Poll finds majority favors new evidence

Impeachment survey split along party lines

WASHINGTON – As senators argue over how to conduct the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, a majority of Americans say introducing new evidence should be allowed, according to a poll released Tuesday.

In a Monmouth University poll taken before the trial got underway, 57% of respondents say House managers should be able to present new evidence. Thirty- seven percent say they should be limited to evidence that was revealed in the House inquiry.

The support for allowing new evidence is split along partisan lines: 87% of Democrats are in favor and 24% of Republicans. Fifty- six percent of independents support allowing new evidence.

As part of a proposal by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, RKy., debate over whether to subpoena witnesses or request documents would come after the opening arguments and questions in the trial. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D- N. Y., said the proposal wouldn’t automatically allow House Democrats to admit their evidence into the record.

“Under this resolution, Sen. McConnell is saying he doesn’t want to hear any of the existing evidence, and he doesn’t want to hear any new evidence,” Schumer said.

The question of witnesses is one of the most contentious issues in the rules debate. Democrats want to call at least four witnesses, including Trump’s former national security adviser, John Bolton. Some Republicans said witnesses would be unnecessary.

Last week, documents provided by Lev Parnas, an associate of Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani, added to the record of the alleged pressure campaign to get Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden, one of Trump’s political rivals. Parnas was indicted on federal campaign finance charges.

Americans are split on whether Trump should be removed from office, according to the poll: 49% are in favor of removal, and 48% are opposed.

The survey of 903 adults was conducted Jan. 16- 20 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.3 percentage points.