The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Impeachment’s key players as trial nears
In a matter of days, the Senate is expected to launch its trial of President Donald Trump, and some principals in the process are busily staking their ground ahead of the historic event:
In a matter of days, the Senate is expected to launch its trial of President Donald Trump, and key players are preparing.
The congressional leadership
Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has said her chamber will vote to appoint House impeachment managers and transmit the two articles of impeachment — abuse of power and obstruction of Congress — by the end of the week despite no upfront agreement with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., on whether witnesses will be called.
Trump faces charges that he abused power by pushing Ukraine to investigate Democratic rival Joe Biden and then obstructed Congress.
The White House
Press secretary Stephanie Grisham on Monday reiterated Trump’s desire to have the impeachment case dismissed, saying “he did nothing wrong.”
“The president shouldn’t have to go through this,” Grisham said during an appearance on Fox News. “He did nothing wrong. He released transcripts willingly because he did nothing wrong.”
After tweeting his support for the notion of an “outright dismissal,” Trump returned to Twitter on Monday to mock Pelosi’s call for a “fair trial” in the Senate, saying “the Do Nothing Democrats, yet the Dems in the House wouldn’t let us have 1 witness, no lawyers or even ask questions. It was the most unfair witch-hunt in the history of Congress!”
Trump declined an offer to participate in the House Judiciary Committee’s impeachment hearings, which would have allowed his attorneys to suggest witnesses and ask questions of witnesses called by Democrats.
The senators
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has repeatedly argued that if Republicans do not support calling witnesses during the Senate trial, they will be participating in a “coverup.”
Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., said on CNN that “a fair trial includes hearing the witnesses who have direct knowledge of the president’s participation with the president of Ukraine and the coverup, potential obstruction of justice with Congress, and those witnesses need to testify in the Senate.”
But Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., took to Twitter to push back: “Those claiming Senate GOP going to hold trial without witnesses is lying: We are using same rules used in the [President Bill] Clinton trial,” Rubio tweeted.
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., said Monday that he is prepared to vote to dismiss the case and to vote for an acquittal if it moves forward. During an appearance on Hugh Hewitt’s syndicated radio show, Scott predicted that there would be no witnesses called at the trial and that it would end “within a couple weeks.”