The hundred senators who will decide whether President Donald Trump will be removed at the end of the impeachment trial on Thursday managed to sit for about twenty minutes and listen to the Democrats' arguments against him.
Deputies slowly began to go out to the Republican and Democratic dressing rooms behind the Senate hall, where they can make phone calls and check whether they have received emails and text messages.
Lawmakers began "walking" not long after House of Representatives member Adam Schiff, a leading Democrat arguing against Trump, thanked them for their attention during the twenty hours in the first two days of the process.
"I'm not sure the chief justice is fully aware of how rare and extraordinary it is for members of the House to hold the attention of sitting senators for hours, or even minutes," Schiff said, referring to John Roberts, who is presiding over the proceedings. Although they receive a warning from Senate security every morning, members of both parties are not following the rules to sit and not talk during the trial until it's time for jurors to vote on Trump's fate.
The rules also prohibit bringing mobile phones into the hall, and only two types of drinks are allowed: water and milk.
In the event that they "fall out of sugar", the saving solution is a table with sweets, a tradition that dates back to 1965.
The practice, introduced by then-Senator George Murphy, Republican of California, is still in place.
The table full of chocolate bars is currently overseen by Senator Patrick Toomey, a Republican from Pennsylvania, who has held the key post since 2015.
At Bill Clinton's 1999 trial for lying about an affair with former intern Monica Lewinsky, Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania did the "sweet" job of waiting the table.
Some Republicans who remained seated found another way to pass the time - with a toy known as a fidget spinner that was handed out at a private lunch before the hearing.
The Trump trial is a challenge for Democrats vying for their party's nomination because it ties them to Washington as primary voting approaches in Iowa and New Hampshire.
In the Senate, which is controlled by the Republicans, the Democrats announced yesterday, in their capacity as prosecutors, on the last day of arguments, that Trump inappropriately interfered in the congressional investigation into his dealings with Ukraine.
Democratic managers from the House of Representatives are trying to convince senators and the American public that Trump is guilty of obstruction of Congress for withholding key witnesses and documents in the investigation.
The Democratic-dominated House of Representatives impeached Trump last month on that charge and a separate allegation that he abused his position by allegedly trying to force Ukraine's government to smear former Vice President Joe Biden, the front-runner for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.
The Senate trial, the third such trial in US history, will decide whether Trump will be removed from office, less than ten months before he faces re-election.
Trump denies the allegations, and Republican allies argue that his actions do not have enough weight to impeach him.
Once the Democrats finish presenting their arguments, Trump's real team has up to 24 hours over three days to present their defense. A two-thirds vote is needed to remove him, and Senate Republicans are expected to clear him.
The president complained yesterday that his lawyers would have to start presenting their arguments today, when no one is watching television.
Adam Schiff said Trump has used US foreign policy for personal gain and that if he is not removed, it will open the door for "a lot of damage" in the coming months.
"That's why you have to find him guilty, because the truth matters. Otherwise, we are lost," Schiff said in his closing remarks on Thursday.
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