McConnell rejects Democrats’ call for new witnesses in Senate impeachment trial

“We certainly do not need jurors to start brainstorming witness lists for the prosecution,” McConnell said, referring to the role of senators during the trial.

The remarks came in response to a letter from Schumer in which the Democrat outlined a number of procedural demands he said would make an impeachment trial more fair. The demands included subpoenas for acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, Mulvaney senior adviser Robert Blair, former national security adviser John Bolton and top Office of Management and Budget official Michael Duffey.

Mulvaney, Blair and Duffey defied subpoenas from House committees, while Bolton, who was not subpoenaed, has said he would fight one in court.

“The fact that my colleague is already desperate to sign up the Senate for new fact-finding . . . suggests something to me,” McConnell said of Schumer.

“It suggests that even Democrats who do not like this president are beginning to realize how dramatically insufficient the House’s rushed process has been,” he said. “If House Democrats’ case is this deficient, this thin, the answer is not for the judge and jury to cure it over here in the Senate. The answer is that the House should not impeach on this basis in the first place.”

The House is on track to vote to impeach Trump on Wednesday, sending two articles of impeachment for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress to the Senate. Under the Constitution, the Senate would hold a trial with all 100 senators as jurors. Two-thirds of those present would be required for a conviction.

The Senate trial is expected to begin in January. McConnell and Schumer could begin hashing out the scope of a Senate trial as early as this week