Former senior Senate GOP aide says Republicans should call witnesses

A former senior Senate Republican aide who helped win the Supreme Court confirmations of Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justice Samuel Alito on Sunday urged Senate Republicans to allow witnesses at President Trump’s impeachment trial.

“The historic norm is to call witnesses in Senate impeachment trials, even or especially after rushed House jobs. Senate Rs — You guys can do this. You don’t have to vote to convict and remove; but you should want to know the full story here,” tweeted Gregg Nunziata, a longtime Senate aide who is well known in conservative legal circles.

“The Founders are pretty clear — the House process is about an ‘accusation’, the Senate process is about a trial on the merits,” Nunziata said in a follow-up tweet.

The former staffer, who is now a partner at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips LLP, made his public comments shortly after news broke that former national security adviser John Bolton has written an unpublished manuscript in which he claims Trump told him he wanted to freeze $391 million in military assistance to Ukraine until Ukrainian officials there agree to investigate Democrats including former Vice President Joe Biden.

Nunziata formerly served as the chief nominations counsel on the Senate Judiciary Committee and also as general counsel and senior domestic policy adviser to Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.).

It’s a sign that Republican senators are likely to hear growing calls across the political spectrum to extend the impeachment trial, despite clear indications from many GOP lawmakers including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) that they would prefer to wrap the proceeding up as quickly as possible.

The report by The New York Times has roiled the debate over whether senators should vote to subpoena additional witnesses including Bolton and acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney.

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and the House impeachment managers pounced on news that Bolton is prepared to publish an account directly tying Trump to the effort to pressure Ukraine to investigate Biden and his son Hunter Biden.

“It’s up to four Senate Republicans to ensure that John Bolton, Mick Mulvaney, and the others with direct knowledge of President Trump’s actions testify in the Senate trial,” Schumer said in a statement.

Pelosi tweeted “the refusal of the Senate to call for [Bolton], other relevant witnesses, and documents is now even more indefensible.”