Thanks for joining us for our live coverage of day four of the impeachment trial.

What could be the final day of proceedings begins tomorrow at 10:00 EST/15:00 GMT - and we'll be back here for it.

You can catch up on the latest here.

Some of the key moments from today:

• Trump's defence team finished their presentation in just over three hours today; they argued Trump told supporters to be peaceful and that accusing him of incitement was a "monstrous lie"
• The former president's counsel said Trump was exercising his First Amendment right to free speech when he questioned the election
• They argued that Democrats also used words like "fight", showing off an 11-minute video montage of just that
• Trump's team also said the attack was pre-planned by rioters, so Trump could not have incited it
• Senators finished asking questions of both sides today. In one exchange, when asked whether Trump didn't care about Pence's safety that day, the former president's counsel said he did not know the answer and blamed House managers for not investigating the matter. Democrats said the defence team should stop blaming the House
• As a final order of business, the Senate offered their thanks to Officer Eugene Goodman, who helped lead rioters away from the upper chamber, and are to award him a congressional gold medal

Today's editors and writers were Tom Spender, Jessica Murphy, Tom Geoghegan, Ashitha Nagesh, Sam Cabral, and Ritu Prasad.

The trial has ended for today and it went rather speedily.

Over the course of the day, we saw the Trump legal team present its case and both sides undergo a question-and-answer session with their jurors in the Senate.

Barring a request for more witnesses, the only thing left in the trial is the closing arguments.

Tomorrow - likely the trial's final day - resumes at 10:00 EST (15:00 GMT).

The question and answer session has just wrapped.

Another order of business is now presented by leader Chuck Schumer: awarding a congressional gold medal to Eugene Goodman, the Capitol Police officer lauded as a hero.

This is met with loud applause from the chamber.

Schumer says it's not just Goodman, but all of the law enforcement officials who worked to protect lawmakers.

"Let us give them all the honour and recognition they so justly deserve." More applause follows.

Before they vote on awarding that medal, Republican counterpart Mitch McConnell also gives a short speech thanking officer Goodman in particular, and others.

If not for him, McConnell says, "people in this chamber may not have escaped unharmed. Officer Goodman's actions reflect a deep personal commitment to duty".

Read our profile of Eugene Goodman here.

Have you heard Americast yet?

Hosted by our correspondents Jon Sopel and Emily Maitlis, the latest episode dives into the central question of this week's impeachment trial: did Trump's language incite the riots at the Capitol?

To do that, they spoke to Georgia elections official Gabriel Sterling, a Republican who publicly warned people could end up dead because of Trump's false election claims.

You can listen and subscribe to Americast on the free BBC Sounds app, which is available worldwide.

Samantha Granville
BBC News, Capitol Hill

Most people enjoy a Friday night beverage of wine or beer, but here on the Senate Floor, Senator Romney is ringing in the weekend with a cold glass of chocolate milk.

And it was quite a thirst quencher for him as he chugged it. Quickly!

Milk and water are actually the only two drinks allowed on the Senate floor.

Since senators spend so much time talking, they are more prone to a dry mouth, which is why water is allowed. In a filibuster though, where Senators can talk for hours at a time as a stalling tactic, they need more than water to get through.

So, there is an exception in "Riddick's Senate Procedure," a compendium of guidelines written by a former Senate parliamentarian that allow milk on the Senate floor.

A question from Louisiana Republican Senator Cassidy notes that by 14:15 on 6 January, Trump should have been aware of the riot. But he then tweeted that Pence "lacked courage" and did not call for law enforcement.

So did Trump not care that Pence was in danger, Cassidy asks?

Trump's lawyer Van der Veen responds first. He says he disputes the "premise of the facts laid out in that question"

"Unfortunately, we're not going to know the answer to the facts in this proceeding because the House did nothing to investigate what was going on."

Van der Veen adds: "I have no idea and nobody from the House has given us any opportunity to have any idea but Mr Trump and Mr Pence have had a very good relationship for a long time."

He's sure, therefore, that Trump was concerned for Pence and everyone else in the Capitol.

Lead manager Raskin takes the question for the prosecution.

