Chris Wallace Says McConnell ‘Backed Down’ on Rules: Indicates Witnesses ‘More Up for Grabs’ Than We Thought

Fox News anchor Chris Wallace said the changes made today in the Senate impeachment trial rules show very clearly that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell “backed down” — and that it may signal that the likelihood of calling witnesses is higher than people assume.

There were some procedural changes made to McConnell’s resolution on the rules, apparently in response to concerns raised by some senators like Republican Susan Collins:

More Collins’ spox: “Her position has been that the trial should follow the Clinton model as much as possible. She thinks these changes are a significant improvement.”

— Leigh Ann Caldwell (@LACaldwellDC) January 21, 2020

Wallace said the changes aren’t really “that big a deal,” noting the other change about admitting House evidence.

But he said it speaks to something notable that McConnell backed down at all:

Why did they make this change of the very last-minute? Because clearly, there were four Republican senators, at least four, who were concerned about it, who said, ‘Why do we have to rush? Why do we have to do this until 1:00 in the morning? It makes us look bad. Why are we saying with all the evidence that they have accumulated in the house is not admissible right at the start? So, I think it’s for her to assume that the only reason that Mitch McConnell backed down — and he did back down, which is very rare for him — is because at least in his early procedural motion, there were at least four senators, four Republican senators, who said, ‘Let’s soften this a little bit.’ It doesn’t mean they’re not going to pass this eventual motion, I think they will, it doesn’t say anything about witnesses in the end, but it does indicate that the whole question of witnesses is more up for grabs in many of us thought.

You can watch above, via Fox News.