The news came hours after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said that Republicans have enough votes to proceed with President Trump’s impeachment trial with no agreement with Democrats on witnesses.
Earlier Tuesday, Trump highlighted objections to the prospect of testimony from former national security adviser John Bolton, as Bolton’s announcement that he is prepared to appear at a trial continued to roil Capitol Hill.
The crux of the Democrats’ case is the allegation that Trump tried to leverage a White House meeting and military aid, sought by Ukraine to combat Russian military aggression, to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to launch an investigation of former vice president Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden, as well as a probe of an unfounded theory that Kyiv conspired with Democrats to interfere in the 2016 presidential election.
●Bolton’s willingness to testify in Trump’s impeachment trial ramps up pressure on Senate Republicans.
●Bolton says he would testify to the Senate. So why not the House?
●What does Bolton know?
Which senators support removing Trump | Which House members voted to impeach Trump | House resolution impeaching Trump | Other key documents
Pelosi suggests McConnell needs to publicly release legislation detailing trial parameters
In a letter to Democratic lawmakers Tuesday night, Pelosi hinted that she would not submit the articles nor tap House impeachment managers — who will effectively serve as the prosecution in the Senate — until McConnell publicly releases the legislation that would detail the parameters and procedures for the trial.
“Sadly, Leader McConnell has made clear that his loyalty is to the President and not the Constitution,” Pelosi wrote in the letter to colleagues. “Leader McConnell has insisted that the approach under consideration is identical to those of the Clinton trial and that ‘fair is fair.’ This is simply not true. This process is not only unfair but designed to deprive Senators and the American people of crucial documents and testimony. Under the Clinton trial, witnesses were deposed.”
New York’s highest court can hear sexual misconduct lawsuit against Trump, judges rule
A lawsuit alleging that Trump sexually assaulted a former “Apprentice” contestant more than a decade ago can be heard by New York’s highest state court, a panel of judges ruled Tuesday.
The decision by an appellate division of the New York Supreme Court granted Trump’s legal team’s request to have the case heard by the New York Court of Appeals. Trump’s team has argued that he should not be subject to actions in state courts while he is in the White House.
Trump had been scheduled to give a deposition by Jan. 31, but that is now on hold.
A statement from the firm of Trump’s lawyer, Marc Kasowitz, said “we are pleased” about the decision. “We believe that the Court of Appeals will agree that the U.S. Constitution bars state court actions while the President is in office,” the statement read.
Read more here.
Pelosi says she won’t send articles of impeachment until Senate reveals more about how it would conduct trial
Pelosi told Democrats in a closed-door meeting Tuesday night that she would not move to transmit articles of impeachment to the Senate until she learns more about how the other chamber would conduct the trial, according to three people present for her remarks who were not authorized to comment publicly.
The remarks, indicating that she wanted to see the specific rules of procedure for the trial, came as Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and other Senate Democrats hinted that they were ready to proceed with a trial after McConnell said this week that Republicans would not agree to subpoena additional witnesses and documents before the trial begins.
DNC chair says Jan. 14 debate will be postponed if it coincides with impeachment trial
Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez said Tuesday that the Jan. 14 Democratic presidential debate will be postponed if a Senate impeachment trial is underway at that time.
Several of the Democratic presidential contenders are members of the Senate.
“Well, Democrats and our senators can walk and chew gum,” Perez said in an interview on MSNBC’s “Velshi & Ruhle.” “Obviously, if there’s a trial on the 14th, then we’ll move the debate. If there’s not, then we’re going to have the debate. And at the moment, all systems are go.”
Ukrainian ambassador says Trump has invited Zelensky to White House
Trump has invited Zelensky to the White House and instructed the Ukrainian government to begin preparing for the visit, Ukraine’s new ambassador to the United States wrote on Twitter on Tuesday.
Ukrainian Ambassador Volodymyr Yelchenko said he presented his credentials to Trump on Monday at the White House and recounted how Trump said he would be happy to welcome Zelensky to the White House during the ceremony.
In a tweet afterward in Ukrainian, Yelchenko noted that Trump said he had a high opinion of Zelensky, who he said was leading Ukraine on the right path toward carrying out reforms and overcoming corruption.
“I would be happy to welcome him at the White House and instruct him to begin preparations for the visit immediately,” Yelchenko wrote in a paraphrase of what he said Trump told him.
Zelensky hasn’t visited the White House since he became Ukraine’s president in May. The Trump administration’s decision to withhold a sought-after White House meeting until Zelensky publicly committed to investigating a Ukrainian gas company that put Hunter Biden on its board is at the heart of congressional impeachment proceedings.
