Veteran investigative journalist Carl Bernstein blasted Senate Republicans on the eve of their vote to determine whether or not witnesses will be allowed in President Trump’s Senate impeachment trial.
“The Senate of the United States, through the Republican leadership and membership, has now joined hands with a tyrant,” said Bernstein. “We now have a precedent that’s been set, especially if we’re going to follow this new catechism, this cult of Trump that professor Dershowitz has advanced, this catechism that he cannot abuse his power. So, totally different situation than what happened in Watergate, because in Watergate the real heroes were Republicans who stopped tyranny.”
Republicans and Democrats fiercely clashed over the prospect of new witnesses in the Senate trial. Sens. Susan Collins and Mitt Romney announced they will vote in favor of witnesses while Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander said he would vote against allowing new witnesses to address the body.
That leaves Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski as the key remaining Republican left to decide a crucial step for Democrats in the trial. If Murkowski sides with Democrats to allow witnesses, her vote would likely push the final count to an even 50-50 tie. Analysts suggest this hypothetical situation would allow Republicans to claim victory and block witnesses from appearing.
Bernstein, who helped uncover the Watergate scandal that ended President Richard Nixon’s term in the Oval Office, has called Trump’s impeachment trial a “cover-up” and said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has “impeded facts from the beginning.”
