Schiff raises ire saying Trump threatened senators

Closing out their case, House Democrats warned Friday in Donald Trump's impeachment trial that the president will persist in abusing his power and endangering American democracy unless Congress intervenes to remove him before the 2020 election.

During his closing remarks, Rep. Adam Schiff, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, recounted reports that GOP Senators were warned that if they voted against the president during the impeachment trial their head would be on a pike.

"That is completely, totally false," said Republican Oklahoma Senator James Lankford.

"None of us have been told that by the president, there is no implication of that at all," he said.

Democrat Senator Sherrod Brown, from Ohio, told reporters that Republicans were protesting too much about Schiff's comments.

"We know he (Trump) attacks politicians and others by name," Brown told reporters. "And we know that there is fear of him throughout the Republican caucus."

The Democratic prosecutors ended their presentation just before 9 p.m. EST, with Schiff in the well of the Senate making one final plea to senators to ensure witnesses are called to testify.

Trump is being tried in the Senate after the House impeached him last month, accusing him of abusing his office by asking Ukraine for politically motivated probes of Biden and other matters while withholding military aid from a U.S. ally that was at war with bordering Russia.

A second article of impeachment accuses him of obstructing Congress by refusing to turn over documents or allow officials to testify in the House ensuing probe.

As Democrats finished their third day before skeptical Republican senators, Trump's legal team prepared to start his defense, expected on Saturday