Is there a single Republican member of the Senate willing to put their constitutional obligation over party? We all know where Lindsey Graham and some of Trump's more vocal enablers stand, and that Mitch McConnell isn't worried one iota about openly coordinating with the White House, but the question remains as to whether any of these vulnerable Republican Senators are going to go along with the charade, or will they insist, as House Intelligence Chair Adam Schiff urged here, on allowing the public to see the documents and hear from the witnesses the Trump administration has been keeping from the public.
Do you as a potential House impeachment manager feel the need to call witnesses in the Senate trial?
REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA): I think there are any number of witnesses that should be called in a Senate trial, and many witnesses the American people like to hear from that the administration has refused to make available. And perhaps of equal if not greater importance are the thousands and thousands of documents that the administration refuses to turn over.
I would hope that every senator of both parties would like to see the documentary evidence. They’d like to hear from these witnesses that haven't testified, and I would urge Mitch McConnell to start negotiating with Chuck Schumer to make sure that those senators have a full record.
But I think we see clearly what's going on here with the comments of Lindsey Graham and others, and that is they don't want the American people to see the facts. They realize what's been presented in the House is already overwhelming, but there's more damning evidence to be had, and they don't want the American people to see that, and I, you know, think that's disgraceful.
But I hope that the senators will insist on getting the documents, on hearing from the witnesses, on making up their own mind even if there are some senators who have decided out of their blind allegiance to this president that he can do nothing wrong, that he can shoot somebody in the middle of the street, and they’d still support him. That there, these other senators, I hope they fulfill their constitutional obligation.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Chairman Nadler, do you have any evidence that any Republican senators are prepared to break ranks?
NADLER: Well, I don't know, and I’m not canvassing Republican senators. But I would agree with Chairman Schiff. It's their duty to look through the evidence and to reach the appropriate conclusion, in order to vindicate and to safeguard American democracy.
It is disgraceful that the president refused to let people testify, refused to hand over any documents, and the Senate should certainly demand to see the documents that have been with withheld, get the witnesses.
If they don't think that there is sufficient evidence on the record -- and I think the record is overwhelming -- but if they don't think there is sufficient evidence on the record, they should demand the testimony of people like Secretary of State Pompeo and Mulvaney and others, John Bolton, who have under the president's instructions, have refused to testify.
None of us will hold our breath waiting for any of them to do the right thing.
