Despite Public Support for Witness Testimony, Every Vulnerable Senate Republican Sides With McConnell to Move Forward Without Hearing From Them

Senate GOP’s Sham Trial Rules Do Not Include “Commitment to Calling Witnesses or Admitting New Evidence” — Even After Key Documents Emerging and Bolton’s Willingness to Testify 

Every single vulnerable Senate Republican is siding with Majority Leader Mitch McConnell plans to support a sham process that does not include any “commitment to calling witnesses or admitting new evidence” — despite the fact that new polling shows “bipartisan majorities”  of Americans (including many Republicans) and independent voters in battleground states like  Arizona, Colorado, Maine, and North Carolina want to see a fair hearing with more witnesses.

Republican Senators Susan Collins, Cory Gardner, Martha McSally, and Thom Tillis will not commit to securing those witnesses, like former White House national security advisor John Bolton, who have direct knowledge of the president’s abuse of power. When asked by reporters about their support for a sham trial that would exclude key witnesses, those GOP senators have been dodging questions or running for the elevators.

A new report today from the Associated Press highlights how “Gardner and several other GOP senators in tight races this year” are making “a political calculation that values loyalty to Trump and his base over any bipartisan appeal.”

“Instead of conducting a full and fair process that carefully considers all the evidence, vulnerable Republican incumbents like Susan Collins and Cory Gardner are walking the party line and siding with Mitch McConnell in his push for a sham trial,” said DSCC spokesperson Stewart Boss. “These spineless Republican incumbents would rather enable a self-serving partisan cover-up than listen to voters in their states who expect them to do their jobs by getting the facts and insisting on critical documents and firsthand witnesses.”

Morning Consult: Most Voters Want More Impeachment Witnesses as Senate Prepares for Trial

• Senate Republicans are preparing to move to the first phase of President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial without committing to hearing from additional witnesses, potentially putting them at odds with public opinion.

• A new Morning Consult/Politico poll found that 57 percent of registered voters — including most Democrats and independents — think the Senate should call additional witnesses to testify in Trump’s trial, compared to 24 percent who think it should not. Republican voters were split on the question.

Pollster Geoff Garin on the Senate impeachment trial:

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