Lamar Alexander Defends Voting Down Impeachment Witnesses: Senate Shouldn’t ‘Substitute Its Judgment’ for Voters

Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) defended his vote against witnesses at Donald Trump’s impeachment trial by saying the president’s wrongdoing didn’t rise to the level that requires the Senate to “substitute its judgment” for the voters.

In an interview with Chuck Todd for Meet The Press, Alexander faced numerous questions about how he struck a major blow against impeachment by saying he wouldn’t join his moderate Republican colleagues to approve witness testimony. Since Alexander said that America’s proximity to the 2020 election was one of the guiding factors for his decision, Todd asked him “would it be helpful for the people to decide [Trump’s fate] if they had more information?”

“Well, if you have eight witnesses who say someone left the scene of an accident, why do you need nine?” Alexander said. “The question for me was do I need more evidence to conclude the president did what he did? And I concluded no.”

Alexander elaborated that he believes the Ukraine scandal accusations against Trump are true, saying, “I think he shouldn’t have done it. I think it was wrong. Inappropriate was the way I’d say, improper, crossing the line. And then the only question left is who decides what to do about that.”

After Alexander said “the people” should be the ones to decide, Todd asked if he would’ve looked at things differently if 2020 weren’t an election year. The senator answered he “would’ve,” but “probably come to the same conclusion.”

“I think what he did is a long way from treason, bribery, high crimes, and misdemeanors,” Alexander said. “I don’t think it’s the kind of inappropriate action that the framers would expect the Senate to substitute its judgment for the people in picking a president.”

Watch above, via NBC.