Mitch McConnell may have just given Nancy Pelosi a strategic opening in the impeachment standoff
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) says he has the votes he needs, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) may still have the leverage.
McConnell announced Tuesday that Republican senators have enough votes to launch President Trump's impeachment trial without an agreement on witnesses with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and his Democratic colleagues.
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Bolton said Monday he'd be prepared to testify in the Senate trial if subpoenaed. With that in mind, Wittes wrote, McConnell's latest announcement may have provided Pelosi with a "strategic opening." Since a new witness is now saying he's available, Pelosi could theoretically announce she won't conduct the hand-off until Bolton provides testimony, and then have the House Intelligence Committee issue the subpoena instead. In this scenario described by Wittes, the House would hang on to the articles until Bolton testifies, while also retaining the right to pass superseding or amended articles of impeachment based off Bolton's testimony.
While not everyone agrees that Pelosi withholding the articles is a bad look for McConnell, Wittes doesn't think the senator wants it to play out this way. Tim O'Donnell
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