I don’t think it is his choice to make.
No one can ever force trump to do anything. That should be clear by now.
If that’s the case, then let’s just end this shitshow. I don’t see what either side hopes to prove with witnesses. The Dems have trump on video telling the rioters that he loves them and to “Remember the Alamo this day!” Shut this thing down!
Hopefully he will have the kitten filter, I really don’t need to see trump.
Either way, if they even utter the words “Big Lie” would he have the discipline not to go off on a free form jazz riff on how he really won in a landslide?
If they allow Herrera Butler to testify via Zoom, then they’ll almost certainly allow Trump or anyone else.
A bit more info. On the Clinton trial there were 3 witnesses, on video, with 2 senators and the house managers and defence during the taping.
This is gonna be quite the ride.
I guess the endgame is starting to take form then?
I don’t think conviction is realistic, but if the Dems can get SCOTUS to rule that the impeachment was warranted, and Trump himself is forced to squirm away from the subpoena until he has to take the 5th, that seems sort of like a TKO in the court of public opinion.
This is from the NY Times:
Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, informed colleagues Saturday morning that it was a “close call,” but he would vote to acquit former President Donald J. Trump on the charge of “incitement of insurrection” for his role in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, according to three people familiar with the matter.
His decision, revealed in an email to colleagues hours before a vote on the verdict, put to rest weeks of uncertainty and public silence about how Mr. McConnell would judge the former president, and confirmed that it was all but certain that the Senate would acquit Mr. Trump.
I don’t think that it “escalates” to SCOTUS, IANAL, but I think that they would pretty much be the only ones with any jurisdiction. I don’t know how long they would take on a decision, but it seems as though he would be applying for an injunction to stop the subpoena, rather than congress asking SCOTUS for permission. So, if they refuse to hear it, then it seems as though it stands. Prior to January 20th, there was always the question of who would enforce such an order. Now, if they have to go down to Florida to physically bring him back, they can.
And in the meantime, they can call other witnesses. I’d really like to see some testimony from congress people who were giving “tours” in the days before the insurrection.
Mitch wrote that letter in an attempt to forestall the witness vote, which makes him a two-time loser in about a 12-hour period.
Initial reports have disgraced ex-president Trump as… not pleased with this morning’s developments:
Then the governor of Florida can be arrested on charges of insurrection as well.
I wonder if Trump would actually be able to keep his mouth shut. They keep directing questions to him, pointing out that he lost the election. Short of drugging him up, I don’t see how he could avoid speaking up and lying.
That was when he was president, and he was in charge of enforcing things. Now that he no longer is, yes, he can be forced to. He may not be forced to speak, but they can physically force him to sit in that chair.
I don’t think so. In theory, yes, but there is no one individual or group who will take responsibility for making that happen.
OTOH, it could serve as a ‘justification’ for yet another siege on the Capitol …
:rolleyes:
Why not? That would be very specifically the job of the US Marshalls under the DOJ, which is no longer beholden to Trump.
Do you think that they would refuse to take action on a legal subpoena from congress?
Who calls the witnesses? Do the Senators call for witnesses or just the legal teams? (Although, since many GOP Senators are working closely with Trump’s defense team, I guess it doesn’t really matter.)
ETA: the reason the GOP wants to call Pelosi is due to the persistent claim that she was responsible for the lack of manpower to guard the Capitol on Jan 6.
“Congress” will NEVER issue a subpoena to trump. The Republican Senators will never do it. Nor will Republican House members. And frankly, the Democrats seem reluctant to lower the boom on trump personally. They tap dance and tippy-toe around him.
Give me the name of one individual currently serving in either house of Congress in any party who has the balls to issue a subpoena on trump. There is no one. Everyone is still too afraid of him, of what he can do, of whom he commands, of the damage, the fallout.
I would love nothing better than to be proved wrong. I would love to see trump in handcuffs, leg irons, breaking rocks on a chain gang. But he will live out his teflon-coated days surrounded by the bodies and failed careers of his sycophants, untouched and unscarred.
From John Santucci, quoted above: