WASHINGTON — President Trump’s protection crew appealed to the Senate on Tuesday to ignore a brand new account by John R. Bolton that bolsters the impeachment case in opposition to the president. However by day’s finish, Republican leaders indicated that they’d not corralled the votes they sought to forestall his former nationwide safety adviser or different witnesses from coming ahead.
On the ultimate day of arguments on Mr. Trump’s behalf, Jay Sekulow, one of many president’s personal legal professionals, sought to boost doubts about Mr. Bolton’s declare in an unpublished manuscript that Mr. Trump tied the discharge of navy support to Ukraine to investigations into his political rivals, calling it an “unsourced allegation” that was “inadmissible” in his impeachment trial.
Simply after Mr. Trump’s crew ended a three-day authorized protection, Republican senators rushed into a non-public assembly room within the Capitol, the place Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the bulk chief, labored to herd his rank and file in line behind ending the trial. He brandished a card that bore a tally of Republican votes on the query, and warned that he didn’t but have sufficient to dam an anticipated Democratic transfer to name witnesses as a result of some Republicans remained uncommitted, in accordance with individuals conversant in the assembly not approved to debate it publicly.
“It was a severe household dialogue,” Senator Kevin Cramer, Republican of North Dakota, informed reporters as he emerged from the senators-only assembly within the Strom Thurmond Room. “Some individuals are sincerely exploring all of the avenues.”
The talks unfolded after Mr. Trump’s crew basically rested their case in opposition to eradicating him from workplace, ending its oral arguments by urging senators to disregard what Mr. Bolton may need to say. With out straight denying the veracity of his account, whose existence was first reported by The New York Times, Mr. Sekulow argued that the conduct Mr. Bolton described was not had no place within the dialogue of the president’s destiny.
Impeachment “just isn’t a recreation of leaks and unsourced manuscripts,” Mr. Sekulow mentioned. “That’s politics, sadly. Hamilton put impeachment within the fingers of this physique, the Senate, exactly and particularly, to be above that fray.”
The argument was a bid to quiet the anger and anxiousness that Mr. Bolton’s revelation prompted in Republican ranks when it emerged at a vital stage in Mr. Trump’s impeachment trial. Conservatives mentioned the case for shifting on to acquittal with out new testimony or paperwork was overwhelming, however key moderates, together with Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, mentioned they have been nonetheless undecided. Earlier, one other reasonable, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, indicated that “Mr. Bolton in all probability has some issues that might be useful for us.”
Two different Republicans, Senators Mitt Romney of Utah and Susan Collins of Maine, have mentioned they might vote for witnesses, however Democrats would wish 4 Republicans to hitch them as a way to prevail.
Contained in the personal assembly on Tuesday, Mr. McConnell warned that permitting witnesses would blow the trial large open and probably lengthen it by weeks. Clutching his whip rely of yeses, noes and maybes, Mr. McConnell seemed to be suggesting that undecided senators wanted to make up their minds and get according to the vast majority of their colleagues.
The exercise inside and out of doors the Senate chamber underscored simply how totally Mr. Bolton’s account has upended the trial, injecting a component of unpredictability right into a continuing that appeared headed for Mr. Trump’s acquittal by week’s finish.
The longtime Republican overseas coverage determine has made clear he would testify if referred to as, however senators additionally know that no matter his account, it’s a digital impossibility that the Republican-controlled chamber would vote to convict Mr. Trump and take away him from workplace lower than 10 months earlier than a presidential election. A 67-vote supermajority could be wanted to take action.
How they proceed might have vital political ramifications not only for Mr. Trump, whose very defenses may very well be additional undermined, however for Republican senators up for re-election in swing states this fall who need to present voters they performed a good tribunal.
Democrats pounced on Mr. Sekulow’s remarks about Mr. Bolton, saying that his reference to “unsourced allegations” proved their level that the Senate should subpoena Mr. Bolton to testify within the trial to make clear his exact account.
“As soon as once more, the president’s crew, in a method that solely they may, have additional made the case for calling John Bolton,” Consultant Adam B. Schiff of California, the lead Home supervisor, informed reporters throughout a break within the proceedings.
Proponents of calling Mr. Bolton acquired an sudden little bit of help late Monday from John F. Kelly, the previous White Home chief of employees, who told an audience in Florida that he believed Mr. Bolton’s account and supported the Senate in search of direct witnesses.
“I believe a few of the conversations appear…