Trial highlights: Senators’ questions launch pointed debate

WASHINGTON — Finally playing an active role at President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial, senators posed written inquiries that led to pointed, back-and-forth debate Wednesday as Trump’s legal team and House Democratic prosecutors pressed their respective cases. Meanwhile, the actions of former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, a former executive at a Ukraine energy company, drew continued attention from Republicans amid claims by Democrats that the younger Biden was irrelevant and “a distraction.” Highlights of Wednesday’s session and what’s ahead as senators conduct just the third impeachment trial of a president BOLTON FALLOUT Republicans strained to contain the fallout over Bolton’s forthcoming book, which threatens their hopes of ending the trial with a quick acquittal. “There’s no way to have a fair trial without witnesses,” said Rep. Adam Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and the lead Democratic prosecutor. MORE TRUMP ATTACKS Before the Senate session even began, Trump repeatedly attacked Bolton on Twitter, saying he fired the hawkish Bolton last fall “because frankly, if I listened to him, we would be in World War Six by now.’' Trump also complained that after he left the White House — Bolton says he resigned — the longtime GOP aide “goes out and IMMEDIATELY writes a nasty & untrue book’’ that includes classified information. Asked if completing an impeachment trial without new witnesses would be a bad look for the Senate, Blunt said, “It’s for sure bad for democracy that the House didn’t do their job.” Still, Blunt said senators from both sides were paying attention and said the Senate “looked at everything the House sent over” on impeachment.