Leader Schumer, In Letter To Leader McConnell, Puts Forward Structure For A Fair And Honest Bipartisan Impeachment Trial In Senate; Schumer Proposed-Trial Structure Would Require Specific Documents And Testimony From Four Key Witnesses | Senate Democratic Leadership
Specifically, Leader Schumerâs proposal would, among other things, establish that the Senate:
- Begin with pre-trial housekeeping measures adopted on Monday, January 6, 2020; swearing-in of the Chief Justice and Senators occur on Tuesday, January 7, 2020; House Managers presentations begin on Thursday, January 9, 2020;
- Provide 24 hours to each side for opening presentations and rebuttals and 16 hours for questioning by senators evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats;
- Issue subpoenas for Robert Blair, Senior Advisor to the Acting White House Chief of Staff; Mick Mulvaney, Acting White House Chief of Staff; John Bolton, former National Security Advisor; and Michael Duffey, Associate Director for National Security, Office of Management and Budget to testify. All four of these witnesses were asked to testify in the House impeachment inquiry but did not appear;
- Schumerâs letter says that Democrats are open to hearing the testimony of additional witnesses having direct knowledge of the Administrationâs decisions related to the delay in security assistant funding to Ukraine and its requests for certain investigations to be announced by the government of Ukraine, if the Presidentâs Counsel or House Managers wish to call such witnesses.
- Issue subpoenas for a specific, limited list of documents that will shed additional light on the Administrationâs decision making regarding the delay in security assistance funding to Ukraine and its requests for certain investigations to be announced by the government of Ukraine;
- The documents will include communications between administration officials about the withholding of the Ukraine military assistance and its requests for certain investigations to be announced by the government of Ukraine.
- Allow for witnesses to testify and be examined for up to four hours by each side; and
- Upon the conclusion of final arguments, the Senate will begin up to 24 hours of deliberations.
The full text of Leader Schumerâs letter to Leader McConnell can be found
here and below:
McConnell: âLetâs quit the charadeâ of impeachment impartiality, shall we?
âAll Iâm asking of Schumer is that we treat Trump the same way we treated Clinton.â
Does anyone really think senators on either side of the aisle are impartial about Donald Trump and the House impeachment?
Come on man, Mitch McConnell told
Fox & Friends this morning. If Senate Democrats were truly concerned about impartiality, the Senate Majority Leader said, theyâd have no trouble adopting the same rules for the upcoming impeachment trial that got adopted 100-0 twenty years ago for Bill Clintonâs trial.
Besides, which Senate Democrats have demurred on publicly commenting on Trumpâs alleged guilt?
âDo you think Chuck Schumer is impartial? Do you think Elizabeth Warren is impartial? Bernie Sanders is impartial? So letâs quit the charade. This is a political exercise. ⌠All Iâm asking of Schumer is that we treat Trump the same way we treated Clinton.
âWe had a procedure that was approved 100 to nothing â Schumer voted for it, to go through the opening arguments, to have a written question period, and then, based upon that, deciding what witnesses to call. We havenât ruled out witnesses. Weâve said letâs handle this case just like we did with President Clinton. Fair is fair.â
This is a very good response to allegations that McConnell is engaging in undue partisanship. The Senate has a bipartisan precedent for handling an impeachment trial. If Schumer is
truly interested in impartiality, then he should have already accepted McConnellâs offer to simply adopt those as the rules for this trial as well. Schumer needs to explain why those rules were fine for Clinton but not for Trump.
At this point, at least, nothingâs moving â and McConnell says nothing will before Nancy Pelosi gets around to sending over the articles of impeachment. The longer that takes, McConnell warns, the more voters will be wondering why they rushed into impeachment in an election year:
MCCONNELL was asked if he had spoken to Schumer: âYeah, before we left town. Look, weâre at an impasse. We canât do anything until the speaker sends the papers over, so everybody enjoy the holidays.â
âTHE AMERICAN PEOPLE, if they think this is a very significant episode, can take it into account weâre voting this year. Most people that I run into, whether they are fans of the president or not, say, âWell, why donât you just let us decide this? Weâre in the middle of the election.ââ
Not only have Senate Democratsâ most prominent members been anything
but impartial, but they havenât explained why voters shouldnât just make this decision. In the end, theyâre stuck with it anyway:
Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Cali.)
endorsed impeachment on Twitter a few hours ahead of the vote, and that wasnât even her first time in doing so. In last monthâs Democratic presidential debate,
three of her Senate colleagues running for the nomination endorsed impeachment as well â Sens. Amy Klobuchar, Elizabeth Warren, and Bernie Sanders. Warren said she would exhort Republicans to convict, and Harris referred to Trump as âa criminal living in the White House.â Ginsburgâs impartial jury pool is thinning out on both sides of the aisle.
The demands for impartiality are really just a smokescreen for an impeachment debacle borne out of hyperpartisanship and personal animosity. What began as a politicized stunt will eventually end in a politicized stalemate, and voters will have the last word. As they should.
McConnell believes that Pelosi will send the impeachment articles soon enough, calling the delay âan absurd position.â Thatâs almost certainly true, since there is nothing to be gained by the delay and a lot to lose for Democrats who are watching
support for impeachment drain away. If Pelosi wants to hold onto those articles, McConnell would be delighted to use the Senateâs time to confirm more judges to the federal bench. That would make for âhappy holidaysâ at the White House, indeed.