A White House spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Collins, Murkowski support McConnell plan for impeachment trial
Two of the Senate GOP’s most moderate members endorsed McConnell’s plan to forge ahead with a trial plan without Democratic support and determine later whether witnesses should be called.
Sen. Susan Collins (Maine) said she supports the idea of a three-pronged trial, with the third step being a vote on whether to call witnesses only after the prosecution and defense make their cases and answer senators’ written questions.
Asked whether she wants the Senate to call witnesses, Collins said, “I want a vote on whether to call witnesses.”
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) said she had hoped McConnell would have reached an agreement with Democrats on how to proceed, but absent that, she said McConnell’s plan is “reasonable.” She said she would vote for it, all but ensuring that the GOP Leader would have support from all 53 members of his caucus.
Murkowski added that in voting for it, she would “make sure that we’ve laid out very clearly what this framework is in terms of timeline and the ability to move to witnesses.”
Trump claims Bolton ‘would know nothing about what we’re talking about’ on Ukraine
In an exchange with reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday afternoon, Trump declined to say whether he supports Bolton testifying, saying only that his former national security adviser “would know nothing about what we’re talking about” on Ukraine.
“That’s going to be up to the lawyers,” Trump said. “It’ll be up to the Senate, and we’ll see how they feel. He would know nothing about what we’re talking about, because as you know, the Ukrainian government came out with a very strong statement: No pressure, no anything. And this [is] from the boss; that’s from the president of Ukraine.”
If Bolton does testify, he is expected to corroborate the accounts of former aides who have testified that he was alarmed that military aide was being withheld from Ukraine as Trump and his aides pushed for investigations that could damage Democrats.
Schumer says Democrats will demand votes on witnesses, documents
Schumer said Senate Democrats will press for votes on witnesses and documents during the trial, putting Republicans on record about “a fair trial.”
“If you’re afraid of the facts, if you’re afraid of what will come out, if you want to cover it up even in something as weighty and serious as impeachment, you say no witnesses and no documents,” Schumer told reporters. “Witnesses and documents? Fair trial. No witnesses and no documents? A coverup.”
Asked whether Pelosi should send the articles now, Schumer said Pelosi’s delay was in part so she could access the playing field.
“She wanted to see the arena in which she was playing when it came to a trial so she could appoint impeachment managers,” he said. “Now it’s becoming clear that Mitch McConnell will do whatever he can to avoid a fair trial, so she has some idea of what’s happening.”
He said the delay had already been successful in ensuring that McConnell couldn’t simply dismiss the trial before the holidays, and the intervening weeks allowed time for more evidence to be revealed.
McConnell says publicly that GOP has votes to move forward
McConnell said Tuesday afternoon publicly what he earlier told Republican senators privately: that he has the votes to proceed with Trump’s impeachment trial with no agreement with Democrats on witnesses.
Speaking to reporters, McConnell said he has the votes — once the House sends the articles of impeachment to the Senate — to begin a trial with a rule similar to one adopted for the impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton two decades ago.
Under the rule, the Senate will decide on calling witnesses after hearing opening statements from House impeachment managers and lawyers for Trump and posing questions to both sides through the chief justice.
Asked if he could guarantee witnesses will be called, McConnell said that would be discussed after the Senate votes to proceed, and not before.
“The way it works, at the risk of being redundant, is that 51 senators determine what we do, and there will be, I’m sure, an intense discussion … about the whole witness issue,” McConnell said. “The people calling the witnesses won’t necessarily be us, it will be the prosecution or the defense.”
McConnell said he hoped Pelosi would send the articles by the end of the week, adding that the delay was causing “considerable discomfort” among some Senate Democrats.
Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) said, it’s “time for Pelosi to get on with it or get out of the way.”
McConnell tells GOP senators he has votes to move forward with trial with no deal on witnesses
McConnell told Republican senators in a closed-door party lunch Tuesday that he is prepared to proceed with Trump’s impeachment trial with no agreement on witnesses, according to two officials familiar with his comments.
McConnell said he has the minimum of 51 votes to begin the trial in the format that he has long envisioned: opening arguments for both the House impeachment managers and for Trump’s defense team, as well as ample time for questioning by senators, said the two people on the condition of anonymity to discuss a private meeting.
The vote would be held after the Senate receives the articles from the House, and a decision would be made on whether to call witnesses once the first phase of the trial is over, under the majority leader’s plan.
Senate Republican leaders did a final vote check Tuesday morning to make sure they have the votes for McConnell’s plan, according to a GOP senator familiar with the discussions.
