The senate’s impeachment trial of President Donald Trump continues on Saturday, and citizens of the U.S. can tune in to watch developments live. Footage from inside the chamber is limited, but many news outlets are devoting the day to coverage and blow-by-blow analysis of the trial. Below are your options for keeping up with the historic news.
The U.S. senate convened at 10 a.m. ET on Saturday to continue the impeachment trial, which is entering a new phase this weekend. Raw footage from inside the senate chamber is provided by C-SPAN, a non-profit public service channel that shows national political events without editorialization. The impeachment trial can be watched on C-SPAN’s cable channel, the C-SPAN website or on other streaming platforms such as YouTube.
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For those looking for a little more contextualization throughout the trial, most major news outlets are devoting Saturday to impeachment coverage. CBS News will have the trial on TV, streaming on CBS All Access and on platforms like YouTube, as well. It will also be on Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, ABC News and PBS, with various other livestreams available online, many of them free.
Even those away from home can watch, as many news outlets are providing free streams of the platform on social media. C-SPAN, Time, Reuters and many others are broadcasting the trial on Twitter, Facebook and even Instagram in some cases.
It is worth noting that the coverage of the impeachment trial is heavily restricted. According to a report by The Washington Post, the footage from inside the senate chamber is provided by government cameras, as even the usual C-SPAN teams are banned from the trial. This is why the coverage has mostly consisted of one continuous shot of the podium at the front of the room.
There are no other recording devices allowed inside the chamber, including still photography. According to the Post‘s Margaret Sullivan, “there can be little doubt that these restrictive rules are the brainchild of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell,” the republican senator from Kentucky. His goal, she argues is to “make the trial seem as boring and pallid as possible.”
Even some of the senators in the chamber have expressed frustration with these restrictions, including New Mexico Senator Martin Heinrich.
“To place limitations on the press is to place limitations on the American people’s ability to learn about the character and conduct of their elected leaders,” Heinrich wrote in a letter to the Senate’s sergeant at arms.
The impeachment trial began live at 10 a.m. on Saturday. It may go late into the night, depending on how quickly the senators reach decisions.
