Republican Senator Susan Collins spearheading push to allow new Trump impeachment witnesses
The Founders never anticipated a creature like Mitch McConnell. Perhaps naively, they thought that a president who constituted an obvious threat to the Republic would be impeached by the will of both parties. Under the current president, we have seen that assumption tested to the breaking point.
Our current Senate Majority Leader clearly cares little about our democracy and is more than content to protect Trump so long as he keeps using the Oval Office to rubberstamp favorable tax policies for the super-rich and to cram underqualified reactionaries into the judicial branch. Once Speaker Pelosi sends the articles of impeachment to the Senate, McConnell will muster every ounce of his not insubstantial power to quickly exonerate Trump and prevent any new damaging information from being revealed to the American people. Knowing that, Pelosi has been holding off and pushing for McConnell to agree to allow new evidence and testimonies during the Senate trial. He has refused.
Unfortunately for McConnell, it appears his house is not fully in order. According to Bangor Daily News, Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) is working with what she calls a “fairly small group” of other Republicans to make sure that witnesses will be permitted to testify during the impeachment trial. The fact that there is even the possibility that they would be banned shows how morally bankrupt the GOP has become, but Collins should be commended for her efforts. She defended her opinion by stating that the Senate “should be completely open to calling witnesses.”
“I am hopeful that we can reach an agreement on how to proceed with the trial that will allow the opportunity for both the House and the president’s counsel if they choose to do so,” Collins went on.
It remains to be seen if Collins is successful or if she even follows through on her promise but at this point any dissent in the GOP ranks is good news. Hopefully, there are a few Republican senators left with even a scrap of love for this country left.
