Call it cruel and unusual punishment. Listening to Democrat House impeachment Managers drone on hour after hour yesterday took a heavy toll on senators.

Some in both parties dozed off. Bernie Sanders' head was on his chest. Rand Paul worked a crossword puzzle. Others wandered out of the Senate chamber seeking relief from the endless talk.

Senators were in agony, as even the AP reported. But there have been a few moments of justifiable outrage in the Senate impeachment trial. See my thoughts below. -Mat

Despite its dreary, mind-numbing tedium, the Senate impeachment trial of President Donald Trump has given Republicans several instances of wide-eyed fury.

Tuesday, one Democrat House manager pulled the race card, smearing President Trump as the "Grand Wizard of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue."

Another accused GOP senators of casting "treacherous votes" to conduct a "cover-up." He attacked Senate Republicans for rejecting nine Democrat amendments to prolong the witch hunt against President Trump with yet more witnesses and documents.

But just last week, House Democrats crowed they had an air-tight case for the president's impeachment—one that was "overwhelming" and "beyond a reasonable doubt."

Now they need to throw more logs on their bonfire to burn the president—using witnesses and testimony they decided not to pursue in the House.

And Democrats want Republicans to help them. That is putting pressure on GOP Senate moderates. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) called this morning for four more Republicans to help Democrats expand their fishing expedition.

That's why, if you haven't already, I'm asking you to sign our "Stop the Madness Acquit President Trump!" petition to the Senate.

And I'm also urging you to use our Fax Congress service to demand that wavering GOP senators vote AGAINST any motion to expand this witch hunt.

+  +  Reasons to reject the articles of impeachment...

Let me give you a few quick reasons why the Senate should reject this constitutional charade and acquit the president.

1. The articles don't allege impeachable offenses. The Framers of the Constitution, as President Trump's legal team state in their 171-page trial memorandum, "restricted impeachment to specific offenses against 'already known and established law.'"
2. But the articles, which allege "abuse of power" and "obstruction of Congress" don't cite the commission of any specific crime. And they certainly don't rise to the constitutional standard for impeachment, which is "treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors."
3. That's why, as the president's defense team insists, the articles "are an affront to the Constitution and . . . are a brazenly political act by House Democrats that must be rejected."
4. Moreover, the Democrats' "Obstruction of Congress" charge turns a separation of powers dispute between the president and Congress into an impeachable offense. It makes the president's lawful and proper use of the privileges granted under the Constitution into the basis for turning him out of office!
5. That, as the president's lawyers rightly said, is "frivolous and dangerous."
6. House Democrats acted outside the law and Constitution to impeach the president. Instead of giving President Trump his due process rights to present witnesses and cross-examine, Democrats kept the president out of their sham investigation. And they did so, at first, without even a House vote to authorize an impeachment inquiry.
7. Instead, as the president's defense team put it . . .

The proceedings began with secret hearings in a basement bunker before three committees under the direction of Chairman Schiff of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI). The President was denied any right to participate at all. He was denied the right to have counsel present, to cross examine witnesses, to call witnesses, and to see and present evidence. Meanwhile, House Democrats selectively leaked distorted versions of the secret testimony to compliant members of the press, who happily fed the public a false narrative about the President.

+  +  No evidence for "quid pro quo"

This is a sham, an affront to the Constitution and just the latest Democrat-led effort to undo the 2016 election. That effort started, by the way, long before President Trump spoke by phone, July 25, 2019, to Ukraine's president in a perfectly fine conversation for which the transcript was released.

There is no evidence—zero—to support the Democrats' contention that the president conditioned U.S. aid on an investigation into Joe Biden or his son—both of whom, by the way, richly merit a full inquiry into the appearance of corruption in their Ukraine dealings.

Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland, on whom Democrats largely rely, said he had no evidence "other than [his] own presumption" that the president linked aid to investigations. He agreed, under oath, that "no one on this planet told [him] that Donald Trump was tying aid to investigations."

It's critical that you and I, as American citizens, make our voice heard now! Which is why I'm asking you to take the following two steps...

First, if you have not yet done so, please sign our "Stop the Madness Acquit President Trump!" petition to the Senate.

Second, send a fax to wavering moderate GOP senators—Susan Collins, Mitt Romney, Lisa Murkowski, Cory Gardner and Lamar Alexander—demanding that they vote AGAINST any motion to expand this witch hunt. You can do that right now using our FAX Congress service.

Please act right away!

Thank you for your friendship and your strong patriotism!

Defending freedom,

Mat Staver
Founder and Chairman