Collins says she’s open to impeachment witnesses
WASHINGTON — Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine says she’s open to calling witnesses as part of the Senate impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, but she says it is “premature” to decide who should be called until senators see the evidence that is presented.
Collins also said it was inappropriate for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, to pledge “total coordination“between the
White House and the Senate during the impeachment trial.
“It is inappropriate, in my judgment, for senators on either side of the aisle to prejudge the evidence before they have heard what is presented to us,” Collins told Maine Public Radio in an interview Monday.
Senators take an oath to render impartial justice during impeachment — an oath lawmakers should take seriously, Collins said.
Collins, who is running for reelection and is considered one of the nation’s most vulnerable GOP senators, also faulted Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts for saying Trump should be found guilty and removed from office.
“There are senators on both sides of the aisle, who, to me, are not giving the appearance of and the reality of judging that’s in an impar
tial way,” she said.
Collins is the second Republican senator to criticize McConnell, who recently told Fox News he would be working “in total coordination with the White House counsel’s office and the people who are representing the president” during impeachment.
Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski said last week that she was “disturbed” by McConnell’s comments, adding that there should be distance between the White House and the Senate in how the trial is conducted.
“To me, it means that we have to take that step back from being hand in glove with the defense, and so I heard what Leader McConnell had said, I happened to think that that has further confused the process,” Murkowski said.