That echoes the format of President Bill Clinton’s impeachment trial that was held 21 years ago, and McConnell has been able to convince his members that Trump should be treated in the same fashion.
Democrats have been pressuring a cadre of persuadable Republican senators to demand a slate of four witnesses before the trial begins, an effort that ramped up Monday after Bolton announced that he would testify if subpoenaed by the Senate.
But Bolton’s announcement did not appear to move any of the Republicans who may have sided with Democrats such as Sens. Susan Collins (Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska). Both indicated Monday that a decision on witnesses could be made further into the trial.
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) said he would like to hear from Bolton, but did not endorse subpoenaing him to do so.
“The Clinton trial process provided a pathway for there to be witnesses,” Romney said Tuesday. “And presuming we have a process like that, again I would be able to support the Clinton impeachment process.”
Grassley would like to pass trade deal before impeachment trial
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) said Tuesday that he would like to see the Senate pass the reworked North American free-trade deal before holding the impeachment trial.
Grassley commented after the Finance Committee cleared the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement on a 25-to-3 vote. The trade pact is an update to the 25-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement. Trump signed the USMCA more than a year ago with the leaders of Canada and Mexico, and it passed the House overwhelmingly last month after Democrats pressed for changes supported by organized labor.
“If it can be brought up before the impeachment vote, it’d be very important to get this,” Grassley said. “The sooner it gets done, for the good of the economy, the better.”
But Grassley noted that the deal looked sure to pass the Senate whether it comes up before or after impeachment and that, under Senate rules, impeachment would take priority.
The timing of the impeachment trial — and, as a result, of the trade vote — is uncertain because Pelosi has yet to send House-passed articles of impeachment to the Senate. There are also several other Senate committees that may have to act on pieces of the trade deal, but that could happen quickly.
“If the articles of impeachment don’t come over, I believe this can be up,” Grassley said. “We don’t have a lot of other legislative agenda to go to. The only other thing would be nominations.”
White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said on Fox Business Channel over the weekend that the Senate could pass the USMCA as soon as this week.
But Sen. John Cornyn (Tex.), a senior Republican, said that such quick action could present a “procedural challenge” and that the timing of the impeachment trial puts everything up in the air.
“It’s a little bit of a muddle right now,” Cornyn said.
Murphy says Pelosi should transmit articles of impeachment to Senate
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said Tuesday that Pelosi should go ahead and send the articles of impeachment to the Senate since it appears that McConnell is holding the GOP in line against a deal with Democrats on witnesses for a Senate trial.
“I think the speaker should send the articles regardless,” Murphy told reporters.
Asked whether the time has come, Murphy said: “I think the time has passed. She should send the articles over.”
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), meanwhile, said Pelosi “has to make a decision based on her own judgment, but my (Republican) colleagues will be in effect aiding and abetting a coverup.”
Asked if there was any point in continuing to hold the articles if Republicans are dug in, Blumenthal said, “Well, there has to be a trial, the Constitution requires it.”
Schiff said House testimony from Bolton is not off the table
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.) said Tuesday that it’s possible his panel could summon Bolton to testify about Trump’s conduct toward Ukraine.
“We haven’t taken that off the table,” Schiff said during an appearance on MSNBC. “I think what makes the most sense, though, frankly, is for him to testify in the Senate trial. … They should hear directly from one of the key witnesses.”
Bolton announced Monday that he is prepared to testify before the Senate if he receives a subpoena. His statement was silent on whether he would provide testimony to the House, and his lawyer did not elaborate when asked.
Schiff was also critical of McConnell and other Republican senators, suggesting that they were more interested in the appearance of holding a trial than actually seeing evidence.
“All they really want is to dismiss the matter, make it go away, so the president’s conduct can be covered up,” Schiff said.
‘Bring forward a defense if you’ve got one,’ Warren says to Trump
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), Democratic presidential candidate, said by blocking witnesses and documents in the impeachment probe, the White House has made it difficult to be impartial.
“So long as all we’re hearing is Trump squeezed the president of Ukraine for personal gain … then I don’t see how it’s possible not to vote for impeachment,” she said during an appearance on “The View.” “But bring forward a defense if you’ve got one.”
Warren said she’d keep an open mind and reserve judgment if the White House provided exculpatory evidence in a Senate trial with witnesses called to testify. When the president doesn’t want the public to hear from people or see documents, “I think it’s fair to draw the inference that something is wrong,” she said.
The senator was also asked if she was concerned that a Senate trial would impinge on her campaigning because she’d have to stay behind in Washington as a juror.
“Some things are more important than politics,” Warren said.