It’s looking more likely that witnesses could be called at President Trump’s impeachment trial, after Senate Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell reportedly conceded to fellow senators that he does not yet have the votes to block it. Hamline University analyst David Schultz says if witnesses are called, it’s easier for Republicans to claim there’s been a fair trial. Schultz says in that instance, “They’ve supposedly considered all of the witnesses, made that part of their calculation, and then voted for acquittal. That’s a far better solution than not calling the witnesses, making it look like the trial was a sham, and having all this stuff continue to drip, drip — or gush, gush out over the next several months.”
If witnesses are called, the question is, will it be ones that Democrats want, or witnesses that Republicans prefer, or a swap of one for the other? And Schultz says if witnesses testify at the president’s impeachment trial, he suspects the proceedings will continue into next week, into the Iowa caucuses, and perhaps into the State of the Union speech.