White House: Impeachment articles are "an affront to the Constitution"

The White House on Monday has asked the Senate to “swiftly reject” the articles of impeachment against President Trump, calling them "an affront to the Constitution and to our democratic institutions."

Why it matters: The 110-page legal brief is the first glimpse into the president's defense strategy. In it his lawyers argue that neither of the two articles is valid because they do not constitute a violation of the law and only punish the president for expressing his constitutional powers.

Thought bubble, via Axios' White House reporter Jonathan Swan: "This is why the Trump team brought Alan Dershowitz into the mix. They want to establish the idea that even if everything the Democrats allege in their articles were true — something they obviously won’t concede — they still wouldn’t rise to the level of impeachable offenses."

Go deeper:

• House impeachment managers call on Senate to "conduct a fair trial"
• What's next in the impeachment witness battle
• Inside Trump's impeachment strategy: The national security card
• Dershowitz claims abuse of power is not an impeachable offense even if proven