Welcome to Thursday, January 30th, pro- and antagonists...

White House lawyer Alan Dershowitz argued that a quid pro quo in pursuit of reelection isn't impeachable.

"If a president does something which he believes will help him get elected in the public interest, that cannot be the kind of quid pro quo that results in impeachment," Dershowitz said.

House impeachment manager Adam Schiff (D-CA), incredulous over the above statement, responded: "All quid pro quos are fine, it's carte blanche? Is that really what we're prepared to say?"

The comments came during day 8 of the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump.

Today's trial will operate the same as yesterday's: Senators submit written questions that will be read aloud by Chief Justice John Roberts, who is presiding over the trial. The questions can be directed toward either the president’s counsel, the House managers, or both.

Here are some of the other key moments from Wednesday's session:

Republicans on the fence asked if senators should consider whether Trump had multiple motives when holding up aid to Ukraine. The response: "If there is any possibility, if there is something that shows a possible public interest and the president could have that possible public interest motive—that destroys [the Democrats'] case," said Patrick Philbin, deputy counsel to the president.
Dershowitz argued that removing Trump based on abuse of power would "destroy" the criteria for impeachment: "Bribery, a serious crime, or other high crimes and misdemeanors. Crimes or misdemeanors akin to treason and bribery. That's what the framers intended."
Schiff responded to the above: "If we are to interpret the Constitution now as saying that a president can abuse their power... None of the founders would have accepted that kind of reasoning."

How do you feel about the impeachment trial so far?

On the Radar

U.S. Population Grew Slowly in 2018-2019

The U.S. population grew by about 1.5 million people between July 1, 2018, and June 30, 2019, which continues the slow-but-steady growth experienced over the last decade but amounts to the smallest annual population growth since the 1940s.

Census data indicates that while births have been decreasing and deaths increasing gradually in recent years, population growth from immigration has fallen at a faster pace in the past four years.

The chart below, from USAFacts, illustrates the drivers of population growth from 2018 to 2019 in terms of natural change (like births and deaths) and migration.

PIC-U