On ABC's "This Week" on Sunday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said four Republican senators would need to vote with Senate Democrats in order to have a "fair" impeachment trial in the Senate.
Host George Stephanopoulos asked Schumer where Speaker Pelosi stood on transmitting two articles of impeachment over to the Senate.
"When these articles come over," Schumer said, "the focus will be on four Republican senators. First, the charges, as you know, are grave. For the president to withhold aid so that a foreign power can interfere in our elections and benefit him is one of the things the founding fathers were most worried about when they wrote the Constitution."
The founders were so worried about it that they forgot to list it along with "Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors."
"If we are not going to have a fair trial," Schumer argued, "if all the facts are not going to come out, we're not going to hear the truth and there's just going to be one giant cover-up, America has changed and the power of an overweening executive is far too great."
Democrats are demanding Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell call a list of witnesses the Democrats believe will bolster their impeachment case against President Trump. In their rush to impeach the president before the holidays, the Democrats abandoned their legal fight to subpoena witnesses they once proclaimed were central to building their case. Now Democrats want Mitch McConnell to build their case for them, as pointed out by Jonathan Turley in a recent op-ed.
"I hope, pray, and believe there's a decent chance four Republicans will join us," Schumer added. "If they do, I believe we will have a fair trial."
If four members from the other side of the aisle are needed in order to have a "fair trial," then it's worth remembering that zero Republicans joined the Democrats when it came to impeachment votes in the House. In fact, a couple of Democrats joined Republicans in voting against the articles of impeachment.
The "fairness" Democrats are now demanding from Republicans was nowhere to be found during the Democrat-led impeachment inquiry in the House. And Schumer's tune has changed quite a bit from the Clinton impeachment days. Back then, Schumer believed the Senate was "susceptible to the whims of politics" and said the Senate was "not like a jury box."
Chuck Schumer: "McConnell will not go for a fair trial. You can't have a fair trial without witnesses and documents ... I hope, pray and believe there's a decent chance that four Republicans will join us. If they do, we will have a fair trial." Via ABC pic.twitter.com/iIq4uBUVVg
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) January 5, 2020