McConnell: GOP will start impeachment trial, delay witnesses

Updated 4:50 p.m.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday he has the votes to start President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial as soon as Speaker Nancy Pelosi releases the documents, winning support from GOP senators to postpone a decision on calling witnesses.

McConnell could launch the third impeachment trial in the nation’s history this week if Pelosi sends the articles of impeachment to the Senate. She is set to meet late Tuesday with her leadership team.

“We have the votes,” McConnell told reporters. He said the question of new witnesses and documents will be addressed later “and not before the trial begins.”

The contours of a Senate trial have been in dispute. Pelosi is delaying transmission of the articles as Democrats press to hear from former national security adviser John Bolton and other new witnesses. McConnell has resisted.

The GOP leader told senators at their closed-door lunch Tuesday that he has support for his plan, which is modeled after President Bill Clinton’s impeachment trial 20 years ago. It would start the trial first and postpone votes on witnesses until later in the process.

“He has 51 (votes), for sure,”‘ said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a top ally of the president, exiting the meeting. Republicans hold the majority in the Senate, 53-47.

Democrats are ramping up pressure on Republicans not to go along with McConnell’s proposal to postpone voting on new testimony. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called it a “trap” and a “cover-up.”

“Whoever heard of a trial without witnesses and documents?” the New York Democrat said. He asked Trump what he has to hide. “Witnesses and documents: fair trial. No witnesses and documents: cover- up.”

Just four GOP senators would be needed to deny McConnell his majority, but he appears to have locked up the votes. GOP leaders were conducting a whip count Tuesday to gauge support. Several GOP senators have indicated they want to hear from Bolton and other witnesses, but they are nevertheless standing with McConnell’s plan for starting the trial.

Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, said Tuesday that the Clinton process “provided a pathway” to start the trial and consider witnesses “down the road.” He said he supports it.

“I’m comfortable with that process,” Romney said. “And at this stage, I’d like to hear from John Bolton and other witnesses with the right information, but that process will accommodate that.”

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, has also said she supports McConnell’s approach. Others say they are not sure they even need to hear from Bolton or other witnesses, blaming the House for not forcing them to testify. Trump had instructed White House officials not to comply with the House investigation.

“It’s not that I don’t want to hear from him,” said Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C. “I want to hear from him when the House is willing to do their work and have the same agreement with the ambassador on their side of the Hill.”

Trump faces charges that he abused the power of the presidency by pressuring Ukraine’s new leader to investigate Democrats, using as leverage $400 million in military assistance that is critical for the ally as it counters Russia at its border.

The funding for Ukraine was eventually released but only after Congress intervened.

From the Oval Office, where Trump was meeting with the prime minister of Greece, he railed against the impeachment proceedings, as he often does, as “a totally partisan hoax witch hunt.”

Trump insisted “there was absolutely nothing done wrong” in his interactions with Ukraine.

Republicans are expected to swiftly acquit Trump of the charges, but Democrats say fresh evidence, including Bolton’s willingness to testify, only increases pressure for new witnesses and documents.

Bolton apparently compared the administration’s actions toward Ukraine to a “drug deal” he wanted no part of, a shadow diplomacy being concocted by the acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland, according to House testimony. Bolton left the administration in September.

Democrats also want documents about the withheld aid to Ukraine that the White House refused to turn over to House investigators, defying congressional subpoenas.

With a 53-seat majority, McConnell has only loose control over the impeachment proceedings, where decisions on witnesses or documents can be made with a 51-vote majority.

Pressure will mount on senators up for reelection from swing states in 2020, including Collins, Tillis, Iowa GOP Sen. Joni Ernst and Colorado GOP Sen. Cory Gardner, who are being closely watched for their votes by a deeply divided country. Protesters are showing up at the Capitol.

McConnell deflected a question Tuesday on whether Trump acted appropriately with Ukraine, saying he had nothing more to add on that issue. He acknowledged the votes on witnesses and documents will be “the most contentious” part of the proceedings. “There will be, I’m sure, intense discussion,” he said.

The GOP leader has come under criticism for saying he was not an impartial juror but rather was working in total coordination with the White House on the trial strategy.

During the closed-door lunch, McConnell walked through details of the trial proceedings, and senators indicated they were planning on possible Saturday sessions.

White House officials often attend the closed-door lunch, and the legislative director, Eric Ueland, joined Tuesday.

Associated Press writers Matthew Daly and Padmananda Rama in Washington contributed reporting.