Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said he will call for votes to request documents and for four witnesses Democrats want to testify in a Senate trial weighing impeachment articles against President Trump.
“We will, at the very minimum, require votes for all of the senators for each of the witnesses and the sets of documents,” Schumer said Monday.
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The New York Democrat said during a hastily arranged news conference in his home state that he is rejecting a Republican proposal that would allow senators to hear the House impeachment case and a rebuttal by Trump’s lawyers before deciding what to do next. Schumer said the proposal would provide “nothing new” to the proceedings and said Democrats “are not going to stand for that.”
Democrats said they want the Senate to agree to subpoena acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and former national security adviser John Bolton. Schumer is also seeking testimony from Michael Duffy, a top official at the Office of Management and Budget.
Duffy’s emails turned up in a Center for Public Integrity report on Monday. The emails showed Duffy calling on the Defense Department to withhold the security aid two hours after a July 25 call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in which Trump asked Zelensky to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, now a top political rival, and efforts by 2016 Democrats to undermine his presidential campaign.
“If there was ever an argument that we need Mr. Duffy and others to come testify under oath and an argument that we need documents related to Mr. Duffy’s action, this is it,” Schumer said.
The witnesses and documents, Schumer said, “will shed light on who ordered the aid cut and why they ordered it.”
The House impeached Trump last week on two articles, charging him with obstruction of Congress and abuse of power related to his decision to withhold $391 million in aid to Ukraine.
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, said Monday he wants to follow the same model used during the impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton. Senators did not decide on witnesses until after hearing opening arguments from the Democrats and a defense by Clinton’s lawyers.
Senate Democrats control 47 votes. Schumer would need to find at minimum four Republicans to side with his party to come up with the 51 votes needed to call witnesses. No Republicans have pledged to vote to call for witnesses yet.
Some Senate GOP lawmakers would like to call their own witnesses, including Hunter Biden, the son of Joe Biden who took a lucrative job with a Ukrainian gas company while his father was vice president. Hunter Biden’s job and alleged efforts by Joe Biden to protect his position are the source of the corruption allegations Trump was asking Zelensky to investigate.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, is coordinating with Schumer in demanding the witnesses and documents. She has refused to send the articles to the Senate until favorable terms are agreed on for a trial.
“We can’t do anything until the speaker sends the papers over, so, everybody, enjoy the holidays,” McConnell said on Fox News.
