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US Senate Votes To Allow Witnesses, Prolonging Trump Trial

  The US Senate voted Saturday to allow the calling of witnesses in Donald Trump’s impeachment trial, throwing a wrench into Republican hopes to wrap … Continue reading US Senate Votes To Allow Witnesses, Prolonging Trump Trial


In this file photo taken on December 7, 2020 -ex-US President Donald Trump looks on during a ceremony presenting the Presidential Medal of Freedom to wrestler Dan Gable in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC. Former president Donald Trump will not testify in his Senate impeachment trial next week, an advisor said on February 4,
(FILES) “The Article of Impeachment presented by the House is unconstitutional for a variety of reasons, any of which alone would be grounds for immediate dismissal,” Trump’s lawyers said in a 78-page brief on the eve of his trial on charges of inciting a deadly riot at the US Capitol. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski / AFP)

 

The US Senate voted Saturday to allow the calling of witnesses in Donald Trump’s impeachment trial, throwing a wrench into Republican hopes to wrap up proceedings with a swift acquittal of the former president.

Five Republicans joined all 50 Democrats to vote to allow witnesses, after Democratic impeachment managers signalled their intent to subpoena congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler, a Republican who voted to impeach Trump in January, to testify about the then-president’s phone call with a House leader during the US Capitol insurrection.

The call for witnesses triggered moments of chaos on the Senate floor, with leaders hitting the pause button on the trial so they can figure out the next steps in the process.