Trump lawyers conclude Senate defense with call for acquittal

• "The president has done nothing wrong," White House counsel Pat Cipollone told the 100 senators who will decide Trump's fate with a vote on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON: White House lawyers concluded their defense of President Donald Trump at his historic Senate impeachment trial on Monday with a call for his acquittal of charges of abuse of power.

"The president has done nothing wrong," White House counsel Pat Cipollone told the 100 senators who will decide Trump's fate with a vote on Wednesday.

Cipollone denounced Trump's impeachment by the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives as "purely partisan and political."

"We put our faith in the Senate," he said.

"End the era of impeachment once and for all," the White House counsel urged senators, by rejecting the two articles of impeachment.

Cipollone said the Senate should "leave the choice of the president to the American people."

"We believe that they should choose the president," he said. "(Trump) is eager to go before the American people in this upcoming election."

The Senate is to vote at 4:00 pm (2100 GMT) on Wednesday on the charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress and the Republican president is all but certain of being acquitted.

Republicans hold 53 seats in the Senate to 47 for the Democrats, but a two-thirds majority, or 67 senators, is needed to remove a president from office.