testimony in the House and that’s why Impeachment Manager Adam Schiff will not release those transcripts.  WATCH:

An interesting ruling, brief and order from the FISA Court (Judge Boasberg) released today [pdf here] reflects an admission by the DOJ the 2nd and 3rd FISA renewal against U.S. person Carter Page were invalid.

The “DOJ assesses that with respect to the applications in [April and June 2017] “if not earlier, there was insufficient predication to establish probable cause to believe that [Carter]Page was acting as an agent of a foreign power.””

The original FISA application was October 21st, 2016.  The first FISA renewal was January 12, 2017 (84 days from origination).  The second renewal was April 7, 2017 (85 days from prior renewal).  The third renewal was on June 29th, 2017 (83 days from prior renewal).
The DOJ has now attested to the FISC the FISA application on April 7, 2017, and the FISA application of June 29th were invalid.  However, the DOJ has not taken a position on the validity of the original application, Oct 21, 2016, or the first renewal of January 12, 2017.
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Earlier today, while attending Davos, President Trump sat down for a lengthy interview with Fox Business’ Maria Bartiromo.  The primary topic was trade and economics with additional insight around the impeachment fiasco and some current events.
Unfortunately Ms. Bartiromo did not ask if President Trump remembered there were documents he was going to declassify.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is attempting to rescue two legally and structurally deficient articles of impeachment rushed from the Lawfare community in the House of representatives.   However, in his first effort to introduce new documents and force the Trump administration to hand over new executive branch information, related to President Trump foreign policy decisions and delayed foreign aid to Ukraine, the Schumer amendment was defeated.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell moved to table the amendment, dismissing the request, and won a floor vote as all republican senators stayed united 53-47.

It is anticipated that Schumer will next move for another amendment making the same request for new State Department documents the House committees did not seek.
The primary reason Chuck Schumer has to make this ridiculous effort for more evidence, is how the House never established their ability to enforce subpoenas via “Judicial Enforcement Authority”.  The failure of a full House vote to authorize the House Judiciary Committee to pursue evidence -via enforceable subpoenas- was a defect by design of Nancy Pelosi’s decision to initiate an impeachment inquiry by her decree, not an authorizing vote.
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Texas Senator Ted Cruz appears on Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo for a lengthy discussion of the upcoming senate impeachment trial.  Senator Cruz does not currently support subpoenas for witnesses; however, if the full senate votes to call prosecution witnesses Cruz would support reciprocal witnesses for President Trump.
Senator Cruz walks through the anticipated process including the “scheduling order” or senate rules within the impeachment process.  Twelve hours of prosecution, twelve hours of defense, sixteen hours of senator questioning, and then possibly a vote.