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. That leaves them facing a potential setback in their hope of ending the trial with a quick acquittal.
Trump’s defense team rested Tuesday with a plea to “end now,” but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell privately told senators he doesn’t yet have the votes to brush back Democratic demands for witnesses.
Those demands gained steam with John Bolton asserting in a forthcoming book that Trump tied military aid from Ukraine to investigations into Democratic rival Joe Biden.
Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina is against calling witnesses, speaking with reporters Tuesday he said, “I’ll make a prediction; they’ll be 51 Republican votes to call Hunter Biden, Joe Biden, the whistleblower and the DNC staffer at a very minimum.”
Sen. @LindseyGrahamSC on witnesses: "I'll make a prediction; they'll be 51 Republican votes to call Hunter Biden, Joe Biden, the whistleblower and the DNC staffer at a very minimum." pic.twitter.com/jpoJIfzg7k
— CSPAN (@cspan) January 28, 2020
Impeachment is giving Sen. Mitt Romney a big moment, again. He’s defying Republican leaders at President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial by insisting on witnesses, specifically former national security adviser John Bolton. The Utah senator was the 2012 GOP presidential nominee and is now a back-row Senate freshman. He may yet get his way on witnesses.
WATCH: Sen. Mitt Romney says "I'd like to hear from John Bolton" in the impeachment trial@MittRomney: "If you're going to have one side call witnesses, the other side ought to be able to do the same" pic.twitter.com/yRU1UoAXiF
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) January 28, 2020
Some Republicans want Romney to become an independent GOP voice in the Senate. But Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler says Romney “wants to appease the left by calling witnesses who will slander” Trump.
Meantime, President Trump is eager to show off a big policy win during his impeachment trial by signing into law a major rewrite of the rules of trade with Canada and Mexico. Trump made renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement a priority during his 2016 campaign.
