Pelosi to send impeachment articles to Senate
Trump continues to insist he would block testimony from Bolton
WASHINGTON— Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the U.S. House of Representatives will take steps next week to transmit the articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump, ending a three-week standoff but confronting the Senate with only the third trial in U.S. history to remove a chief executive.
In a letter to her Democratic colleagues, Pelosi said Friday she was proud of their “courage and patriotism,” and warned that senators now have a choice as they consider the charges of abuse and obstruction against the president.
“In an impeachment trial, every Senator takes an oath to do ‘impartial justice according to the Constitution and laws,’ ” she wrote. “Every Senator now faces a choice: to be loyal to the President or the Constitution.”
The House voted Dec. 18 to impeach Trump, and the trial could begin next week. The constitution gives the House the sole power to impeach a president and the Senate the ability to render a verdict when it convenes as a court.
Pelosi’s decision to end the showdown with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell does not fully bring closure to the question of whether the Senate will consider new witnesses, as some want, shifting pressure on senators to decide.
Trump swiftly signalled his intention of blocking any testimony from John Bolton, the former national security adviser who could be a wild-card witness in the trial. He has said he would appear before the Senate if he received a subpoena.
At the same time, a key centrist, GOP Sen. Susan Collins, whose vote is among those most watched, announced Friday she was in discussions with other Republicans on a strategy that would allow the Senate to hear new testimony.
While the rules of a Senate trial remain unsettled, the outcome is not. Trump is widely expected to be acquitted of the charges that he abused power by pressuring Ukraine to investigate Democratic candidate Joe Biden, then obstructed Congress in its investigation. No president has ever been removed by the Senate.
“Ridiculous,” Trump told Fox News’ Laura Ingraham about the Speaker’s gambit. “Nancy Pelosi will go down as the least successful Speaker of the House in the history of our nation,” he said.
Asked if he would invoke executive privilege to block Bolton’s testimony, Trump said, “Well, I think you have to for the sake of the office.” McConnell, who has been working closely with the White House on strategy, said Friday afternoon that the Senate is “anxious to get started.”
Republicans have the leverage, with a slim 53-47 Senate majority, if McConnell can keep GOP senators on board with his strategy.
So far, they are supportive of modelling the trial after the one used in the last presidential impeachment, of Bill Clinton, 20 years ago. It set out a path for starting the trial and voting on witnesses later.