Senate Democrats Get Absolutely Destroyed for Nixing Plan to Call Witnesses at Trump Trial: ‘What an Unbelievable Cave’
Senate Democrats are under fire from all sides after striking a deal to avoid witnesses in former President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial — shortly after voting to allow them in a last-minute measure.
The trial seemed as though it would conclude on Saturday afternoon, but House impeachment manager Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) announced that he was seeking testimony from a witness. That witness, Rep. Jaime Hererra Beutler (R-WA), was prepared to discuss the details of a phone call between Trump and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) in which the former president, Beutler alleges, indicated his support for the Capitol rioters after the attack was underway.
The Senate proceeded to allow witnesses by a 55-45 vote. But then, after a two hour recess, an agreement was struck to allow Beutler’s statement to be read into the record, in exchange for her not being called. The trial swiftly proceeded to closing arguments, and a final vote is now once again expected late Saturday.
Progressives, conservatives, and neutral observers were united in bashing Senate Democrats for what amounted to an incredible waste of time:
Absolutely pathetic. The Raskin proposal was one hour Zoom depositions and document subpoenas. That should be the baseline for negotiations and Coons should resign to let someone who isn’t a complete coward serve his constituents. https://t.co/LxUvhtu4lc
— Brian Beutler (@brianbeutler) February 13, 2021
Impeachment trials are BIG FUCKING DEALS.
A big fucking deal DESERVES WITNESSES.
— Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) February 13, 2021
No witnesses.
The gravity + unseriousness of it all is just…
— Karen Attiah (@KarenAttiah) February 13, 2021
What an unbelievable cave by Democrats here.
They cleared the first witness vote — and then decided that they wouldn’t call witnesses.
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) February 13, 2021
Yup. Huge, huge cave.
Would’ve been better off not even raising the witness issue at all. https://t.co/g8AF409dKa
— Jon Favreau (@jonfavs) February 13, 2021
Why would Dems cave on this? Makes no sense.
— Elise Jordan (@Elise_Jordan) February 13, 2021
Senate Democrats’ decision to backtrack on witnesses after voting unanimously to allow them has many true believers upset. It is, indeed, hard to figure out why they did what they did. Why vote for witnesses if they were going to cave so quickly?
— Byron York (@ByronYork) February 13, 2021
Trump’s a national emergency, Democrats have said at both impeachment trials, one during which the articles were slow-walked and the other during which there was a vote on witnesses and then Democrats walked away https://t.co/atr23jzZwv
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) February 13, 2021
Admitting @HerreraBeutler’s statement in lieu of witnesses is a rather inexplicable cave by the Dems here. What was the point of voting on witnesses earlier at all, then.
— Aaron Kessler (@akesslerdc) February 13, 2021
Would be a big cave from Democrats to just put her statement — that is already out there — in the record. https://t.co/Xz6KUgQAnP
— Anna Palmer (@apalmerdc) February 13, 2021
I cannot believe this – the Democrats are an embarrassment
— Dr. Jason Johnson (@DrJasonJohnson) February 13, 2021
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