Sekulow, Schiff Argue Over Calling Witnesses at Senate Trial: They Want to Make This Into a ‘Circus’

President Donald Trump’s personal attorney Jay Sekulow and House Manager Adam Schiff (D-CA) clashed heads Monday night over whether or not the Senate should call witnesses.

The question posed to Sekulow was: “If House managers were certain it would take months to litigate a subpoena for John Bolton, why shouldn’t the Senate assume lengthy litigation and make the same decision as the house made, reject a subpoena for John Bolton?”

Sekulow responded to that by warning if the Senate calls for witnesses, the body trial will be a “lengthy proceeding with a lot more witnesses,” while floating the idea that if Bolton is called the flood door of witnesses would be released.

“And the fact is that if, in fact, we are to go down that road of a witness or witnesses that had national — in the case of Ambassador Bolton, high-ranking NSA, this is an individual that’s giving the president advice at the highest level, the Supreme Court’s been very consistent about that,” Sekulow began.

Sekulow then underlined the rights of Trump’s “privileges” held as president with his advisors.

“That’s where privileges are at their highest level. The presumed privilege, actually, what is the Supreme Court has said. In a situation like this, I think we’re going down a road, if the Senate goes this road, of a lengthy proceeding with a lot more witnesses. Then I want to ask this question, and just plant it as a thought. Is that going to be the new norm for impeachment?” Sekulow continued.

“Because what they’re doing what they’re saying, is basically, well, we have enough to prove our case, that’s what manager Schiff says, but not really. So we really need more evidence, not because we need it, because we want it. But we didn’t want it bad enough when we were in the house, so we didn’t get it. So now you issue the subpoena, then let’s duke it out in court and see what happens.”

Sekulow then likened the proceedings in the Senate to that of the democrats acting “like this is some municipal traffic court proceeding.”

Schiff responded to Sekulow swiftly by calling out the president’s team for their wanting to open up the flood doors to witnesses.

“I think we can all see what’s going on here. And that is, if the House wants to call witnesses, if you want to hear from a single witness, if you want to hear what John Bolton has to say, we are going to make this endless. We, the president’s lawyers, are going to make this endless. We promise you we’re going to want Adam Schiff to testify, we’re going to want Joe Biden to testify, Hunter Biden, we’re going to want the whistleblower, we’re going to want everyone in the world if you dare, if you have the unmitigated temerity to want witnesses in a trial, we will make you pay for it with endless delay,” Schiff stated.

Schiff then continued to lay into Sekulow’s statement by exposing their argument over wanting to make witnesses into a circus where the proceedings become endless.

Schiff continued, “The Senate will never be able to go back to its business. That’s their argument. How dare the House assume there will be witnesses in a trial. Shouldn’t the House have known, when they undertook its investigation, that the Senate was never going to allow witnesses? That this would be the first impeachment trial in the history of the republic with no witnesses?”

“So Mr. Sekulow wants me to testify. I’d like Mr. Sekulow to testify about his contacts with Mr. Parnas, or Mr. Cipollone about his efforts to implement the president’s fight on all subpoenas. I’d like to ask questions of the president, put him under oath. But we’re not here to indulge in fantasy or distraction. We’re here to talk about people with pertinent and probative evidence.”

Schiff then praises Justice Roberts for his meticulous attention to detail while also adding that “the president’s counsel is threatening.”

“You know something? I trust the men behind me sitting way up who I can’t see right now, but I trust him to make decisions about whether a witness is material or not, whether to out a whistle-blower or not, whether a particular passage in a document is privileged or not. It’s not going to take months of litigation. Although that’s what the president’s counsel is threatening,” Schiff continued.

“They’re doing the same thing to the Senate they did to the house. Which is, you try to investigate the president, you try to try the president, we will tie you and your entire chamber up in knots for weeks and months. And you know something? They will if you let them.” Schiff concluded.

Watch above, via CNN.