From the moment U.S. president went on trial in the U.S. Senate, Republicans have had one agenda – end the trial as quickly as possible whether Trump is guilty of not.
They believe the best way to do that is to refuse to call any witnesses or request additional documents.
Their argument is simple – it is a waste of time.
Last week, The New York Times published that former national security adviser John Bolton, in his upcoming book, wrote that Trump told him that releasing aid to Ukraine hinged on that nation investigating his political opponent, former vice president Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden.
But Republican senators said this week, that notwithstanding, their votes won’t change, their minds are already made up and to hell with the truth.
Pennsylvania Republican senator Pat Toomey said he was “very, very skeptical” that hearing from witnesses would change his mind, even if that witness were to provide proof of quid pro quo.
For Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, president Trump can never be convicted, no matter what he has done.
“For the sake of argument, one could assume everything attributable to John Bolton is accurate and still the House case would fall well below the standards to remove a president from office,” Sen. Graham (R-S.C.) said in a statement this week.
Other GOP senators have taken similar position in recent days.
Take for instance Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) who said this week that he does not “believe we need to hear from an 18th witness.”
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said the House of Representatives had already made its case and “additional witnesses are not necessary” while Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) warned is colleagues that calling witnesses would lead to a lot of people testifying, and that may be beneficial to Democrats.
Missouri senator Roy Blunt, a staunch Trump ally was even more, well blunt. “Unless there’s a witness that’s going to change the outcome, I can’t imagine why we’d want to stretch this out for weeks and months,” he said earlier this week.
