President Donald Trump's legal team have insisted that he did "absolutely nothing wrong", calling the impeachment case against him "flimsy" and a "dangerous perversion of the constitution".
The brief from Mr Trump's lawyers, filed ahead of arguments expected later this week in the Senate impeachment trial, offered the most detailed glimpse of the lines of defence they intend to use against Democratic efforts to convict the President over his dealings with Ukraine.
It is meant as a counter to a brief filed two days ago by House Democrats that summarised weeks of evidence from more than a dozen witnesses in laying out the impeachment case.
The 110-page filing from the White House shifted the tone toward a more legal response but still hinged on Mr Trump's assertion he did nothing wrong and did not commit a crime even though impeachment does not depend on a material violation of law but rather on the more vague definition of "other high crimes and misdemeanours" as established in the Constitution.
It says the two articles of impeachment brought against the president, abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, do not amount to impeachment offences.
Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts swears in members of the Senate for the impeachment trial against US President Donald Trump. Source: Senate Television
It asserts that the impeachment inquiry centred on Mr Trump's request that Ukraine's president open an investigation into Democratic rival Joe Biden was never about finding the truth.
"Instead, House Democrats were determined from the outset to find some way - any way - to corrupt the extraordinary power of impeachment for use as a political tool to overturn the result of the 2016 election and to interfere in the 2020 election," Trump's legal team wrote.
"All of that is a dangerous perversion of the constitution that the Senate should swiftly and roundly condemn."
The prosecution team of House managers was expected to spend another day on Capitol Hill preparing for the trial, which will be under heavy security.
The US Capitol in Washington, DC Source: AAP
Opening arguments are expected within days following a debate over rules.
The White House brief argues that the articles of impeachment passed by the House are "structurally deficient" because they charge multiple acts, creating "a menu of options" as possible grounds for conviction.
The Trump team claims that the Constitution requires that senators agree "on the specific basis for conviction" and that there is no way to ensure that the senators agree on which acts are worthy of removal.
