Washington, Jan 21 (AFP/APP): President Donald Trump’s lawyers submitted a trial brief Monday calling his impeachment by the House “a dangerous perversion” of the US constitution and demanding his immediate acquittal by the Senate. Almost simultaneously, House impeachment managers responded to an earlier Trump filing, saying the president had engaged in “corrupt conduct… to cheat in the next election” and that the Senate should remove him from office “following a fair trial.” The dueling briefs provided the most extensive look yet at the arguments taken by the opposing sides, as they seek to win over not just senators but the US public. The historic impeachment trial is set to open in earnest at 1 pm (1800 GMT) Tuesday, first with debate on what rules will govern the trial, overseen by the chief justice of the US Supreme Court, John Roberts. The two briefs came on what normally would be a quiet federal holiday, Martin Luther King Jr. Day. But the weeks to come will be anything but normal, as the Senate opens only the third presidential impeachment trial in US history. – ‘A rigged process’ – In the president’s brief, his 12-man legal team contested the very idea of his … Continue reading Trump brief assails impeachment, demands immediate acquittal