Just how much control will the Trump White House have over the Senate impeachment trial of President Donald Trump?
Consider this.
The White House Counsel, Pat Cipollone, just walked into Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's office. Chances are good it wasn't for a friendly game of checkers.
And Cipollone was accompanied by Eric Ueland, a former member of the Trump transition team who Trump tried to hand a top State Dept. job to but was forced to pull his nomination. A recent promotion has elevated him to now serving as the White House Director of Legislative Affairs, after spending years working for then-Senator Jeff Sessions.
One thing is clear: the Senate should not be working with the White House to pre-determine how the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump will be conducted or will play out.
Remember, it was just six says ago that Cipollone sent this angry letter to Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, effectively saying Trump and the White House would not participate in the House's impeachment hearings.
Cipollone called the impeachment inquiry "baseless." He insisted it was both a waste of time and should be done "fast" so Trump could win in the Senate.
Experts say Cipollone's December 6 letter in conjunction with his repeated refusal to hand over any documents or comply with congressional subpoenas may have forced the House to add the obstruction charge to the Articles of Impeachment.
Which apparently is where we are today.