The House has not voted on the articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump.
That fact has not stopped Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer from writing out his demands for the trial in his chamber.
Schumer asked Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to call the following as witnesses:
These four men refused to testify in front of the House committees. More than likely, the Republicans will not subpoena the witnesses unless they receive permission from the White House.
Schumer told McConnell that the Democrats would happily hear from “other witnesses who have ‘direct knowledge’ of the decisions behind delaying aid to Ukraine and asking the government in Kyiv to announce an investigation into Joe Biden and son.”
However, Schumer appears not to like the idea of having Hunter Biden testify in the trial
Schumer wants a similar structure to President Bill Clinton’s impeachment trial in 1999:
In keeping with the bipartisan spirit of the procedures adopted in the trial of President Clinton in 1999, and in order to advance what I believe are our shared objectives for the process in the trial of President Trump, Senate Democrats propose the following provisions for your consideration and in advance of our upcoming discussion. These provisions are modeled directly on the language of the two resolutions that set forth the 1999 trial rules. The rest of those resolutions passed the Senate by a vote of 100-0, and the second resolution, allowing House Managers to call witnesses, passed with the support of all Senate Republicans.Specifically, I propose that pro-trial housekeeping measures be adopted on Monday, January 6, 2020; that the swearing-in of the Chief Justice and Senators occur on Tuesday, January 2020; that after a period for preparation and submission of trial briefs, the House Managers be recognized on Thursday, January 9, 2020 to make their presentation for a period of not more than 24 hours, followed by the presentation by the President?s counsel, also for a period of not more than 24 hours.In the trial of President Clinton, the House Managers were permitted to call witnesses, and it is clear that the Senate should hear testimony of witnesses in this trial as well.
Other demands include:
Schumer also proposes “that the Senate issue subpoenas for a limited set of documents that we believe will shed additional light on the administration’s decision-making.” Finally, Democrats want 24 hours for both the president’s lawyers and the House impeachment managers to each give “opening presentations and rebuttals” to the Senate, along with 16 hours of questioning by senators, divided equally between the parties. Witnesses would be questioned for four hours per side; in Clinton’s trial, however, witnesses gave closed-door depositions.
McConnell has said that he will not negotiate in the public until he speaks in private with Schumer.
McConnell and many other Republicans want a speedy trial that would end before the Senate calls any witnesses.
If McConnell and Schumer cannot agree on anything, “the Senate will vote at each step of the process.”
McConnell only needs 51 of the 53 Republican senators to support each vote. He will likely butt heads with Susan Collins (ME), Lisa Murkowski (AK), and Mitt Romney (UT).
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