Who are the key Republican players in the Senate impeachment trial?

WASHINGTON – Though the scope and the timeline of President Donald Trump’s Senate impeachment trial remain uncertain, several Republicans have emerged as key players in both defending the president and deciding his fate. 

The House of Representatives voted Wednesday to impeach Trump, who became only the third U.S. president to be impeached. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said he believes there is “zero chance” the GOP-led Senate will remove Trump from office. 

Democrats approved articles of impeachment charging Trump with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. They accuse the president of soliciting foreign interference in the 2020 election by asking Ukraine to investigate his political rivals.. During a phone call July 25, Trump urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, whose son Hunter  once sat on the board of a Ukrainian energy company. Trump said he did nothing improper and has called the impeachment inquiry a “hoax.”

McConnell and Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., were expected Thursday to discuss parameters of the trial, which would likely take place in January. As the focus of the impeachment saga shifts to the Senate, the president’s lawyers, defenders and even some moderate Republicans who could vote against him are stepping into the spotlight. 

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