[ti:Historic Impeachment Trial of Trump Begins] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:01.12]The United States Senate officially opened the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump on Thursday. [00:10.16]It marks only the third time the legislative body has held such a trial in U.S. history. [00:21.08]Chief Justice John Roberts of the Supreme Court was sworn in to preside over the trial. [00:29.96]He then asked all senators to raise their right hands to take an oath [00:36.40]to "do impartial justice according to the Constitution and laws, so help you God?" [00:46.48]The U.S. Constitution says the chief justice serves as the presiding officer in the trial. [00:56.16]But only the 100 members of the Senate will pass judgement. [01:03.84]Earlier in the day, Democrats from the House of Representatives led by Adam Schiff [01:11.48]read the charges, or articles of impeachment, in the Republican-led Senate. [01:21.04]"With the permission of the Senate, I will now read the articles of impeachment," said Schiff. [01:29.76]"House Resolution 755 Impeaching Donald John Trump, president of the United States, [01:38.24]for high crimes and misdemeanors," Schiff began, reading the nine pages of the impeachment document. [01:49.52]Trump is charged by the House of Representatives with abuse of presidential power [01:56.16]by pressuring Ukraine to investigate Democratic opponent Joe Biden. [02:04.20]He is charged with withholding military aid to the country in exchange for an announcement of the investigation. [02:15.60]Trump is also charged with blocking the Congressional investigation. [02:22.76]The president has repeatedly called the House impeachment hearing a "hoax." [02:30.00]His administration has told its officials not to answer orders from the House for testimony and documents. [02:40.36]Before the Senate met, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) said Thursday [02:47.68]that the Trump administration had violated federal law in withholding military aid to Ukraine. [02:57.40]It said, "The law does not permit the President to substitute his own policy priorities [03:04.92]for those that Congress has enacted into law." [03:11.12]The GAO is an independent agency that reports to Congress. [03:19.40]On Wednesday, Schiff released new records from Lev Parnas about Trump's actions regarding Ukraine. [03:30.52]Parnas was working with Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani. [03:37.48]Parnas has claimed that Trump knew of his efforts to find information that could hurt his political opponent. [03:48.12]House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, said the new information shows the need for the Senate [03:56.96]to consider additional evidence about the president's actions toward Ukraine. [04:05.12]She suggested that a special government lawyer could investigate the issue. [04:13.48]The president has suggested that he would be open to a quick vote to simply dismiss the charges. [04:23.00]Last December, Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell [04:28.92]told reporters that impeachment is a political process and not a judicial process. [04:38.32]"The House made a partisan political decision to impeach," he said. [04:45.32]"I would anticipate we will have a largely partisan outcome in the Senate. [04:52.24]I'm not impartial about this at all." [04:55.76]Democrat lawmaker Adam Schiff told the Associated Press, "The challenge is to get a fair trial." [05:07.04]He noted, "It shouldn't be a challenge — if the senators are really going to live up [05:13.44]to their oath to be impartial, they'll want a fair trial." [05:20.48]Republicans control the U.S. Senate with a 53-47 majority. [05:28.60]However, it takes 51 votes during the trial to approve changes to the rules or to call witnesses. [05:40.04]It also takes 51 votes to dismiss the charges against Trump. [05:47.80]Several Republican senators, including Susan Collins of Maine, Mitt Romney of Utah, [05:56.16]Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Lamar Alexander of Tennessee [06:02.36]want to hear from more witnesses during the trial. [06:07.96]Romney said he wants to hear from former national security advisor John Bolton. [06:16.16]Several witnesses have said Bolton was worried about the actions of Giuliani, [06:22.68]the president's personal lawyer, in Ukraine. [06:27.84]Opening arguments are to begin next Tuesday after the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. [06:36.64]The historic trial will be a test of the Trump presidency as he is running for re-election. [06:45.16]It also is expected to be a test of the nation's three branches of power [06:51.72]and its constitutional system of checks and balances. [06:58.92]I'm Mario Ritter. 更多听力请访问51VOA.COM