January 31, 2020
Should Republican senators want witnesses?
By Sam Greenfeld
Today could be the last day of the exhausting Senate impeachment trial, depending on whether a handful of moderate Republican Senators vote to hear additional witnesses. If the Senate decides that it has heard enough, they will then vote on removal of Donald Trump as president of the United States, which will undoubtedly fall far short of the 67 votes needed to evict him from the White House. While it seems that nearly all Republicans are uninterested in hearing additional testimony, many haven’t considered the tremendous upside that witnesses could bring to the GOP.
Republicans believe that they are winning the case, as there isn’t clear evidence that President Trump linked aid to Ukraine with calling investigations on Joe Biden. Plus, even if there was such a linkage, Republicans such as Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) say that wouldn’t be illegal nor impeachable. In a courtroom, the prevailing theory would be to end the trial and celebrate acquittal. If you’re winning, there’s no need to take any risks. But this is an impeachment trial and there are political implications. Senate Republicans are seemingly not considering the political benefits of calling witnesses, their only goal seems to be acquittal, as if this were a standard criminal trial.
The past few days have made it abundantly clear: the first witness for Democrats would be President Trump’s former National Security Advisor John Bolton and the Republicans' highest priority witness would be Hunter Biden, son of former Vice President Joe Biden. If these witnesses are called, the next phase would allow Republicans to run away with the lead.
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https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2020/01/should_republican_senators_want_witnesses.html
