A new portion of the President’s trial is underway in Washington where Senators can ask questions to the House Managers and the Trump Defense Team.

Among the Senators doing the asking is New York’s Kirsten Gillibrand.

“I think it’s a very important part of the trial, it’s an opportunity for us to push back on the arguments on both sides, to make sure we fully understand the facts,” said Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand.

But the ground rules dictate Senators continue to remain silent, so each juror has been given a card to ask questions through Chief Justice John Roberts.

“One of the questions I want to ask today is specifically about what is the normal course of action for if you do withhold congressionally approved aid? I don’t think President Trump followed the normal procedure, I want to know if aid has been withheld in other instances and whether procedure was followed in those instances,” said Gillibrand.

“I did not think Ken Starr made an effective presentation. I thought most of his argument was quite rich coming from him given that he said this is the era of impeachment and if anybody started that era it was him,” said Gillibrand.

Further adding to the day’s drama is Lev Parnas, a former associate of Rudy Giuliani who’s indicted for campaign finance violations and was also trying to get through to the Senate.

The President claims he doesn’t know Parnas despite photos and videos to the contrary. Parnas and his attorney say they want to testify.

“I said a lot and I think a lot has been proven with my evidence that I’ve turned over to the House. So the thing is that I would love to do it under oath, and I welcome all of them, I welcome Rudy to come and testify, I welcome the President to come testify. I don’t know if any of it could change some of their minds but hopefully the public will know what’s going on and hopefully maybe, if we get some witnesses and they really hear the truth, maybe their conscience will overwhelm them,” said Former Rudy Giuliani Associate Lev Parnas.

Gillibrand says she’s interested.

“He has obviously relevant testimony on the basic facts of these allegations and I would like to hear from him directly,” said Gillibrand.