The White House is preparing for some Republican senators to join Democrats in voting to call witnesses in President Trump's impeachment trial, which could get underway in the coming days.
Senior White House officials tell CBS News they increasingly believe that at least four Republicans, and likely more, will vote to call witnesses. In addition to Senators Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, Mitt Romney of Utah and possibly Cory Gardner of Colorado, the White House also views Rand Paul of Kentucky as a "wild card" and Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee as an "institutionalist" who might vote to call witnesses, as one official put it.
Last week, Collins said she was working with a "fairly small group" of GOP senators to allow new testimony, adding that her colleagues "should be completely open to calling witnesses." Romney has expressed an interest in hearing from former national security adviser John Bolton, who has said he would testify under subpoena. Murkowski said last week that the Senate should proceed as it did during the 1999 Clinton impeachment trial.
By the end of this week, this will become "McConnell tamps down GOP calls for impeachment witnesses" and we'll all have a good uncomfortably long awkward laugh. This is being done on purpose to sandbag Collins and to justify Trump attacking her to keep her in line.
Look, every time the country has turned to even a few GOP senators to rein in Trump, they have folded and Mitch McConnell has rounded them up, or Donald Trump has openly attacked them in tweets, or both.
Every time, they fold.
This time will be no different.
You are crazy to think otherwise.
This feels like a smart leak from the White House to gin up tons of calls aimed at vulnerable, wavering Senators. Hope it's answered by an equal and opposite effort on the left. https://t.co/gr6AVYCwhw— LOLGOP (@LOLGOP) January 13, 2020
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