Impeachment Reached, Con't

As the Senate impeachment trial of Donald Trump is scheduled to begin deliberations on ground rules this afternoon, the White House and the Senate GOP are doing everything they can to stifle evidence, prevent any witnesses, and end the trial by this time next week.

President Trump’s legal defense team and Senate GOP allies are quietly gaming out contingency plans should Democrats win enough votes to force witnesses to testify in the impeachment trial, including an effort to keep former national security adviser John Bolton from the spotlight, according to multiple officials familiar with the discussions.

While Republicans continue to express confidence that Democrats will fail to persuade four GOP lawmakers to break ranks with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who has opposed calling any witnesses in the trial, they are readying a Plan B just in case — underscoring how uncertain they are about prevailing in a showdown over witnesses and Bolton’s possible testimony.

One option being discussed, according to a senior administration official, would be to move Bolton’s testimony to a classified setting because of national security concerns, ensuring that it is not public.

To receive the testimony in a classified session, Trump’s attorneys would have to request such a step, according to one official, adding that it would probably need the approval of 51 senators.

But that proposal, discussed among some Senate Republicans in recent days, is seen as a final tool against Bolton becoming an explosive figure in the trial. First, Republicans involved in the discussions said, would come a fierce battle in the courts.

Trump’s trial begins in earnest Tuesday on the two impeachment charges: abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. They center on the allegation that Trump withheld military aid and a White House meeting to pressure Ukraine to investigate his political rivals, including former vice president and 2020 candidate Joe Biden. The Trump administration stonewalled the House impeachment probe, denying witnesses and documents.

In an organizing resolution released Monday and authored by McConnell and his team, the rules would allow either the president’s defense team or the House impeachment managers to subpoena witnesses if the Senate agrees, but any witnesses would first have to be deposed. “No testimony shall be admissible in the Senate unless the parties have had an opportunity to depose such witnesses,” the resolution says.

Blocking witnesses such as Bolton — or shielding the testimony from view — could carry political risks for Republicans. Bolton has said he would testify if subpoenaed by the Senate.

“Democrats will ask, ‘Don’t the American people deserve to know the truth?’ ” said William A. Galston, a senior fellow in governance at the Brookings Institution. “On the other hand, they may well calculate that public testimony would create uncertainties that they’re willing to go to considerable lengths to avoid.”

Republicans don't want a court fight, they don't want evidence, and they certainly don't want witnesses.  The trial resolution that Mitch McConnell plans to vote on today basically limits both sides to 24 hours over 2 days, with each day not starting until 1 PM, meaning that Dems will be going long into the night with nobody watching while the GOP could simply rest its case as soon as possible after making whatever crapass arguments and go straight to the Q&A period to Chief Justice Roberts.

It's very possible that the entire trial could be over by this time next week.  In case of any deviation from this track, the Senate GOP will take it immediately to court, and who knows what happens then.  Again, Trump doesn't want this, so I would expect GOP senators to be browbeaten within in inch or two of their political lives until they all follow the script.

We'll see what happens, but it would take a miracle to avoid the scenario where Trump isn't acquitted by the end of the month.