Schumer says not allowing witnesses at impeachment trial would amount to 'a cover-up'

(Image credit: Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

published 17 December 2019

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is preparing to negotiate with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) over the impeachment trial for President Trump, and he's making one thing clear: he wants to hear from witnesses.

On Sunday, Schumer sent McConnell a letter informing him that Senate Democrats want four officials who refused to participate in the House impeachment inquiry to testify during the trial: acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, former National Security Adviser John Bolton, Mulvaney aide Robert Blair, and Office of Management and Budget official Michael Duffey. In a Monday press conference, Schumer once again stated how important it is to have the witnesses appear.

"The Senate and millions across the country are asking, what is the president hiding?" Schumer said. "Why doesn't he want the facts to come out?" Trials, he continued, "have witnesses. That's what trials are all about." Live testimony is "the best way to go," Schumer said, and for the trial to be fair, senators must "get all the facts. ... So to engage in a trial without the facts coming out is to engage in a cover-up. To conduct a trial without the facts is saying we're afraid. There is no reason on God's green Earth why they shouldn't be called and testify unless you're afraid of what they might say."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Explore More

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

Subscribe to The Week

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox