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GOP Lacks Votes to Block Witnesses 01/29 06:21
President Donald Trump's impeachment trial is shifting to questions from
senators, a pivotal juncture as Republicans lack the votes to block witnesses
and face a potential setback in their hope of ending the trial with a quick
acquittal.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Donald Trump's impeachment trial is shifting to
questions from senators, a pivotal juncture as Republicans lack the votes to
block witnesses and face a potential setback in their hope of ending the trial
with a quick acquittal.
After Trump's defense team rested Tuesday with a plea to "end now," Senate
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell privately told senators he doesn't yet have the
votes to brush back Democratic demands for witnesses now that revelations from
John Bolton, the former national security adviser, have roiled the trial.
Bolton writes in a forthcoming book that Trump told him he wanted to
withhold military aid from Ukraine until it helped with investigations into
Democratic rival Joe Biden. That assertion, if true, would undercut a key
defense argument and go to the heart of one of the two articles of impeachment
against the president.
"I think Bolton probably has something to offer us," said Sen. Lisa
Murkowski, R-Alaska.
Not in Trump's view. "Why didn't John Bolton complain about this 'nonsense'
a long time ago, when he was very publicly terminated," Trump tweeted shortly
after midnight. "He said, not that it matters, NOTHING!"
The uncertainty about witnesses arises days before crucial votes on the
issue. In a Senate split 53-47 in favor of Republicans, at least four GOP
senators must join all Democrats to reach the 51 votes required to call
witnesses, decide whom to call or do nearly anything else in the trial. Several
Republicans apparently are ready to join Democrats in calling witnesses.
The two days set aside for questions, Wednesday and Thursday, also allow
each side more time to win over any undecided senators pondering the witness
issue. In the meantime, all will have the opportunity to grill both the House
Democrats prosecuting the case and the Republican president's defense team.
Held to submitting written questions to be read by Chief Justice John
Roberts, senators are expected to dig into the big themes of the trial ---
among them whether what Trump did or may have done rises to the level of "high
crimes and misdemeanors" --- as well as pointed and partisan attacks on each
side's case.
Trump faces charges from Democrats that he abused his power like no other
president, jeopardizing U.S.-Ukraine relations by using the military aid as
leverage while the vulnerable ally battled Russia. Democrats say Trump then
obstructed their probe in a way that threatens the nation's three-branch system
of checks and balances.
The president's legal team tried to lock up its case Tuesday and convince
GOP senators that the president was right to ask Ukraine for investigations of
Biden and his son Hunter and was well within his power to block the aid. They
said he was not bound to abide by the congressional investigation.
Trump complained anew at a Tuesday night rally in Wildwood, New Jersey,
charging that "congressional Democrats are obsessed with demented hoaxes, crazy
witch hunts and deranged partisan crusades."
Trump attorney Jay Sekulow addressed the Bolton controversy head-on in
closing arguments by dismissing the former national security adviser's
manuscript as "inadmissible." Attorney Alan Dershowitz, the Harvard scholar,
said earlier that even if Bolton's story is true the actions don't rise to an
impeachable offense.
Senate Republicans spent considerable time in private discussing how to deal
with Bolton's manuscript without extending the proceedings or jeopardizing the
president's expected acquittal. That effort lost steam as Democrats showed no
interest, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer saying, "We're not bargaining with
them."
GOP senators were warned that if they agree to call Bolton or try to access
his manuscript, the White House will block him, likely sparking a weekslong
court battle over executive privilege and national security.
Nonetheless, Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah and Susan Collins of Maine appeared to
be backed by others in the move to seek more testimony.
Some Republicans including Sen. Pat Toomey want reciprocity -- bringing in
Bolton or another Democratic witness in exchange for one from the GOP side.
Some Republicans want to hear from Biden and his son, who was on the board of a
Ukrainian gas company when his father was vice president.
Those swaps, though, seem likely to fail as most Republican senators don't
want to call Bolton and most Democrats would rather avoid dragging the Bidens
further into the impeachment proceedings. The Bidens were a focus of defense
arguments though no evidence of wrongdoing has emerged.
"I don't know that the manuscript would make any difference in the outcome
of the trial," said Roy Blunt of Missouri, a member of GOP leadership. And some
Republicans said they simply don't trust Bolton's word. Sen. Rand Paul of
Kentucky called Bolton "disgruntled"' and seeking to make money off his time at
the White house.
But John Kelly, Trump's former White House chief of staff, told an audience
in Sarasota, Florida, that he believes Bolton.
White House officials privately acknowledge that they are essentially
powerless to block the book's publication but could sue after the fact if they
believe it violated the confidentiality agreement Bolton signed.
Trump and his lawyers have argued repeatedly that Democrats are using
impeachment to try to undo the results of the last presidential election and
drive Trump from office.
"What they are asking you do is to throw out a successful president on the
eve of an election," said White House counsel Pat Cipollone.
Democrats, meanwhile, say Trump's refusal to allow administration officials
to testify only reinforces that the White House is hiding evidence. The White
House has had Bolton's manuscript for about a month, according to a letter from
Bolton's attorney.
(KR)
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