Trump Impeachment Trial Turns Into Debate Over Bolton Testimony
By Ken Bredemeier, Kenneth Schwartz January 29, 2020
U.S. President Donald Trump's impeachment trial quickly turned into a debate Wednesday over whether his former national security adviser John Bolton should be called as a witness.
"There's no way to have a fair trial without witnesses," Congressman Adam Schiff, the lead House of Representatives manager prosecuting Trump, told the 100 members of the Senate acting as jurors.
He said there was "no question about the president's motivation" in asking Ukraine to investigate a key 2020 Democratic rival, former Vice President Joe Biden, to benefit himself politically, at the same time blocking release of $391 million in military aid Kyiv wanted.
In this image from video, House impeachment manager Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., answers a question during the impeachment trial…
But with Trump's repeated denial of a quid pro quo with Ukraine – military aid for the politically tinged investigation – Schiff said it "makes it all the more sense to call a witness who knows what happened."
Bolton, who often met with Trump until the president ousted him from his security post last September, claims in the new book "The Room Where It Happened" that Trump told him directly last August he wanted the Biden investigation before he would release the defense assistance Kyiv wanted to help fight pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.
"Don't wait for the book to find out what (Trump's) motivation was," Schiff said.
But a Trump lawyer, deputy White House counsel Patrick Philbin, accused the Democratic-controlled House of approving two articles of impeachment against Trump in a "hurried, half-baked, partisan fashion" and that to call witnesses now "could drag (the Senate trial) on for months."
"This institution gets derailed," Philbin said, preventing the Senate from normal legislative work.
Philbin said that if impeachment of U.S. presidents "becomes that easy, (the House will) do it all the time. It's a very dangerous precedent."
The Senate is voting Friday on whether to subpoena witnesses, including Bolton and other key Trump aides, which could significantly extend the length of the trial.
But Republican leaders are hoping to reject Democrats' bid for their testimony and then move quickly to acquit Trump by week's end. Trump's case is only the third presidential impeachment trial in the country's history.
Senate Republicans and Democrats alternated submitting written questions to the House managers and Trump lawyers that were read by Chief Justice John Roberts, who is presiding over the trial. The questioning is planned to last for 16 hours over two days, before the crucial Friday debate on whether to call Bolton as a witness.
At the outset, the Republican and the Democratic lawmakers directed their questions almost entirely to their side of the political aisle.
Bolton's possible testimony looms large after details from his upcoming book surfaced this week. The issue of Trump's request to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy for the Biden investigation is at the center of the two articles of impeachment Trump faces – whether he abused the presidency by seeking the investigation to benefit himself politically, and obstructed congressional efforts to investigate his Ukraine-related actions.
Trump, however, released the military assistance in September without Zelenskiy launching the Biden investigation, proof, Republicans say, that Trump had not engaged in a reciprocal quid pro quo deal with Kyiv.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a staunch Trump supporter, conceded Tuesday that he does not yet have the firm votes needed to block Democrats from calling witnesses and extending the trial.
The 47 Senate Democrats looking to call Bolton and others as witnesses need four Republicans to join them in a simple majority vote.
Trump has railed against Bolton since the allegation from his book became known.
Late Tuesday, Trump said on Twitter, "No matter how many witnesses you give the Democrats, no matter how much information is given, like the quickly produced Transcripts, it will NEVER be enough for them. They will always scream UNFAIR. The Impeachment Hoax is just another political CON JOB!"
Hours before the trial resumed Wednesday, Trump made the unfounded claim that Bolton had not objected contemporaneously about Trump's overtures for the Biden investigation. "Why didn't John Bolton complain about this 'nonsense' a long time ago, when he was very publicly terminated. He said, not that it matters, NOTHING!" Trump tweeted.
According to testimony during the House of Representatives' impeachment investigation, Bolton had voiced his concerns about Trump withholding the aid and asking for the Biden investigation to several White House officials, at one point calling it a "drug deal" he wanted no part of.
Trump urged Republicans to stand strong against the call for witnesses, tweeting, "Remember Republicans, the Democrats already had 17 witnesses, we were given NONE! Witnesses are up to the House, not up to the Senate. Don't let the Dems play you!"
In the question-and-answer sessions, the House managers and Trump lawyers had five minutes to respond to the numerous queries. In the impeachment trial against former President Bill Clinton two decades ago, when he was accused of lying to a grand jury about a sexual relationship, senators asked more than 100 questions before later acquitting Clinton.
While the two sides asked questions supporting their own viewpoint of the proceedings, Republicans could yet target Schiff about his initial contacts with the still-unidentified government intelligence official who first disclosed Trump's request to Zelenskiy for the Biden investigation. Republicans also could attack the House Democrats for what they say was the unfairness in the way they conducted their investigation.
Meanwhile, Democrats could ask Trump's lawyers why they consider it acceptable behavior for a U.S. president to ask a foreign government for an investigation of an American political rival. Biden leads some national polls as the favorite of Democratic voters to oppose Trump in next November's national election.
The question-and-answer process will continue Thursday, before the chamber proceeds to a four-hour debate on witnesses Friday.
Several moderate Republican senators, including Mitt Romney, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski, have said they may be interested in hearing Bolton and others testify. Other Republicans have said they see no need for calling witnesses and want to acquit Trump as soon as possible, perhaps exonerating him before he delivers his annual State of the Union address to Congress next Tuesday.
Trump's lawyers say he had the right to withhold the military aid because he was concerned about Ukrainian corruption and wanted Europe to pitch in more to help Ukraine fight Russian-backed separatists. Last week, over three days of arguments, Democrats contended that there is "overwhelming evidence" of Trump's guilt and called for his removal from office.
However the debate plays out over witnesses, Trump remains almost certain to be acquitted.
A two-thirds vote in the 100-member Senate is needed to convict Trump and remove him from office. But with Republicans holding a 53-47 majority and no Republican calling for his ouster, Trump is all but assured of being exonerated.
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