Trump trial twist: Senate votes to call witnesses

In a surprise development, the US Senate on Saturday voted to call witnesses to testify in the impeachment trial of former president Donald Trump, a move that could prolong the process.

The chamber voted 55-45 — with five Republicans joining the 50 Democrats — to allow for witnesses to be called to testify. The five Republicans who voted with Democrats in the evenly divided Senate were Susan Collins of Maine, Mitt Romney of Utah, Ben Sasse of Nebraska, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. Graham had said that if Democrats call witnesses, so would Trump’s lawyers, and a lot of them — it would “open up Pandora’s Box if you call one witness”.

The Senate was expected to end the trial with the final vote scheduled for Saturday afternoon after an hour of closing arguments from both the Democratic impeachment managers prosecuting the case and Trump’s defence lawyers.

Representative Jamie Raskin, the lead House manager, opened the day’s proceedings saying the prosecutors wanted to call a fellow member of the House of Representatives, Republican Jaime Herrera Beutler, to testify in view of new revelations from her the night before.

Confirming earlier reports, Herrera Beutler had said in a tweet on Friday that Trump had told Kevin McCarthy, the top House Republican, in a phone call on January 6, “Well, Kevin, I guess these people are more upset about the election than you are.”

McCarthy, who had responded with an expletive-ridden remark, had called the former president to urge him to call off his supporters who were swarming all over the US Capitol at the time.

Michael van der Veen, the former president’s lawyer, reacted angrily, threatening to call witnesses for the defence.

Trump’s lawyers had wrapped up their opening arguments on Friday in under three of 16 hours allotted to them. They argued that Trump’s January 6 speech, which the House managers had said incited the mob, was constitutionally protected by his First Amendment rights to freedom of speech.

They argued further that Trump did not incite the rioting because it was pre-planned and was underway even as he was making the speech. They said words used by him such as “fight”, which House managers had contended amounted to incitement to violence, were a part of political rhetoric.

Earlier, the Associated Press reported that Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell will vote to acquit Trump, citing a source familiar with McConnell’s thinking.

Word of McConnell’s decision came before what was expected to be the final day in the historic trial on the charge that Trump incited the deadly January 6 riot at the Capitol.

The Republican leader’s views are closely watched and carry sway among GOP senators, and his decision on Trump is likely to influence others weighing their votes. While most Democrats are expected to convict Trump, the two-thirds vote needed for it appears unlikely in the Senate split 50-50 between the parties.

(With inputs from agencies)