Trump urged to use simple defense: 'Bottom line, nothing happened'

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., the lead impeachment manager, presents the articles of impeachment on the floor of the Senate on Jan. 16, 2020 (screenshot)

As House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam B. Schiff warned new evidence will come out during the Senate impeachment trial, a former federal prosecutor is urging President Trump's defense team to stick to a simple argument.

"Nothing of consequence" happened that meets the Founders' standard of "high crimes and misdemeanors."

Andrew C. McCarthy said Thursday on Fox News after Schiff presented the articles of impeachment to the Senate that Trump doesn't need to prove "there was no quid pro quo and that everything was perfect" in his interaction with President Volodymyr Zelensky regarding aid to Ukraine and investigation of Joe and Hunter Biden.

"The Ukrainians got their funds. Zelensky got his visit with Trump. There was no commitment to do any investigation of the Bidens," said McCarthy, a former assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.

The president's defense, he insisted, should be "bottom line here, nothing happen."

"That way, anything else that erupts during the trial, they're kind of protected from it," McCarthy said.

Trump, however, has insisted the July 25 telephone call with Zelensky that triggered the whistleblower complaint at the center of the impeachment articles was "perfect" and there was no quid pro quo.

Schiff: New evidence coming out all the time'

Schiff, quoting the articles of impeachment, said on the Senate floor Thursday that Trump is "a threat to national security" and his conduct "warrants removal from office."

In an interview Wednesday with the Los Angeles Times, Schiff, the lead House manager in the trial, said "there's going to be new evidence coming out all the time."

"And if this is conducted like a fair trial, then that new evidence should be admitted. If it's relevant, if it's probative, if it sheds light on the guilt or innocence of the president, then it should be admitted," said Schiff, who is accused by Republicans of running an unfair impeachment investigation in the House, including denying the White House due process rights.

McCarthy, in a previous segment Thursday on Fox News, argued the simple defense he has been advocating would take the air out of purported bombshells this week.

Democrats have seized the claims aired Wednesday night on MSNBC of former Rudy Giuliani associate Lev Parnas as well as a Government Accountability Office report concluding Trump broke the law when he delayed congressionally authorized aid to Ukraine.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday the GAO report "reinforces again the need for documents and eye-witnesses in the Senate."

White House response to Parnas, GAO report

The White House on Thursday dismissed claims by Parnas, a Soviet-born businessman, that Trump was aware of a scheme to get Ukraine to announce investigations into the Bidens.

Parnas has turned over evidence to the Democratic-led House Intelligence Committee.

White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham told Fox News on Thursday that Parnas "is a man who’s under indictment and who’s actually out on bail."

"This is a man who owns a company called Fraud Inc., so I think that’s something that people should be thinking about. We’re not too concerned about it."

Grisham said it's "unfortunate that he’s now making a media tour with a lot of the outlets that are, you know, against the president."

"I think that shows exactly what he’s doing," she said.

White House counselor Kellyanne Conway accused media of giving Parnas undeserved attention.

"He's desperate, and it looks like he's facing some serious criminal charges," she told reporters Thursday at the White House.

The GAO issued a report Thursday finding the Trump administration broke the law by withholding Ukraine aid, not as an allowable "programmatic delay" but to advance the president's personal agenda.

The nonpartisan watchdog concluded the White House violated the Impoundment Control Act.

Democrats contend Trump withheld the aid to pressure Zelensky.

However, the White House Office of Management and Budget concluded the White House used the "apportionment authority to ensure taxpayer dollars are properly spent consistent with the President's priorities and with the law."

The Trump administration argues the objective was to ensure Ukraine was properly fighting widespread corruption. And defenders of the White House have pointed out that the aid was delivered before the deadline.

A senior administration official on Thursday, The Hill reported, called the GAO report an "overreach" and chastised the watchdog for getting involved "in the media's controversy of the day."

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