President Donald Trump accused Democrats of not sending articles of impeachment to the Senate because they don’t want House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), former Vice President Joe Biden, or Biden’s son Hunter to testify in a Senate trial under oath.
“The reason the Democrats don’t want to submit the Articles of Impeachment to the Senate is that they don’t want corrupt politician Adam Shifty Schiff to testify under oath, nor do they want the Whistleblower, the missing second Whistleblower, the informer, the Bidens, to testify!” Trump wrote on Twitter late Dec. 19.
Some Republicans want to call at least one of the Bidens, Schiff, and the person who filed a complaint against Trump to testify during the trial. Schiff misled the public about his staff’s contact with the whistleblower, the Bidens are accused of corruption relating to their dealings with Ukraine, and the person who filed a complaint against Trump didn’t disclose that he was in contact with Schiff’s staff before filing the complaint.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is refusing to submit the impeachment articles to the Senate, which Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) called “highly unusual.”
In another missive on Twitter, Trump accused Democrats of having no evidence of the accusations they’ve made against him.
“So after the Democrats gave me no Due Process in the House, no lawyers, no witnesses, no nothing, they now want to tell the Senate how to run their trial. Actually, they have zero proof of anything, they will never even show up. They want out. I want an immediate trial!” he said.
“The House Democrats were unable to get even a single vote from the Republicans on their Impeachment Hoax. The Republicans have never been so united! The Dem’s case is so bad that they don’t even want to go to trial!” he said in a third tweet.
Pelosi told reporters shortly after the House voted to impeach Trump on Thursday that the House wouldn’t send the articles to the Senate until a “fair trial” was outlined by Senate leaders. Democrats currently control the House but Republicans hold the Senate.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) wants McConnell to bring the subject of witnesses up for a vote, saying he wants four current or former White House officials, including acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, to testify during a Senate trial.
McConnell said that the House conducts inquiries and the Senate conducts trials, dismissing immediate calls for witnesses and wondering aloud on what the Democratic strategy is.
“Some House Democrats imply they are withholding the articles for some kind of leverage, so they can dictate the Senate process to senators. I admit, I’m not sure what leverage there is in refraining from sending us something we do not want. But, alas, if they can figure that out, they can explain it,” McConnell said on the Senate floor on Thursday afternoon.
“Meanwhile, other House Democrats seem to be suggesting they'd prefer never to transmit the articles. Fine with me.”
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