Senate rejects motion to call Trump trial witnesses

WASHINGTON

The U.S. Senate voted Friday to not allow witnesses testimony or documents in the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump.

The motion was rejected with a vote of 51-49, paving the way for Trump’s acquittal on two articles of impeachment passed by the House of Representatives.

Trump is facing two separate articles of impeachment passed by the House in December tied to his repeated attempts to get Ukraine to declare criminal investigations into Biden and his subsequent decision to refuse to cooperate in the congressional probe into the matter.

The first article, abuse of power, is centered on Trump's decision to hold up millions of dollars in security assistance to Ukraine as well as a coveted Oval Office meeting sought by President Volodymyr Zelensky while he was pushing to have the probes declared.

The second article, obstruction of Congress, is tied to his refusal to cooperate with the congressional investigation and his directive that top officials and government agencies do the same.

Democrats, who hold 47 seats in the chamber, needed support from at least four Republicans to hit the 51-vote threshold needed to call witnesses or request critical documents from the Trump administration.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell issued a statement, saying Republican senators will end the trial in the coming days.

McConnell said numerous witnesses and 28,000-plus pages of documents already in evidence are sufficient to judge House managers’ accusations and end this impeachment trial.

"Senators will now confer among ourselves, with the House Managers, and with the President’s counsel to determine next steps as we prepare to conclude the trial in the coming days," said McConnell.

Speaking on Capitol Hill, Senate Minority Leader Schumer said if Trump is acquitted without any witnesses or documents, the acquittal will not have value.

"America will remember this day unfortunately where the Senate did not live up to its responsibilities, where the Senate turned away from truth and went along with a sham trial," Schumer told reporters.