Republican
moderates under pressure to call witnesses as Trump rages at Bolton
President
complains of Bolton’s ‘nasty and untrue’ book
Book
alleges Trump did link Ukraine aid delay to Biden inquiry
Daniel
Strauss in Washington and Tom McCarthy and Joanna Walters in New York
Wed 29 Jan
2020 20.14 GMTFirst published on Wed 29 Jan 2020 14.22 GMT
Moderate
Republican senators were under an intense spotlight on Wednesday as the
impeachment trial of Donald Trump moved into a dramatic new phase – and the president
lashed out at former national security adviser John Bolton, who Democrats want
to call as a key witness.
Trump’s
Twitter attack on Bolton – and subsequent moves by the White House to block his
potentially damaging planned book – came amid signs the Senate majority leader,
Mitch McConnell, does not have enough Republican votes locked down to block
Democrats’ efforts force witnesses into the impeachment trial.
Leading
Republican moderates Susan Collins, Mitt Romney and Lisa Murkowski kicked off
the questioning phrase of the trial on Wednesday by asking, if Trump had
multiple motives for delaying US military aid to Ukraine, how the Senate would
handle that.
That goes
to the heart of the impeachment accusation that Trump inappropriately pressured
Ukraine by holding back aid until the Ukrainian government agreed to
investigate the president’s leading election rival Joe Biden, in what Democrats
charge is an abuse of power.
A looming
question over Wednesday’s impeachment proceedings is whether centrist senators
will side with Democrats to form a majority voting bloc to bring witnesses in.
While
Democrats have Bolton at the top of their list, the Senate minority leader,
Chuck Schumer, brushed off the prospect of moderate Democrat Joe Manchin of
West Virginia supporting the prospect of Biden’s son Hunter being requested by
Republicans to testify about his time working for a Ukrainian gas company.
Manchin
said on MSNBC on Wednesday he thought Hunter Biden should testify, which most
Democrats have opposed.
“We are
totally united and have been totally united for a month and continue to be,”
Schumer said of his Senate members at a press conference.
Meanwhile,
Trump attacked Bolton after reports that a draft manuscript of Bolton’s
forthcoming book claims Trump directly linked a delay in military aid to
Ukraine to a condition that the Ukrainian government investigate his Democratic
rivals, especially Joe Biden.
Trump wrote
of Bolton: “… if I listened to him, we would be in World War Six by now, and
goes out and IMMEDIATELY writes a nasty & untrue book. All Classified
National Security. Who would do this?”
One of
Trump’s defense arguments during the impeachment inquiry was that those two
were not connected. Critics say he was trying to use a vulnerable Ukraine to
help his re-election chances; Trump said he was just trying to root out
corruption there.
Donald J.
Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
· 9h
For a guy
who couldn’t get approved for the Ambassador to the U.N. years ago, couldn’t
get approved for anything since, “begged” me for a non Senate approved job,
which I gave him despite many saying “Don’t do it, sir,” takes the job,
mistakenly says “Libyan Model” on T.V., and..
Donald J.
Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
....many
more mistakes of judgement, gets fired because frankly, if I listened to him,
we would be in World War Six by now, and goes out and IMMEDIATELY writes a
nasty & untrue book. All Classified National Security. Who would do this?
63.5K
1:28 PM -
Jan 29, 2020
On
Wednesday, Trump also complained about Bolton’s timing. He wrote: “Why didn’t
John Bolton complain about this “nonsense” a long time ago, when he was very
publicly terminated. He said, not that it matters, NOTHING!”
The White
House later sent a letter to Bolton’s attorney, which claimed his client’s book
cannot be published in its current form because it contains top secret
material.
McConnell
is under pressure to round up his caucus and move to a vote by the end of the
week first to block witnesses and then to acquit Trump on the impeachment
charges altogether.
McConnell
told his caucus in a meeting on Tuesday night, according to multiple reports,
of the stakes.
With an
unknown number of Republican senators still undecided about calling witnesses,
McConnell could still get the votes he needs to block witnesses and stop the
trial from reeling off into unpredictable – and potentially hazardous –
territory for the president. At least four Republicans would need to join
Democrats to force witness testimony.
Murkowski
met with McConnell on Wednesday morning, adding to speculation that she could
join Democrats in supporting a motion to bring in witnesses, according to a
Senate aide.
Trump’s
defense team and his Republican allies have argued vehemently against the
inclusion of witnesses at the trial, saying they already had enough information
to decide the case and that the Senate should not be burdened by what they have
framed as an incomplete process in the House of Representatives.
But those
arguments appear not to have been persuasive to the necessary number of
senators. Trump’s lawyers concluded their opening arguments on Tuesday.
Led by
Trump’s personal lawyer Jay Sekulow, the defense team dismissed objections to
Trump’s conduct towards Ukraine as “policy disagreements” and warned senators
not to “lower the bar of impeachment” by voting to convict the president.
A furious
Trump complained on Twitter on Wednesday morning that Democrats would never be
satisfied. During the inquiry process in the House of Representatives last
year, the White House blocked senior administration officials from testifying
in the House.
Donald J.
Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
No matter
how many witnesses you give the Democrats, no matter how much information is
given, like the quickly produced Transcripts, it will NEVER be enough for them.
They will always scream UNFAIR. The Impeachment Hoax is just another political
CON JOB!
147K
3:25 AM -
Jan 29, 2020
No
witnesses have appeared at the trial in the Senate, with House managers
detailing the case for the prosecution of Trump that he abused the power of his
office and, in gagging officials and blocking the release of some documentary
evidence, obstructed Congress – forming the two articles of impeachment
relating to Trump’s conduct with regard to Ukraine.
Trump has
no plans to appear at his own trial and has been pressing Congress to get it
finished before he has to give his State of the Union address next Tuesday –
the day after the crucial Iowa caucuses occur as the first voting event in the
primary contest to choose the Democratic party nominee to challenge Trump for
the White House this November.
Moderate
Biden is jostling for the top spot in opinion polls with resurgent leftwinger
Bernie Sanders.
Sem comentários:
Enviar um comentário