Trump Impeachment Trial Will Continue Without Witnesses

Trump Impeachment Trial Will Continue Without Witnesses

After a surprise vote on Saturday morning by the Senate to allow witnesses in the impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump, House impeachment managers and Trump's defense team agreed on Saturday afternoon to push forward with the conclusion of the impeachment trial.

The Senate had voted 55-45 on Saturday to call at least one witness in the second impeachment trial of former President Trump.

Then, lead House impeachment manager, Rep. Jaime Raskin, announced that rather than calling for witnesses to testify before the Senate that they would instead submit a statement from GOP Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler for the record, regarding Trump's phone call with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy the day of the Capitol riots. 

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Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) had Tweeted he believed McCarthy should be deposed.

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Calling witness would have likely dragged out the trial for several more days -- or even weeks. 

Now that it has been decided that the Senate will not call witnesses, managers will then move toward closing arguments and could vote on whether to convict Trump by tonight.