Senate denies new Trump impeachment trial witnesses
US SENATORS last night voted not to call any new witnesses in Donald Trump’s impeachment trial, sparing the president an uncertain and politically dangerous extension to proceedings.
A move for fresh witnesses and evidence was rejected by 51 votes to 49, with just two Republicans backing the move. The Democrats needed four rebels for it to pass.
The decision means that John Bolton, Mr Trump’s former national security adviser who made claims about issues central to the trial, will not be called to reveal what he knows.
Chuck Schumer, the most senior Democrat senator, said the decision was a “tragedy on a very large scale” and called it “one of the worst days” in the Senate’s history.
Mitch Mcconnell, the Republican Senate leader, released a statement saying most senators agreed enough evidence had been heard and it was time to “end this impeachment trial”.
Mr Trump gave no reaction on Twitter in the immediate aftermath of the decision as he travelled down to his Florida golf resort of Mar-a-lago.
The decision ends a major political headache for Mr Trump, with the prospect of a lengthy trial with evidence never heard before now over.
The president is expected to be acquitted of the two articles of impeachment he faces within days, leaving him in office and free to seek a second term in November’s election.
The Democrats, who hold 47 of the Senate’s 100 seats, needed to attract four Republican rebels to get enough votes to open up the trial to new witnesses. In the end they won over just two – Mitt Romney, the former Republican presidential nominee and Utah senator, and Susan Collins, the moderate from Maine facing re-election this year.
Two other key waverers – Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Lamar Alexander of Tennessee – had announced before the vote that they would not be supporting new witnesses.
Close to midnight on Thursday, Mr Alexander said that while he thought Mr Trump’s actions were “inappropriate” they were not bad enough to remove him from office so close to an election.
Around lunchtime yesterday, Ms Murkowski said the two impeachment articles were “rushed and flawed” and also criticised the process, saying: “Congress has failed.” The announcement of the vote was greeted with total silence in the Senate chamber. Mr Schumer got up and left the Senate floor as soon as the outcome was read out. He told TV cameras moments later: “If the president is acquitted with no witnesses, no documents, the acquittal will have no value because Americans will know that this trial was not a real trial.”
Mr Mcconnell said in a statement that senators will discuss how to conclude the trial “in the coming days”. Some 67 of the 100 senators would have to vote for Mr Trump’s removal for it to take effect, something which is all but certain not to happen.
In the 48 hours before the vote, there were signs that Mr Trump was pivoting away from the trial and beginning to focus on his re-election battle.
As senators on Capitol Hill debated his fate, Mr Trump spent Thursday evening in Iowa – the state which will vote for the Democratic nominee on Monday – where he held a rally.