Senate Blocks Democrats’ Bids for New Evidence, Witnesses in Trump’s Impeachment Trial

By Staff, Agencies

While the impeachment trial was launched against US President Donald Trump in the Senate today, he is unlikely to be ousted given the Republican majority in the upper chamber of Congress.

The US Senate voted on Tuesday to block the Democrats' demand for White House documents to be subpoenaed in the impeachment trial against Trump, Reuters reported.

The move was initiated by Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, who earlier said that the Democratic Party will offer a number of amendments in relation to documents and witnesses relevant to the impeachment trial.

Later on Tuesday, Senate Republican leader McConnell also moved to block the Democrats' demand to subpoena the US State Department for certain documents and records related to the impeachment case. The Senate Republicans voted to block the demand in a 53-47 party-line vote.

Following the vote, Schumer proposed a third amendment to subpoena the Office of Management and Budget [OMB] documents for the impeachment trial, which was also voted down 53 to 47.

After the three Democratic amendments were rejected, Schumer offered a fourth one to subpoena acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney. The Senate voted the move down.

In his fifth attempt, Schumer offered an amendment to subpoena all documents, communications, and other records within the possession, custody, or control of the war department involving aid to Ukraine. The effort was voted down by the Senate.

On Monday, McConnell drafted a resolution giving House Democrat prosecutors and Trump's defence 24 hours over two days to present their respective cases before allowing senators to vote on whether to call witnesses or hear new evidence.

On 19 December, the House of Representatives voted to impeach Trump for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. President Trump has continuously slammed the accusations against him as an "impeachment hoax" aiming to reverse the outcome of the 2016 election.