The White House defense team kicked off their opening arguments Saturday as part of the impeachment trial, telling senators President Donald Trump did "absolutely nothing wrong."

During a two hour presentation on the Senate floor, they painted the impeachment as political and partisan, aimed at overturning the 2016 election.

They criticized the House Democrat-led investigation as unfair to the president.

And they argued that Mr. Trump’s request for the Ukraine to investigate the Bidens was part of a genuine concern about corruption and not an attempt to smear a potential political rival.

"First, the president rightly had real concerns about whether European and other countries were contributing their fair share to ensuring Ukraine's security,” said Mike Purpura, a member of the White House defense team. “Second: corruption. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, Ukraine has suffered one of the worst environments for corruption in the world." 

Democrats, however, say Mr. Trump’s motives in calling for the Biden investigations were instead personal.

During their opening statements, they argued that the Trump administration's decision to withhold military aid was part of a scheme where the president applied pressure on Ukraine for his own benefit and not for the benefit of the public.

"The president invited Ukraine to get involved in our election to help him cheat against Joe Biden,” said Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., who is one of the House managers arguing the case on the Senate floor.

One big question lies ahead: will the Senate call additional witnesses and documents?

Repeatedly Saturday, the White House team argued the Democrats’ case is weak and based on witnesses without firsthand knowledge.

In doing so, Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer says the president’s lawyers only boosted the case for more testimony.

“They kept saying there are no eyewitness accounts. But there are people that have eyewitness accounts,” he said. “The very four witnesses and the very four sets of documents that we have asked for."

Democrats want to hear from folks like John Bolton, the former national security adviser.

The Senate returns Monday, at which point, the president’s team will have the chance to continue their opening arguments. They have roughly 22 hours left, though it is unclear if they will actually use all of the time allotted.

Tillis on Impeachment

North Carolina's two senators - both Republicans - are serving as jurors on the president's fate.

Last month, Sen. Thom Tillis described himself as a "definite no" on removing the president. In a series of Twitter videos this week, he panned the impeachment as a "sham." 

In a video posted Friday morning, he described the House Democrats as having a "weak case" and "certainly not one that rises to the level of removal of a president."

Tillis is up for re-election later this year, and has embraced the president as part of the campaign. Mr. Trump was featured prominently in his first ad.