Managers of the Democratic impeachment on Saturday drew harsh criticism from both the left and the right after their complete reversal of the calling of witnesses at the trial of former President Donald Trump in the Senate.
Trump was found not guilty of inciting an insurrection in a 57-43 vote on Saturday.
Critics said the Democrats “gave in” by having a press release by Congressman Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Wash., Read on the record after initially asking to testify her – a move that could have potentially prolonged the impeachment trial by weeks .
Beutler hit the impeachment process after a statement Friday night in which she said Trump apparently sided with the Capitol protesters on January 6 during a conversation with minority leader in the House, Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.
“When McCarthy finally reached the president on January 6 and asked him to cancel the turmoil publicly and forcefully, the president initially repeated the falsehood that it was the antifa that violated the Capitol. McCarthy refuted that and told the president that they were Trump supporters, “she said. “That’s when, according to McCarthy, the president said, ‘Well, Kevin, I think these people are more upset about the election than you are.'”
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Beutler added: “To the patriots who were at the side of the former president while these conversations were taking place, or even to the former vice president: if you have something to add here, now is the time.”
The decision to summon Beutler followed suggestions from several Senate Democrats that it might be wise to call witnesses with knowledge of Trump’s actions on January 6.
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, DR.I., said Friday night that “a way to clear up” the confusion about what Trump knew and when on January 6 would be “[s]use a trial to depose McCarthy and Tuberville under oath and obtain facts. Ask the Secret Service to produce communications back to the White House about VP Pence security during the siege. “
Senator Ed Markey, D-Mass., Also said: “House managers should ask to be called witnesses, including anyone who has communicated with Donald Trump or has direct knowledge of his actions and mood while he was at the House Branca later the Capitol was violated and while the coup attempt was underway. “
Senator Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., Said he would be open to House managers by bringing witnesses on MSNBC as well.
All 50 Senate Democrats and five Republicans initially voted to allow testimony from witnesses before impeachment administrators stepped back hours later.
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Summoning witnesses could have extended the trial for weeks and potentially allow Trump’s defense lawyers to summon several witnesses of their own. The job of destitute witnesses would have taken place off the stage, thus allowing Democrats to continue to work on President Biden’s agenda in the meantime. But Political reported that House managers have come under pressure from Senate Democrats to withdraw their plan to depose Beutler.
Raskin addressed the decision to back off on the call to depose Beutler when the Senate met again after his initial request.
After this masterful presentation, I will not question the decisions of the managers of the House regarding other witnesses or statements. His work yielded an overwhelming record of support belief
“We judged this case as aggressively as we could with the law and the facts … We got from the president’s lawyers exactly what we wanted, which was to record evidence of our fellow Congressman Beutler’s statement,” he said. . “And we found that I was able to read before the whole country and it became part of the case. And it became an important part of our case.”
He added: “We could have 500 witnesses and that would not have outgrown the types of arguments put forward by Mitch McConnell and other Republicans who were hanging from their hats on the grounds that it was somehow unconstitutional to try a former president.”
The choice of not submitting any testimony for the Senate trial meant that there was no witness heard or testimony made by the Chamber or the Senate during the impeachment process. Chamber administrators based their case primarily on press reports. This was in stark contrast to Trump’s first impeachment, in which the House conducted weeks of depositions and hearings with first-hand witnesses.
In this image from the video, the House’s impeachment manager, Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., Speaks during the second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump in the Senate at the US Capitol in Washington, Thursday, 11 February 2021. (Senate Television via AP)
((Senate Television via AP))
Impeachment manager Del. Stacey Plaskett, DV.I., said that even if House managers had done this job, they would not have changed the outcome of the trial.
“Other individuals who may have been there with the president were not friendly witnesses for us, they were not friendly witnesses and would have required subpoenas and months of litigation,” she said. “They are still litigating McGahn and impeachment a year later.”
Even so, impeachment administrators have received criticism for their radical reversal from both the left and the right.
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“This is so weak,” said Meena Harris, Vice President Harris’ niece. “Just do us the favor of not being shocked when he runs again in 2024.”
“Even if you are convinced that no testimony will change the opinion of 40 Republicans – and I think it is a fair assumption – leaving witnesses on the table is an incredible mistake,” said reporter Matt Fuller of the Huffington Post. “After the impeachment administrators presented a fantastic case, the decision to withdraw is what will be remembered.”
Addie Elie Mystal of The Nation: “Everyone who thinks that no witness would have changed Republican minds needs to explain to me why impeachment (which would never change Republican minds) was worth it in the first place. People who think impeachment is NOT it was worth being at least INTELLECTUALLY CONSISTENT. “
“This is setback. White flag. Malpractice. Completely without strategy. They just closed the door on others who may have left, as @HerreraBeutler asked last night,” said co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, Adam Green. “Just when we thought the Dems were being bold and strategic. That is pulling the weakness out of the jaws of boldness.”
Whitehouse, one of the senators who expressed openness to witnesses, defended House officials on Saturday in a statement to Fox News.
“After that masterful presentation, I will not question the decisions of the House managers on other witnesses or testimonies. Their work has yielded an overwhelming conviction record,” he said.
Representatives for Van Hollen, Markey and Beutler did not respond to Fox News’s requests for comment on the reversal of House officials.
Meanwhile, Republicans reveled in the Democrats’ perceived error.
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“This is a mess!” Senator Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., Said. “It was a last-minute Ave Maria by the Democrats who have now relented and will not call witnesses after all. We should rule, not play.
“Well, it’s official: #DemsInDisarray,” said Doug Andres, press secretary for Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky ..
“Well, that was a waste of time,” said the Senate Republicans’ official Twitter account. “Let’s go back to work.”
A senior adviser to the impeachment team defended the decision to withdraw any testimony and simply insert Beutler’s statement into the registry.
“Now that the Trump team has given in to bringing this uncontested statement to the record of the trial, it can be considered by the senators along with the already overwhelming evidence on President Trump’s conduct on January 6, without the need for subpoena, testimony and other depositions, “aide said before the final vote to condemn.
The aide added: “In the past four days, the House’s Impeachment Managers have presented overwhelming and overwhelming evidence of the president’s guilt for inciting insurrection … The strongest evidence of Trump’s abandonment of duty during and after the attack has always it was Trump’s own public statements that day and his own deafening refusal to say ‘stop the attack’. “
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Trump’s second impeachment was spurred by the January 6 riot on the United States Capitol. Trump, after months of making false claims that he had won the presidential election, called a rally in Washington, DC, with his supporters for the same day, Congress and then Vice President Mike Pence met in a joint session to certify the election results.
Trump, at the rally, repeated his false electoral claims and he and his advisers used open rhetoric, angering the large crowd. Trump at one point in the demonstration told his followers to march “peacefully and patriotically” to the Capitol, a comment that his supporters point to as part of the reason he does not take responsibility for the Capitol’s looting.
But the House’s impeachment administrators argued that one comment did not cancel out the rest of Trump’s other comments in that speech or in the months that followed. They said he had fundamental responsibility for the crowd that invaded the Capitol and forced hundreds of lawmakers and the former vice president to hide while shouting “hang Mike Pence”, among other things.
Chad Pergram of Fox News contributed to this report.