President Donald Trump is spending the nights before the Senate vote on an impeachment trial rallying his base. The president will take the stage just hours after the House Intelligence Committee released a trove of documents from Rudy Giuliani's associate Lev Parnas.
According to the documents, Giuliani sent a letter to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky saying that he had spoken to the president and had the authorization to cut a deal on his behalf.
Trump’s lawyer went on to request a meeting prior to Zelensky being sworn-in, in his “capacity as personal counsel to President Trump and with his knowledge and consent.”
Trump is expected to criticize Democrats for challenging him on the authorization for the use of force against Iran. Trump and his team have bungled the explanation for the U.S. attack, at first saying embassies were under "imminent threat," then "some" embassies were being threatened, just 24 hours later there were four embassies under possible attack. After being criticized for the message evolution, Trump's top aides changed their comment to the killing of an Iranian general to be a "deterrent," which is not legally authorized for the executive branch to conduct without approval from Congress.
You can watch Trump's speech below in a video provided by PBS. It is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. EST, though the president often runs late.