Nadler, Trump counsel debate bribery as offense

On Wednesday (January 29) Senators began the first of two days of questioning to both Trump's legal team and the Democratic lawmakers who serve as prosecutors in the Trump impeachment trial on charges of abusing power and obstructing Congress.

Democratic senators used their questions to make their case for witnesses including former national security adviser John Bolton, who left the White House in September after several sharp disagreements with Trump.

The Democrats have sought to persuade at least four Republican senators to vote with them in favor of witnesses to assure a majority vote in the 100-seat chamber.

Impeachment Manager Representative Jerry Nadler told the Senate, "bribery is obviously an impeachable offense".

Deputy White House Counsel Patrick Philbin refuted this by saying bribery was not explicitly included in the articles of impeachment.