Impeachment Witnesses Must Testify After Trump’s Defense Gets Trashed

Trump can no longer hide impeachment witnesses or forbid them from testifying according to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY)

Chairman Nadler said in a statement provided to PoliticusUSA:

“I am pleased the court has recognized that the Trump Administration has no grounds to withhold critical witness testimony from the House during its impeachment inquiry. Don McGahn is a central witness to allegations that President Trump obstructed Special Counsel Mueller’s investigation, and the Administration’s claim that officials can claim ‘absolute immunity’ from Congressional subpoenas has no basis in law, as the court recognized today.

“Now that the court has ruled, I expect him to follow his legal obligations and promptly appear before the Committee.”
The decision in the McGahn case means that impeachment witnesses like Rick Perry, John Bolton, and Mick Mulvaney will have to testify. Trump has been using a claim of imaginary “absolute immunity” to block witnesses from testifying. Those who were directed in the Ukraine plot by the president have been using the “absolute immunity” claim to avoid testifying.

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There is no such thing as presidential absolute immunity. It doesn’t exist, which means that the impeachment witnesses are going to have to testify and the House Judiciary Committee’s impeachment hearings just got even more interesting.

Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.

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Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association