Trump trial gets more pointed with Bolton book at the center

WASHINGTON — President Trump’s impeachment trial shifted to pointed, back-and-forth questioning Wednesday as Republicans and Democrats wrangled over witnesses and other issues.

Three Republican senators asked Trump’s legal team: If there was more than one motive for Trump’s conduct in Ukraine, as he pushed for political investigations of Joe Biden, should the Senate still consider the Biden pressure an abuse of power?

White House lawyer Pat Philbin responded there’s nothing wrong with the president acting on a personal as well as national interest. He declared the charge against Trump “absurd.”

Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer sparked lively debate asking whether the Senate could really render a fair verdict without calling former National Security Adviser John Bolton or acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney to testify.

“There’s no way to have a fair trial without witnesses,” responded Rep. Adam Schiff, the Democrat leading the prosecution for the House.

“Don’t wait for the book. Don’t wait till March 17, when it is in black and white to find out the answer to your question,” Schiff told the Senate, referring to Bolton’s controversial but as-yet unpublished memoir, which claims that Trump told him he wanted to withhold military aid from Ukraine until it helped with investigations into Democratic rival Biden.

That publication date is now in doubt. The White House on Wednesday released a letter to Bolton’s attorney objecting to “significant amounts of classified information” in the manuscript, including at the top secret level. Bolton and his attorney have insisted it does not.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell privately told senators he doesn’t yet have the votes to brush back Democratic demands for witnesses now that revelations from Bolton have roiled the trial.

GOP senators are sternly warned by party leaders that calling Bolton as a witness could entangle the trial in lengthy legal battles and delay Trump’s expected acquittal.

Philbin made exactly that case in his response to Democrats’ first question: “This institution will effectively be paralyzed for months on end,” he said.

Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine pushed the idea of a one-for-one witness deal, saying it’s “very important that there be fairness, that each side be able to select a witness or two.” Democrats have resisted a Republican offer to let Bolton testify as long as Biden’s son, Hunter, at the center of Ukrainian corruption allegations, is compelled to testify.

“It’s irrelevant. It’s a distraction,” Schumer insisted.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2O9SfaJ