Raskin asks senators to practice 'common sense'
After roughly 10 hours of arguments, lead House impeachment manager Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., wrapped opening arguments for the group acting as prosecutors in the Senate trial against Trump.
"Mr. President, members of the Senate, first of all, thank you for your close attention and seriousness of purpose that you've demonstrated over the last few days. Thank you, also, for your courtesy to the House managers as we've come over here -- strangers in a strange land -- to make our case before this distinguished body," Raskin said with a light smile.
He reminded senators of their oaths to render impartial justice and walked them through their constitutional duties. He also reminded them that the Senate has already voted that the trial is constitutional, so their final votes on conviction should be based on the facts his team presented, not on whether they agree with the trial.

"Senators, I've talked a lot about common sense in this trial, because I think, I believe that's all you need to arrive at the right answer here," Raskin said. "When Tom Payne wrote 'Common Sense,' the pamphlet that launched the American Revolution, he said that common sense really meant two different things."
"One, common sense is the understanding that we all have, without advanced learning and education, common sense is the sense accessible to everybody. But common sense is also the sense that we all have in common -- as a community. Senators, America, we need to exercise our common sense about what happened," Raskin said, reaching out to Republicans in a divided Washington.
"Let's not get caught up in a lot of outlandish lawyers' theories here. Exercise your common sense about what just took place in our country," he said.



Raskin closed by telling the chamber, "Good luck in your deliberations."





