Senate trial ‘should go very quickly,’ predicts President Trump

President Donald Trump predicted on Thursday that his impeachment trial in the US Senate will not take long and again dismissed the abuse of power charges against him as “a hoax.”

“I think it should go very quickly,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office as the upper chamber’s members were sworn in to serve as the jury in Trump’s historic trial over the Ukraine scandal.

“It’s totally partisan,” Trump said. “It’s a hoax. It’s a hoax and everybody knows It’s a complete hoax.”

Meanwhile, members of the US Senate were sworn in on Thursday to serve as jurors at the historic impeachment trial of President Trump.

US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, who will preside over the trial, administered the oath to the senators who will decide whether the president should be removed from office.

“Do you solemnly swear that in all things appertaining to the trial of the impeachment of Donald John Trump, President of the United States, now pending, you will do impartial justice according to the Constitution and the laws, so help you God,” Roberts said.

Senators in the chamber responded: “I do.”