The Senate began a rare presidential impeachment trial on Thursday without an agreement on whether to call witnesses whose testimony could be critical to helping lawmakers decide whether to vote to remove President Trump from office.
But Democrats plan to force a vote on witnesses as soon as they can.
The two parties each have witness wish lists for a trial that will weigh whether Trump abused the power of his office and then obstructed Congress when it tried to investigate.
Republicans don’t want to decide on witnesses up front. They first want to hear the case presented by House impeachment managers, followed by White House lawyers who are defending the president. Senators would then have a chance to ask written questions because the trial rules prohibit them from speaking. Under the GOP plan, it could be weeks before lawmakers vote on whether to call witnesses.
Republicans will vote unanimously this week to pass a resolution setting these terms for the trial.
But Democrats plan to force a vote on witnesses right away, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, said. “We expect we will have votes on these witnesses Tuesday,” he said last week.
Democrats are likely to lose a vote on witnesses at the trial outset. Still, at least a few Republicans said they’d be willing to consider witnesses after hearing from prosecutors and the defense.
Democrats want to call former national security adviser John Bolton, who said he has information about Trump’s decision to withhold $391 million in security aid from Ukraine temporarily.
Their witness list also includes acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and two other administration officials with knowledge of the decision to withhold the Ukraine security aid. Bolton said he would testify if summoned by the Senate, although Trump said he’d utilize executive privilege to block Bolton’s testimony.
Democrats are also seeking three sets of documents related to Trump’s July 25 call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Trump, during the call, asked Zelensky to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden’s role in the removal of a Ukrainian prosecutor who was looking into a Ukrainian gas company that employed his son, Hunter Biden.
Democrats said their case for witnesses and documents had been bolstered by the Government Accountability Office ruling that the decision to withhold much of the Ukraine aid was illegal.
“The GAO report has underscored the importance of having relevant fact witnesses and documents,” Schumer said. “You don’t have a fair trial if you don’t get all the evidence.”
Republicans are warning Democrats that White House lawyers defending the president will insist on their own set of witnesses. They’d like to summon Hunter and Joe Biden to ask about the elder Biden’s role in the firing of the Ukrainian prosecutor.
Trump’s defense team is preparing a list if senators vote to summon witnesses. Trump has said he wants to hear testimony from Joe Biden, Hunter Biden, and the anonymous whistleblower whose complaint about the July 25 call launched the impeachment proceedings. Trump also wants to summon House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, a California Democrat and one of the impeachment managers.
Republicans accuse him of coordinating with the whistleblower to orchestrate the case for an impeachment investigation.
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is weighing a vote that would allow testimony from witnesses sought by both sides.
“I don’t imagine any scenario where the White House gets shut out when it comes to witnesses,” Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, said.
