Rep. Adam Schiff on impeachment in the Senate

The House has voted to send the articles of impeachment against President Trump to the Senate. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also named California Congressman Adam Schiff and Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren as two of the seven impeachment managers for the trial that’s expected to begin next week.

Rep. Schiff responded to criticism that delaying sending the articles of impeachment to the Senate for nearly a month undermines the urgency House leaders conveyed when they made sure to vote on the articles before Christmas.

“There's urgency because the president is trying to cheat in the next election,” Schiff says. “But you can't meet that urgency if essentially the Senate leader is going to cook the books and make sure there is no fair trial.”

Schiff also praised an influential group of Senate Republicans pushing the chamber to vote on whether or not to call witnesses as the proceedings unfold.

“I think it's encouraging that a number of Senators are willing to buck their leadership and say no,” Schiff says. “I would hope these Senators and others would be willing to stand up to their own leadership if necessary -- because their leadership is working hand-in-hand with the president -- and insist on both documents and witnesses."

Also on Tuesday, the House released a trove of new documents and evidence related to Lev Parnas, Rudy Giuliani, and their role in the Ukraine scandal.

"(Giuliani) was doing this with the consultation and approval of the president of the United States,” Schiff says. “And so if they're going to try to attempt to claim that Giuliani was acting on his own, this evidence directly refutes that."