Last updated on July 18th, 2023 at 12:31 pm
Witnesses close to both Trump and Pence were contacted about providing impeachment trial evidence, but they all refused to take the risk.
Daniel Goldman tweeted:
I’m told that multiple witnesses near Trump and Pence were approached by the House team to provide testimony about Trump’s state of mind and the threat to Pence and no one wanted to cooperate.
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Too risky to call someone cold, particularly when the case is so powerful as is.
— Daniel Goldman (@danielsgoldman) February 13, 2021
Since there are witnesses who refused to cooperate, Democrats would have been forced to debate and hold votes on every single witness, issue a subpoena, and potentially fight the subpoena in court. It all would have delayed the passage of President Biden’s stimulus bill, and that was a risk that Senate Democrats were not willing to take.
The Senate cut a deal to not call witnesses because they don’t want to repeat the mistakes of 2009. They don’t want to get bogged down by a trial that, no matter what, will end in a non-conviction.
Witnesses are too afraid to come forward, and without the possibility of a conviction, it doesn’t seem worth derailing Biden‘s agenda and delaying COVID relief for the same result as if the trial ended today.
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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
