Posted on 01/22/2020 8:54:25 AM PST by E. Pluribus Unum
Some Senate Democrats are considering accepting a proposal first voiced by GOP Sen. Ted Cruz to trade witnesses in President Trump's impeachment trial.
Cruz proposed what he called "witness reciprocity" to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who was receptive to the idea, last week as a potential means to secure testimony from Hunter Biden. Several Senate Democrats are now considering embracing the proposal in order to get former national security adviser John Bolton to testify in the trial, according to the Washington Post.
Bolton has said he is willing to testify in the Senate trial if subpoenaed. The Democrats weighing Cruz's proposal believe that Bolton, with firsthand knowledge of Trump's dealings with Ukraine, is worth hearing from even if Republicans plan to call former Vice President Joe Biden or his son to testify over alleged corruption.
The Democrats believe that Bolton's testimony could contain damning new details related to Trump's July 25, 2019, phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The lawmakers also think that calling one of the Bidens to the witness stand could be far less damaging to Democrats than Republicans hope and may even backfire.
House Democrats considered subpoenaing Bolton during the impeachment investigation last year but decided against the move in order to speed the process forward. Bolton had said that if he were subpoenaed and the White House claimed executive privilege over his testimony, he would let the courts decide which order he should follow.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonexaminer.com ...
Which one goes first?
‘Cuz Where’s Humper isn’t going to show.
Dems have little to gain and everything to lose.
Trade it for Obama’s Testimony.
I think it’s the other way around. The Democrats are already dog crap on the bottom of this nation’s shoes, so there’s really no downside to ANYTHING they do.
My expectation is that John Bolton will support the power of the Chief Executive to execute foreign policy.
I have no idea what anyone expects Hunter Biden to say. I suppose his inability to state how he added value to the business will be interesting. Paid $50,000 a months and didn’t do anything? Interesting yes, but does that prove anything? Is it relative to impeachment? I’m not sure.
I’d much rather hear from Schiff.
Would Cruz make the offer without coordinating with President Trump’s legal team?
Hell no. This was what they wanted all along. They aren’t “mulling” it. They are giddy at how stupid Cruz was for suggesting it. The rats couldn’t care less if Hunter gets shredded, he’d probably take the 5th anyways.
That’s not how this works, that’s not how any of this works. You do not negotiate innocence or guilt. It was a stupid thing to say by cruz. If there are witness, Trump should get as many as he needs or wants. Trump also still has executive privilege and there has been no material evidence presented that justifies overturning it in court.
I’m hard-pressed to come up with a good reason to call Hunter Biden. We already know a lot of the details. What is left to discover?
And, even if Bolton is responsive to a subpoena, can’t Trump still limit his testimony via claims of executive privilege? I don’t think the Senate or the Chief Justice could rule on the validity of such claims. Wouldn’t it have to go through the normal judiciary process?
Why trade? Either you have witnesses, or you don’t. Any witness the R’s call is just going to say “I don’t recall...”
The only thing the ‘RATS are mulling is how to double-cross Cruz.
It’s irrelevant because there is no way Hunter would show up.
Whistle blower would be better
And Bolton isn’t going to be any helpful to the Dems, Bolton isn’t going to throw Trump under the bus, he just isn’t that kind of guy. If anything he is going to toss the Dems under it.
To me, it looks like he is playing them.
Uh,NO! Disgusting nanzi and her flying monkeys should have done that in the house. So, NO!
NOOOOOOO. Trade it for the whistleblower and ask him if he ever said of Trump “We need to take him out”.
You and I know all about it but there are people who believe that if Chuck Todd didn't talk about it, it didn't happen.
Get Hunter up there and Chuck would be between a rock and a hard place.
I agree with you, for the most part.
The risk/reward for getting Bolton is in dem’s overall favor. Bolton probably wont give them the bombshell that they want, but who knows that for sure until he testifies. For republicans, however improbably, it’s still a bad risk. Democrats barely have anything to lose at this point.
On the other hand, Hunter Biden is a trade-off for republicans. They can make political hay with it, but mostly only with Joe Biden. Hard to make any of that stick on the other candidates.
The downside for republicans is that they make the Senate hearings look political, and give fodder for dems to attack weak seats with.
I actually think that Bolton for Biden is a bad trade
That's how you get it done.
Since we really can't call the Ukrainians in question, perhaps calling John Solomon wouldn't be a bad idea. Formal rules of hearsay don't have to apply if the Senate chooses not to apply them.
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