The Republicans have yet to completely shut the door on new witnesses



Senators Ted Cruz, R-Texas; Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska; and Susan Collins, R-Maine,LINDSEY GRAHAM, R-South Carolina are among a small group of Republicans who have yet to completely shut the door on new witnesses, wanting to hear arguments first. Democrats would need them and at least one more in order to be able to call witnesses, but Graham warned that if they get their wish, the GOP will look to call defense witnesses such as Hunter Biden.

1. CRUZ: Well, that's right. It's kind of strange how we got here. So Democrats have been having hearings, have been doing impeachment for months in the House. They brought in all sorts of witnesses. They blocked the minority from having any witnesses. And then, as soon as we get to the Senate, the Democratic talking point is, we want more witnesses. Never mind all the witnesses they called before. They want yet more. And they're trying to delay this. They're trying to drag this out. They want this trial to go on forever, because they have a political objective of attacking the president. What I have said and what I have urged the conference is, is, listen, if we go down the road of witnesses, we're not going to do what the House did. We're not going to have a one-sided kangaroo court. Instead, we're going to respect reciprocity. What does that mean? That means, if the prosecution gets a witness, the defense gets a witness. If the prosecution gets two, the defense gets two. That means, if the prosecution gets to call John Bolton, then the president gets to call Hunter Biden. And I got to tell you, the Democrats are terrified about seeing a witness like Hunter Biden testify, because they don't want to hear evidence of actual corruption, of corruption, potentially, of Joe Biden, corruption that occurred during the Obama administration. They blocked all those witnesses in the House. They're not going to succeed in blocking them in the Senate. If they want to go down the road of witnesses, that means the president enjoys the rights to due process, which means he can call witnesses and lay out his defense.

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2. Lisa Murkowski: "And so I don't want this proceeding to be a circus,...I don't want it to be viewed as a mockery or a kangaroo court."

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3. Susan Collins: “I think it’s likely because there are holes in the record where hearing from witnesses would expand my understanding,” she said. “I haven’t made a decision on any particular witnesses. When we reach the appropriate point in the trial, I would like to hear from both sides which witnesses, if any, they would like to call.”


4.SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): Well, I hope to have the trial over by the end of January. We would use the Clinton model, where you take the record established in the House, let the House managers appointed by Pelosi make the argument. Let the president make his arguments of why the two articles are flawed. And then we will decide whether or not we want witnesses. But this should be done in a couple weeks.

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