“Under the Constitution he has to be there for it, but I think at every turn he will look for ways to have as small a footprint as possible,” said Adam White, director of the C. Boyden Gray Center for the Study of the Administrative State at the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University…

“He is very, very wary of the courts being seen as being brought into a political process,” White said…

But in the day-to-day conduct of the trial, the presiding officer is always front and center. If senators have a question, they must submit it in writing to the chief justice and he will read it aloud. He can also rule on motions made by either side.

And if things get unruly, he will be pulled into the maelstrom. Trump is nothing if not unpredictable and drawn to provocation, and it’s impossible to know what curve balls he might throw at the Senate during an impeachment trial.