Schumer: Here's What We Want in Senate Trial

Democrats want Bolton, Mulvaney to testify
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Dec 15, 2019 5:50 PM CST
Senate Dems: Here's How We Want the Senate Trial to Proceed
In this Monday, Dec. 9, 2019, file photo, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington.   (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Senate Democrats are proposing a weekslong Senate impeachment trial seeking testimony from four new witnesses including John Bolton and Mick Mulvaney over President Donald Trump's actions toward Ukraine, according to a detailed outline released Sunday, the AP reports. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York proposed the structure for a "fair and honest" trial in a letter to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, an attempt to launch negotiations ahead of House voting this week that is all but certain to result in the president being impeached. Trump faces two charges—abuse of power and obstruction of Congress—over his efforts to pressure Ukraine to investigate political rival Joe Biden while withholding military aid to the ally.

Schumer and McConnell are expected to discuss the contours of a Senate trial, much as the Democrats and Republicans did during Bill Clinton’s impeachment two decades ago. In the letter, Schumer proposes a detailed structure and timeline for a trial to begin Jan. 7 and stretch for several weeks as Democrats subpoena witnesses and testimony, specifically around Trump's decision to withhold military aid from Ukraine. Among others, Democrats want to hear from Bolton, who labeled the alternative foreign policy being run by Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani and others as a "drug deal’" he wanted no part of. McConnell has indicated in recent days his preference for a swift trial without calling witnesses in what Republicans fear could become a spectacle.

(More Trump impeachment stories.)

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