CNMI Rep. Corina Magofna has little hope for a fair impeachment trial of Gov. Ralph Torres in the Senate.

"What can I say? At this juncture, It is what it is," she said during today's impeachment hearing. At issue -- Torres's motion to dismiss the articles of impeachment.

Magofna could've been the House prosecutor, but the trial is moving forward without one and without an Impeachment record after failed negotiations to amend the Senate's rules.

"It is not the Senate's doing that we're proceeding on without an Impeachment prosecutor," Senate President Jude Hofschneider said. He's also the presiding officer of the senate impeachment trial.

Also noticeably absent are Sen. Justo Quitugua and Vinnie Sablan, who is Torres' running mate -- both recusing themselves from all hearings due to conflicts of interest. The public interest is overwhelming, with over two hours of public comments at the start. One person called the process political crucifixion.

"I am here to respectfully and sincerely ask you to please issue your vote of 'no' to move forward with this impeachment," CNMI resident Rosemary said.

"Please, please, please, let us decide our governor, not the House democrats or independents," Lorraine, another resident said.

House lawmakers also filled the gallery for public comments of their own, challenging the Senate's actions and accusing them of not playing by their own rulebook and allowing the governor to file a motion to dismiss outside of the written timeline. Democratic lawmaker Tina Sablan, who is running for governor and whose own ethics is being questioned for her role in the House's investigation, weighed in.

"It is classic deflection but also revealing," she said. "It shows so much about the governor's lack of actual defenses against the volumes of evidence pointing to his abuses of power and misuses of public funds."

And the governor's private attorney, Anthony Aguon, didn't pull punches, painting a picture of failure by the House, alleging a rush to judgment, House overreach, and side-stepping the law.

"All of the articles of impeachment lodged against Gov. Torres repeatedly break the law," he said. "Any one of these violations, to be clear, they are not technicalities, they are direct violations of the law."

Hofschneider made clear a decision on the motion won't be made today.

Meanwhile, the governor faces parallel legal battles in court challenging a legislative subpoena and facing criminal charges filed by the attorney general.

The session will hold a session at 10 a.m., Friday to decide on the motion to dismiss.