The impeachment trial begins its proceedings in the Senate today amid accusations of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell attempting to rush the impeachment process.

Senators will have 16 hours for questions and four hours for debate, after 24 hours for opening arguments on each side.

Democracy Now! speaks with Rick Perlstein, historian and author, and Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.

Clarke says that thanks to the rules set by McConnell, Trump’s impeachment trial could be over within a week, with much of the debate taking place in the evening. The process is designed “to keep the Senate and the public in the dark,” she says.

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Amy Goodman Civil Rights Under Law Democracy Now! Donald Trump Free Speech TV impeachment Impeachment Trial Kristen Clarke Mitch McConnell Rick Perlstein United States