The White House has backed down from its demand to call a string of witnesses during President Trump’s Senate impeachment trial, according to senior Republican sources, who say a swift resolution is now the favored strategy.
Trump has previously demanded that Joe Biden and his son Hunter give evidence as part of a trial that he said would reveal the extent of the corruption in U.S. politics and confirm the need for him to “clean the swamp.”
The issue took on greater significance Monday with Trump’s former national security adviser John Bolton saying he was willing to appear if he was subpoenaed.
However, with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi having delayed sending articles of impeachment to the Senate and with tensions rising in the Middle East, GOP officials say the White House is in lock step with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who has been pushing for a swift resolution.
Although the president had initially pushed for a long, comprehensive trial that would ultimately clear him, a Republican leadership source said the White House had been persuaded of the case for a quick trial.
“It’s better just to get it over with,” he said, adding that developments in Iran and Iraq, where tensions have escalated during the past week with a U.S. drone strike that killed Tehran’s most senior military commander and anti-American demonstrations, made a speedy resolution even more vital. “With everything that’s going on in the Middle East, it’s irresponsible to keep this hanging on.”
White House officials said the decision of how to run the trial was up to the Senate, but they confirmed that the president’s preference was for a quick trial and a fast resolution.
“The president’s view is that this is a scam and the sooner we get it behind us and on to the real work of the American people, the better,” said the official.
“All Republicans are pretty much now on the same page that House Democrats bumbled it, and so the best move for everyone is to start the trial, have each side’s lawyers make the case, and then see at that point if there are witnesses to be called,” said a senior Republican figure. “But if not, just go right to a final motion.”
That means witnesses might still be called, but that decision will be left to a later stage, if it happens at all.
“I think it shouldn’t be prescribed at the start,” the source said. “That’s been a compromise on the White House side from where they’d be. They see the wisdom on that.”
The stance may also placate wavering Republican senators such as Susan Collins of Maine. She recently told a local radio station that she was open to hearing from witnesses but added, “I think it’s premature to decide who should be called until we see the evidence that is presented and get the answers to the questions that we senators can submit through the chief justice to both sides.”
The rules of the trial will be set by the Senate according to a simple majority vote. That means Democrats only need four defectors to shape the process, such as the procedure for calling witnesses, as well as the time allowed for opening statements and the protocol for asking questions.
The Democratic-controlled House has charged the president with abusing his power by asking Ukraine to announce a corruption investigation into Biden and his son. Democrats have been pushing for Bolton to give evidence, along with other senior figures, including acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney. They hope their testimony would include revelations damaging to Trump.
Nothing can happen until Pelosi sends the two articles of impeachment to the Senate.
“We can’t hold a trial without the articles,” said McConnell on Monday. “The Senate’s own rules don’t provide for that. So, for now, we are content to continue the ordinary business of the Senate while House Democrats continue to flounder. For now.”
