Republicans have been saying that if former National Security Adviser John Bolton testifies at President Trump's impeachment trial, as Democrats want, they have a list of witnesses they would call in return, including former Vice President Joe Biden, his son Hunter, and the whistleblower whose since-verified complaint about Trump's actions with Ukraine sparked the impeachment investigation. Democrats say none of those witnesses are relevant to the charges against Trump, that he withheld military aid to Ukraine to force corrupt investigations of Biden, a top threat to his re-election.
So in Thursday's question period of Trump's impeachment trial, Sen. Amy Kloubuchar (D-Minn.) and Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) asked both House prosecutors and Trump's defense team if any of the witnesses Trump's lawyers might call "would have first-hand knowledge of the charges against the president and his actions?" Lead prosecutor Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said there are "absolutely" such witness, like acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, noting they have both issued statements that seek to exculpate the president.
"Now, the reason they're not on the president's witness list is because if they were truthful under oath, they would incriminate the president," Schiff said. "Otherwise they would be begging to have Mick Mulvaney come testify. ... Why don't they want their own people in? Because their own people will incriminate the president."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
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.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Trump lawyer Jay Sekulow said the people Schiff named are Democratic witnesses. He didn't explain why Trump's team doesn't want them to testify, but he did note that Republicans have the votes to call any witness they want without Schiff's permission. "I just think the irony of this," he said, "that we could call anyone we want, except the witnesses we want, but we can call their witnesses that they want."
It looks like the question might end up being moot, because Republicans appear to have the votes to block all witnesses.
-
Quiz of The Week: 25 – 31 OctoberQuiz Have you been paying attention to The Week’s news?
-
The week’s best photosIn Pictures A monstrous parade, a hungry tortoise, and more
-
The Week Unwrapped: Should we be eating less fat – or more?Podcast Plus who will benefit from the surprise Dutch election result? And how can art improve our health?
-
Senate votes to kill Trump’s Brazil tariffSpeed Read Five Senate Republicans joined the Democrats in rebuking Trump’s import tax
-
Border Patrol gets scrutiny in court, gains power in ICESpeed Read Half of the new ICE directors are reportedly from DHS’s more aggressive Customs and Border Protection branch
-
Shutdown stalemate nears key pain pointsSpeed Read A federal employee union called for the Democrats to to stand down four weeks into the government standoff
-
Trump vows new tariffs on Canada over Reagan adspeed read The ad that offended the president has Ronald Reagan explaining why import taxes hurt the economy
-
NY attorney general asks public for ICE raid footageSpeed Read Rep. Dan Goldman claims ICE wrongly detained four US citizens in the Canal Street raid and held them for a whole day without charges
-
Trump’s huge ballroom to replace razed East WingSpeed Read The White House’s east wing is being torn down amid ballroom construction
-
Trump expands boat strikes to Pacific, killing 5 moreSpeed Read The US military destroyed two more alleged drug smuggling boats in international waters
-
Trump demands millions from his administrationSpeed Read The president has requested $230 million in compensation from the Justice Department for previous federal investigations
