Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer demanded that the Senate hear from Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, former national security adviser John Bolton, senior adviser to the acting White House chief of staff Robert Blair, and Office of Management and Budget official Michael Duffey, before they proceed on the trial for the articles of impeachment against President Trump. The articles, abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, passed in the House last month in a starkly partisan vote.
Republicans say Schumer's demands are outrageous because House Democrats should have made their case already. If not, then why did they vote to impeach the president?
According to Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), this case should be closed, as far as the testimony and evidence are concerned.
Worth repeating.
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) January 6, 2020
The testimony & evidence considered in a Senate impeachment trial should be the same testimony & evidence the House relied upon when they passed the Articles of Impeachment.
Our job is to vote on what the House passed,not to conduct an open ended inquiry.
But Democrats like Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) don't see it that way. And he even seems to think that Chief Justice John Roberts will vote in their favor and rule that some new witness testimony is relevant or essential to hear before the Senate proceeds.
When Swalwell made that case on CNN Tuesday, Jake Tapper wondered "what world" he lived in.
"I guess I wonder just like what world you guys live in if you think that the Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts is going to get his robe dirty with the political tenor of this," Tapper said. "Or Mitch McConnell is going to feel in any way pressured to do the trial the way that House Democrats want to do it."
"I understand you live in a world where you think things should be in a certain way, but that’s not the world that I live in," Tapper added.
McConnell isn't pressured, revealing this week that he has the votes to start the impeachment trial without having to honor Schumer's demands.
Of course, McConnell can't proceed with the trial just yet because House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is keeping the articles all to herself.