Friday’s session might be definitive, probably capped by a vote on whether or not to listen to new witnesses like the previous nationwide safety ad
Friday’s session might be definitive, probably capped by a vote on whether or not to listen to new witnesses like the previous nationwide safety adviser John R. Bolton and think about new proof. However after that vote, which Republicans are assured will probably be rejected, issues in President Trump’s impeachment trial might change into a bit messy. Nicholas Fandos, a congressional correspondent for The New York Occasions, walked me by way of what to anticipate.
The trial will resume at 1 p.m., however with a brand new form: There will probably be 4 hours of debate, cut up between the Home managers and Mr. Trump’s attorneys, on the query of witnesses. We’ll probably hear Adam Schiff speaking another time about why they should hear from Mr. Bolton and others. The president’s attorneys will say that should you go down that path, it’ll open up a Pandora’s field and maintain the trial going for weeks extra.
After the conclusion of that debate, one thing uncommon might occur: Senators might transfer into a personal deliberation, the place they shut the doorways, kick reporters out of the Senate press gallery and switch off cameras. However that’s unlikely, principally as a result of we already know the way Republicans will vote.
Then, within the late afternoon or early night, the vote on whether or not to think about witnesses and paperwork will happen. Keep in mind: It’s a vote about whether or not they even need to enable the Senate to think about calling witnesses, not a vote on the witnesses themselves. If the vote fails, the trial is, for all intents and functions, heading towards a conclusion.
If the Senate does vote to think about witnesses — a giant “if,” contemplating we just about know the votes — then we’ll be in an unsure interval the place the 2 authorized groups can provide motions on particular individuals and paperwork, and each will get a vote. It could open up a free-for-all during which Democrats might maintain demanding votes. The president’s attorneys might demand votes, too, on witnesses like Hunter Biden.
No matter how the vote seems, Senate leaders will seemingly break to debate what to do subsequent.
The dinnertime hours might be when issues get actually messy. The subsequent large step, assuming the witness movement fails, is a vote on every of the impeachment articles. However there are lots of excessive jinks Senate Democrats might pull between the witness vote and the decision, together with forcing a bunch of procedural votes. However it’s onerous to say precisely what they may do, as a result of they’re nonetheless figuring that out. The session might go deep into the night time.
If Republicans had their alternative, they’d vote to acquit Mr. Trump by the tip of the night time. However that’s going to be onerous: Senators might want, as they did throughout the Clinton impeachment, to take some period of time to deliberate about last votes, that are anticipated by Monday.
Senator Mitt Romney, Republican of Utah, is the uncommon Senate Republican — truly the lone Senate Republican till late Thursday — vocally pushing for witnesses to be known as in President Trump’s impeachment trial. He’s additionally the one Senate Republican who’s seen as a potential vote to convict the president, an added distinction since Mr. Trump bought each Home Republican to fall in line.
All of which locations upon Mr. Romney a degree of curiosity that goes past the quasi-celebrity remedy he already receives because the final pre-Trump standard-bearer of a Republican Social gathering that feels about 80 years faraway from the get together that nominated him eight years in the past.
A minimum of amongst Democrats recently, Mr. Romney has additionally change into a magnet for nostalgia. “He’s an honest, honorable man,” former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. mentioned in a latest interview. Mr. Biden conceded that it was unlikely that he can be working for president proper now if it have been Mr. Romney searching for re-election, not Mr. Trump.
“I believe that is Senator Romney’s second to shine,” mentioned Senator Amy Klobuchar, one other Democratic presidential candidate who was in Washington for the impeachment trial. She was referring particularly to Mr. Romney’s assist for calling witnesses.
“Hopefully he can carry some individuals with him,” Ms. Klobuchar mentioned. She meant Republicans, a prospect that was wanting an increasing number of unlikely. By most indications, Mr. Romney’s capability to recruit Republican colleagues to his place has been minimal at greatest. After the Senate adjourned Thursday night time, Senator Susan Collins of Maine mentioned she would vote in favor of contemplating further witnesses and paperwork. However Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee introduced he would vote no.
The president has not been shy about heaping scorn upon Mr. Romney. It has created a state of affairs during which a few of Mr. Romney’s colleagues have taken their very own photographs at him, little doubt as a solution to show…