"[Trump's] counsel keep blaming the House for not having the evidence that's within the sole possession of their client, who we invited to testify last week," Raskin argues.

He says the former president was invited to explain what happened, but House managers received a "contemptuous response".

"Rather than yelling at us," Raskin concludes, "bring your client up here and have him testify under oath about why he was sending out tweets denouncing the vice-president while the vice-president was being hunted down by a mob that wanted to hang him."

Senators have four hours to ask questions of the two sides in this trial.

And we are now into the second hour.

So far, most Democratic Senators have asked questions of the House impeachment managers - from their party - and most Republican Senators have asked questions of the Trump defence team - representing the former leader of their party.

A few questions - particularly the ones posed to both sides - have seen fiery exchanges between the two legal teams.

But the Q&A portion looks unlikely to change many minds and the trial is quickly heading toward a conclusion.

Once this session ends, the two sides will make their closing arguments and then vote on whether Donald Trump is guilty of inciting an insurrection or not.

Image source, Getty Images

Republican Senators Lindsey Graham, Ted Cruz and Mike Lee paid a visit to the Trump defence team yesterday and today, US media report.

The meetings have drawn some criticism from across the aisle as senators are meant to be impartial jurors in an impeachment trial.

Sources told CNN and the Washington Post they have been advising them on their legal approach.

According to the Post, external, David Schoen - one of the attorneys - said they spoke about "how this format goes, you know, the question-and-answer period, all that... and then just talking about where they’re from and all that".

Anthony Zurcher
BBC North America reporter

A question about whether Trump actually won the election gives House impeachment manager Barbara Plaskett a chance to talk about how politicians of all stripes have to learn how to lose elections - and most do so gracefully.

"I lost my first election. I stayed in bed for three days," she said. "We do what we need to do and we move on."

The question gave Trump attorney Bruce Castor a chance to attack the questioner, Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

"Who asked that question?" asked the lawyer, to groans from Senate Democrats.

His own opinion, said Castor, was irrelevant. The issue before the Senate was whether Trump incited an insurrection.

And the Trump team's answer was he didn’t.

It looks like the final vote to convict or acquit could come on Saturday.

The Democrats have an uphill battle persuading 17 Republicans to join them in exercising the ultimate sanction on a (former) president.

Here are some of the senators to watch.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, European Photopress Agency

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Anthony Zurcher
BBC North America reporter

Republican Senators Mitt Romney and Susan Collins just posed one of the more interesting queries – to both sides – so far during the trial’s four-hour question time.

When Donald Trump sent a disparaging tweet about Mike Pence, they asked, did he know that the vice-president had been removed from the Senate chamber by Secret Service for his safety?

Answering for the impeachment managers, Congressman Joaquin Castro said that the president must have known that Pence was being threatened by the mob.

The violence was being broadcast on national television, the White House has the extensive communications facilities and the president himself had just been informed by Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville that Pence had been evacuated during a phone conversation the two had at roughly the same time.

Responding for Trump’s defence, lawyer Michael van der Bleen said Trump did not know.

He added that the House Democrats had done no investigation into the matter during their “rushed” impeachment proceedings and, besides, Trump’s actions during the Capitol riot were not included in the impeachment article, which dealt with inciting an insurrection.

The question - from two Republicans who are likely to vote to convict - gets to the heart of the case against the former president.

Did Trump’s actions during the riot - including his condemnation of Pence - indicate that he knew that violence was likely and that he welcomed and encouraged them?

The House impeachment managers insist the answer is yes.

On Tuesday, Lousiana Senator Bill Cassidy was one of only six Republicans who voted with Democrats to move forward with the trial.

He explained to reporters that House impeachment managers had made a persuasive case on Tuesday - day one of the trial - and he wanted to hear them out.

But, as our correspondent Jon Sopel notes, it looks like Cassidy has since made up his mind that Donald Trump should be acquitted in this trial.

Or has he?

His office told CNN that Cassidy remains undecided “and is reviewing memos from both points of view as part of his thought process before coming to a conclusion”.

