Politics

Sen. Joni Ernst Says White House Impeachment Counsel ‘Entirely Shredded The Case’ Against Trump

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Henry Rodgers Chief National Correspondent
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Republican Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst on Saturday reacted to the White House counsel’s defense against impeaching President Donald Trump, saying they “shredded” the House managers’ case in just two hours.

“Within two hours I thought that the White House Counsel and their team entirely shredded the case that has been presented by the house managers,” Ernst said to reporters on Capitol Hill after listening to Trump’s lawyers.

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The White House’s defense team had its first opportunity to deliver their opening arguments in the impeachment trial against Trump in the Senate. The team has 24 hours over three days to make its arguments, but they might not use all 24 hours of their time.

Pat Cipollone, Michael Purpura, Patrick Philbin, and Trump’s personal attorney Jay Sekulow all were in charge of laying out their defense during Saturday’s impeachment trial. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: We Asked Every GOP Senator About Impeachment. Seven Ruled It Out.)

During the trial, Sekulow said, “I am not going to continue to go over and over and over again the evidence that they did not put before you because we would be here for a lot longer than 24 hours.”

According to The Hill, Cipollone said, “We don’t believe that they have come anywhere close to meeting their burden for what they’re asking you to do. In fact, we believe that when you hear the facts … you will find that the president did absolutely nothing wrong.” (RELATED: Graham Rips Democrats Over Trump Impeachment Process: ‘I Wouldn’t Cooperate’)

The House of Representatives officially voted Jan. 15 to send the articles of impeachment against Trump to the Senate and approved the House’s impeachment managers.