Trump may not get public witnesses in Senate trial after McConnell warns of ‘spectacle’
Despite President Donald Trump calling for public witnesses in an expected Senate impeachment trial, White House officials are privately conceding that will be unlikely given signals from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
One White House official told McClatchy that McConnell’s calls to avoid a “spectacle” on the Senate floor were an indication that a show trial with public witnesses is not a likely option.
Avoiding witness testimony would also expedite the trial process and provide Republicans with the argument that the Democrats’ case supporting articles of impeachment proved thin.
The president’s private phone calls with lawmakers remain closely held — he conducts most of those conversations from the White House residence, and does not always inform or brief his staff.
“The president is the most robust engager with Congress of any of us,” Eric Ueland, White House legislative affairs director, said in an interview with McClatchy this week.
The administration has generally refrained from pressuring Senators about votes related to impeachment until the House finishes action on its charges against Trump.
The House is expected to vote next week on two articles of impeachment accusing the president of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. The Senate will then conduct a trial.
The White House official who spoke about impeachment said a Senate trial could last anywhere from three days to three weeks.
Sen. Lindsey Graham – who speaks to the White House regularly — also wants a short trial and suggested to McClatchy that some White House officials agree. “I am not in the camp of wanting a bunch of witnesses.”
Trump has said publicly, in the past, he wants a parade of witnesses to come to the Senate floor to bolster his case and discredit the opposition.
Leaving a Capitol Hill meeting with McConnell and White House Counsel Pat Cipollone on Thursday afternoon, Ueland told reporters that nothing in the president’s posture had changed.
“The president has been pretty clear on the priority that he’s laid out when it comes to this,” said Ueland.
It could fall on McConnell to temper Trump’s expectations.
McConnell can’t act unilaterally. As he seeks to shape the parameters of a Senate impeachment trial, he will need at least 51 affirmative votes at every step along the way. He can, however, help guide Republican senators in his preferred direction.
At his weekly press conference on Tuesday, McConnell said that he would like to leave it up to senators to decide if they want to hear from witnesses after hearing from the House impeachment managers and the president’s lawyers, rather than make a predetermination.
“No decisions have been made yet. They will be made later on,” the Kentucky Republican said.
Nearly a dozen Republican senators told McClatchy this week they personally prefer a shorter trial to a drawn-out one, a sign McConnell’s message is getting through. But many also said they stood ready to please a president who has said he is being treated unfairly by the process in the House — a potential challenge for McConnell to navigate.
“I think it’s whatever the president wants, frankly,” Sen. David Perdue, R-Ga., told McClatchy. “This is the man who has been denied his human right for a fair trial so whatever it takes to present his case I’m going to be supportive of.”
This story was originally published December 12, 2019 at 6:23 PM with the headline "Trump may not get public witnesses in Senate trial after McConnell warns of ‘spectacle’."