Seventeen Republicans will need to turn against their former president to convict him

Tara McKelvey
BBC News, Washington

Paige Harding, a Republican supporting college student in Lawrence, Kansas, sees both trials - the impeachment of Trump from a year ago and the one today - as a waste of time.

Still, her view of impeachment has changed, in one sense.

She does not believe Trump will run for office again, and so he is no longer an issue.

As a University of Kansas senior, she thinks members of Congress should instead focus on the economy.

“I’d rather have them spend their time helping to make sure I can get a job when I graduate,” she told me.

Other Midwesterners share her views, saying both impeachments were unnecessary.

“No new facts have emerged,” says David Kensinger, a political operative in Topeka, Kansas, describing the current proceedings. “Seems like largely a non-event.”

For Harvey Joe Sanner, a farmer in Arkansas, though, the most frustrating thing about the two impeachments has been the following: the Senators do not have enough votes to convict.

“Trump is guilty as hell,” Sanner says. Yet the impeachments have failed.

“It’s just a matter of politics,” he says. “And that’s very unfortunate.”

And so it begins. Answers are limited to five minutes each (if the question is directed to both counsel and House prosecutors, the time will be split).

Democratic leader Senator Chuck Schumer is first to submit a question on behalf of himself and Senator Feinstein.

He asks the impeachment managers: "Isn't it the case that the violent attack and seige on the Capitol on January 6th would not have happened if not for the conduct of President Trump?"

"To answer your question very directly, Donald Trump summoned the mob, he assembled the mob and he lit the flame," answers Democratic Congressman Joaquin Castro.

"Everything that followed was because of his doing. And though he could have immediately and forcefully intervened to stop the violence, he never did."

The senators are back. Now comes the period of questioning.

Senators aren't allowed to ask their own questions aloud - instead, they submit them in writing to Senator Leahy, who is presiding over the session, and then he has his clerk read them out.

Our reporter Samantha Granville, who is in the Senate chamber today, says sources do not believe the full four hours will be used.

Samantha Granville
BBC News, Capitol Hill

Image source, EPA

Republican senators have been criticised this week for not paying full attention during the impeachment managers' presentations, and coming and going as they pleased throughout the last two days. At one point yesterday there were 15 empty Republican seats.

Today though, only three Republican seats were empty and the members of the party seemed much more attentive.

Senator Cassidy was taking good notes, and Senator Rand Paul chuckled when the video of Maxine Waters challenging Electoral College results played.

Meanwhile, Democrats on the other side of the chamber were mostly silent during the video - aside from a few whispers here and there. Senator Elizabeth Warren, who made many cameos in it, seemed to just stare ahead, grasping her pen tightly.

Image source, Reuters

Senators will now have up to four hours to submit written questions for both sides.

Lawmakers have already had the chance to start writing and turning in their questions on notecards. (You can see what these look like in Fox reporter Chad Pergram's tweet below.)

These will be answered on the Senate floor over the coming four hours.

There will then be an option to request a debate and a vote on whether witnesses should be called.

Assuming there are no witnesses, as both Republicans and Democrats are said to favour a speedy trial, we could see a vote on conviction as early as tomorrow - a month to the day Trump after was impeached by the House.

Anthony Zurcher
BBC North America reporter

At times, Trump’s defence presentation felt like it was drawn from the conservative media ecosystem that fueled the former president’s political rise.

The video montages – frequently featuring the same handful of clips packaged in different ways, accompanied by foreboding music and rapidly edited scenes of fire and violence – would seem familiar to regular viewers of evening opinion programmes on Fox News.

The clips featured many of the Democratic politicians who have become villains for the right – Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi and Ayanna Pressley – as well as media figures like CNN’s Chris Cuomo and Hollywood stars such as Madonna and Johnny Depp.

Trump’s defence also used lengthy excerpts of Trump speeches, some of which included attacks on Republicans as well as Democrats to cheering crowds, as if to remind the Republican senators sitting in judgement of the support Trump still enjoys within the Republican Party.

It could also be an attempt to shore up that Trump base after two days of attacks from the Democrats.

This case isn’t just about the law, after all. It’s about politics.