'Vindictive' president threatened him on Twitter, says Adam Schiff

WASHINGTON • The House lead impeachment manager, Representative Adam Schiff, has accused United States President Donald Trump of trying to threaten him on Twitter and urged Republican senators to find the "moral courage to stand up" to a "wrathful and vindictive President".

Mr Trump, writing on Twitter on Sunday morning, attacked Mr Schiff as "a CORRUPT POLITICIAN, and probably a very sick man", warning: "He has not paid the price, yet, for what he has done to our country!"

It was an extraordinary back-and-forth between a member of Congress and a sitting president, coming at a turning point in Mr Trump's impeachment trial on charges of high crimes and misdemeanours - the third presidential impeachment trial in American history.

Mr Schiff's comments, on the NBC programme Meet the Press, came as Mr Trump's legal team planned to resume its defence of the President when the Senate reconvened yesterday at 1pm.

"Look at the President's tweets about me today saying that I should pay a price," Mr Schiff said on Meet the Press.

"Do you take that as a threat?" asked Mr Chuck Todd, the show's host. "I think it's intended to be," the Congressman replied.

White House spokesman Stephanie Grisham told Fox News Channel she had not spoken to Mr Trump about the tweet but, "I think he means he hasn't yet paid the price with the voters".

Mr Schiff has been under fire from Republicans for mentioning a news report during the trial that alleges that the White House had threatened to put their heads "on a pike" if they voted to convict.

He doubled down on that claim on Sunday, saying that he merely meant it would require fearlessness on the part of the senators.

Once Mr Trump's defence team wraps up its case, senators will have an opportunity to ask questions and then vote on whether to call witnesses or subpoena new documents.

Unless at least four Republicans join Democrats to vote to expand the scope of the proceedings, the trial could wrap up as early as this week with Mr Trump's expected acquittal.

At least two Republican senators - Ms Susan Collins of Maine, who is running for re-election this year, and Mr Mitt Romney of Utah, elected in 2018 - appear to be leaning towards calling witnesses.

But Mr Trump, in an interview that aired on Fox News' Sunday Morning Futures, said doing so could be "very bad" for Republican senators who are up for re-election.

"I think it would be very bad for the Republican Party if we lost that great unity that we have right now," Mr Trump said in the interview, which was taped at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. "Some of them are running, and I think it would be very bad for them."

Democrats have been pushing for four witnesses - including Mr John Bolton, Mr Trump's former national security adviser, and Mr Mick Mulvaney, the acting White House chief of staff - over the strong objections of Senator Mitch McConnell, the majority leader.

Some Republicans are floating the idea of a witness swop in which they would call either former vice-president Joe Biden or his son Hunter, both of whom Mr Trump wanted Ukraine to investigate, even though neither has direct knowledge of Mr Trump's behaviour.

Democrats have opposed such a move, and Mr Schiff suggested on Sunday that Chief Justice John Roberts, who is presiding over the trial, should rule on that question.

"We have a very capable justice sitting right behind me who can make decisions about the materiality of witnesses," Mr Schiff said.

NYTIMES, REUTERS