To view this message in a browser:
[link removed]
Image:
To see the original, click here:
[link removed]
The survival of independent media is at stake.
Without your support
[link removed]
we won't exist.
o Facebook
[link removed]
o Twitter
[link removed]
o Forward to Friend
[link removed]
GOP Accused of 'Greatest Cover-Up Since Watergate' as Senate Set to End
First Witness-Less Impeachment Trial in US History
"If the trial is rigged to keep hidden the most damning, most important,
most relevant evidence, then it's not a trial. Nor is it an acquittal.
It's a cover-up."
by Jake Johnson, staff writer
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Friday accused
[link removed]
the Republican Party of orchestrating the "greatest cover-up since
Watergate" as the Senate prepared to debate and vote on whether to allow
witnesses to testify in President Donald Trump's impeachment trial.
The Senate is widely expected as early as Friday evening to oppose
permitting witnesses, given swing vote Sen. Lamar Alexander's (R-Tenn.)
announcement
[link removed]
late Thursday that he will vote no. Alexander's decision sparked
widespread anger and the trending Twitter hashtag
#LamarAlexanderIsACoward
[link removed]
.
Schumer said during a press conference Friday that if the Senate votes
against allowing witnesses, "the president's acquittal will be
meaningless."
"This is about truth, and today the Senate will vote on whether
witnesses and documents are allowed in this trial," said Schumer. "The
importance of this vote is self-evident."
SCHUMER: "If my Republican colleagues refuse to even consider witnesses
& documents in the trial, this country is headed towards the greatest
coverup since Watergate ... [Trump] will conclude he can do it again, &
Congress can do nothing about it. He can try to cheat again."
pic.twitter.com/5vNB1tIQ9p
[link removed]
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 31, 2020
[link removed]
The Senate at 1pm ET is scheduled to begin four hours of debate on
whether to approve witnesses, followed by a vote. If the
Republican-controlled chamber decides against allowing witnesses, it
will be the first time in U.S. history the Senate has held an
impeachment trial without witness testimony, according to
[link removed]
PolitiFact .
A final vote on whether to acquit or remove Trump could come as early as
Friday evening, but anonymous Republican senators and aides told
[link removed]
Politico the trial could extend until next week if House Democratic
impeachment managers push for more time to make closing arguments.
Just ahead of the Senate debate on witnesses, the New York Times
reported
[link removed]
that former national security adviser John Bolton—one of the potential
witnesses in the trial—alleges in an unpublished book manuscript that
Trump instructed him in May of 2019 to help with the "pressure campaign
to extract damaging information on Democrats from Ukrainian officials."
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) tweeted
[link removed]
Thursday night that the Senate will be "disgraced" if it votes to acquit
Trump without hearing witness testimony or considering documentary
evidence that the White House has withheld
[link removed]
from Congress.
"If the trial is rigged to keep hidden the most damning, most important,
most relevant evidence, then it's not a trial," wrote Murphy. "Nor is it
an acquittal. It's a cover-up."
Progressive advocacy groups on Friday urged the U.S. public to continue
calling their senators to demand witnesses:
WE HAVE A NUMBER FOR THAT!
Call the Senate: 855-912-2982 [link removed]
[link removed]
— MoveOn (@MoveOn) January 31, 2020
[link removed]
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a 2020 Democratic presidential
candidate, wrote in a pair of tweets
[link removed]
Friday morning that "history will judge us for what happens next."
"Faith in our American institutions is at an all-time low," said Warren.
"The fact that GOP senators are covering up the president's corruption
with a sham impeachment trial without witnesses documents doesn't help."
Americans deserve to know that the President is using the power of
his/her office to work in the nation's interest, not his own personal
interest. And they deserve a Senate with the political courage to stand
up to a President that has abused his power & corrupted our government.
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) January 31, 2020
[link removed]
Karen Hobert Flynn, president of government watchdog group Common Cause,
warned in a letter
[link removed]
(pdf) sent to every U.S. senator Thursday that ending the trial without
witnesses "could undermine our democracy for generations."
"This is much bigger than President Trump," Hobert Flynn wrote.
"Preventing witnesses, evidence, and transparency in President Trump's
impeachment trial potentially undermines the Constitution for
generations."
"Americans deserve nothing less than the full truth," she added. "They
deserve to see a fair trial, and they are watching closely to see if
Senate Republicans fulfill their constitutional duty to serve as an
impartial jury or blindly conduct a rigged trial."
# # #
If you value this work and want to keep independent, progressive media
strong please join us. Make a tax-deductible donation
[link removed]
or consider becoming a sustaining member
[link removed]
today.
Donate Now
[link removed]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Call 207.775.0488 to donate by phone or mail a check to:
Common Dreams, PO Box 443, Portland, ME 04112, USA | Unsubscribe
[link removed]
