ALEXANDER DECISION ON WITNESSES COULD BRING ACQUITTAL

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS YES SEN. LAMAR ALEXANDER NO

WASHINGTON — Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee declared late Thursday he will oppose calling more witnesses in President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial, all but dashing Democratic efforts to hear more testimony and boosting chances the Senate will vote quickly to acquit the president.

The retiring senator announced his decision by releasing a statement after senators finished a long question-and-answer session with the House Democrats prosecuting the charges and Trump’s lawyers defending the president. It’s a career-capping move by the 79-year-old lawmaker and former governor with a centrist streak in GOP politics.

At the same time, another key Republican, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, said she would vote for more witnesses, but it would take four GOP senators to break with the majority and join with Democrats to tip the outcome.

Alexander, Collins and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska were playing an over-sized role in the final hours of debate with pointed questions ahead of crucial votes. Another, Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, has made clear he will vote for witnesses.

“There is no need for more evidence,” Alexander said in his statement.

While he said it was “inappropriate” for the president to ask Ukraine to investigate political rival Joe Biden, he said the House charges, even if true, “do not meet the Constitution’s ‘treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors’ standard for an impeachable offense.”

Collins said she wanted both sides, the House Democrats prosecuting the case and the president’s defense attorneys, to agree on “a limited and equal number of witnesses for each side. If they can’t agree, then the Senate could choose the number of witnesses.”

A vote on witnesses, expected Friday, could lead to an abrupt end of the trial with the expected acquittal. Or, now less likely, it could bring days, if not weeks more argument as Democrats press to hear testimony from former national security adviser John Bolton and others.