TUESDAY, Jan. 14 – The House released documents that show Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani requested a private meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelenskiy with “Trump’s knowledge and consent”—a claim Trump denied to reporters on Jan. 16. The documents came as part of evidence turned over to investigators by Lev Parnas   – an associate of Giuliani under federal indictment on campaign finance charges. Other documents released by Parnas show communications between him and Ukrainian prosecutor Yuriy Lutsenko complaining about the Trump administration not firing the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch.

  WEDNESDAY Jan. 15 – The House of Representatives voted to send articles to impeachment—charging President Donald Trump of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress—to the Senate. The move came after Speaker Nancy Pelosi named the House managers for the Senate trial. The seven legislators who will prosecute the case against Trump are: Reps. Jason Crow, Val Demings, Sylvia Garcia, Hakeem Jeffries, Zoe Lofgren, Jerry Nadler and Adam Schiff. Parnas said Trump knew about the communications with Ukraine in a bombshell statement. 

THURSDAY, Jan. 16 – Articles of impeachment read to the Senate, officially initiating the third impeachment trial in American history. The Senate swore in Chief Justice John G. Roberts to preside over the trial, who then administered the same oath to senators. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has yet to deliver a resolution regarding trial procedures, but Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said the vote for witnesses will likely be forced on Tuesday. Former National Security Adviser John Bolton and White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney are among proposed witnesses, but Republicans and Democrats have been split on the role of witnesses in the trial.Ceremonial functions of the impeachment trial were conducted before the Senate adjourned for the long weekend, with the official commencement set to begin next Tuesday. Outside of the Capitol Building, the General Accountability Office concluded the White House violated the law when military aid was frozen to Ukraine.

  FRIDAY, Jan. 17 – Trump expanded his defense team to include famed prosecutors Kenneth Starr, Robert Ray and Alan Dershowitz.  

             SATURDAY Jan. 18 – Trump officially responded to the charges of impeachment against him, with his legal team claiming the charges to be illegitimate and an attempt to hurt Trump’s chances in the 2020 election.

THE WEEK AHEAD: On Jan. 20, Trump’s trial brief is due. On Jan. 21, the House’s rebuttal to the president’s brief is due and the trial will officially kick off. Depending on the content of McConnell’s resolutions, a forced vote on trial witnesses may occur.