Senate Democratic Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said that Trump’s lawyers are threatening Republican Senators on the witness vote.
Trump’s Lawyers Threaten Republican Senators Ahead of Witness Vote
Leader Schumer said:
I believe Senate Republicans and the president’s team are worried about the vote. Yesterday Mr. Sekulow said that if the senate elects to subpoena witnesses and documents, the president’s team will force all sorts of manner of delay, to take the managers to court, assert privilege, drag it on forever. It was a shocking admission from Mr. Sekulow, revealing how concerned the president’s team are, how afraid they are. Of course, his argument isn’t true.
There’s no reason for endless delays. The documents are compiled. One key witness has already said he’d testify. We’d expect the others to comply if subpoenaed and questions of privilege can be sorted out right here in the senate. Mr. Sekulow’s argument was nothing more than a threat, a shakedown. He told Senators to their faces that the president’s team will do whatever it possibly can to prevent them from seeing the truth. It reminds you of something the president would do or say, and it should offend my Republican colleagues just as much as it offends us Democrats.
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Video:
Schumer says Republicans and Trump are worried about the witness vote and accuses Trump's lawyers of threatening Republican Senators. #impeachmentTrial pic.twitter.com/wSyVv7G7Ia
— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) January 30, 2020
The Threat To Delay The Trial Is A Bluff
Sekulow’s threat was a sign of a legal team with no defense strategy. Trump’s lawyers have been threatening Senators with the prospect of a long impeachment trial, but the threat is a bluff because it is Trump who is being harmed by this trial. Trump’s reelection has been derailed by impeachment. It’s Trump who is worried about a long trial.
The vulnerable Republican Senators who buy into this threat can’t kiss their seats goodbye in the fall. The best chance that endangered Republican incumbents have is to allow witnesses, and then vote for acquittal.
Republicans in tight reelection races who vote to block witnesses are potentially voting themselves out of the Senate in November.
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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
