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

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."

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When asked late Monday about calling witnesses, McConnell said he and Schumer will "be getting together, and we'll have more to say on that tomorrow."