The U.S. Senate is expected to wrap up the initial phase of President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial before turning on Friday to the explosive question of whether to call witnesses such as former national security adviser John Bolton, Reuters reported.
Republicans who control the Senate said there was a chance the trial could end on Friday with Trump’s acquittal, leaving him in office and rendering moot the articles of impeachment Democrats approved in the House of Representatives in December.
An acquittal would allow the Republican president to claim vindication and put the threat to his presidency behind him just as Americans begin focusing on the Democratic race to choose his challenger in the Nov. 3 election.
Iowa holds the first election contest of the year on Monday. Trump will be there on Thursday night for a rally to promote his record and skewer his opponents.
Lawyers for Trump and the House Democrats who are managing the impeachment prosecution will spend a second day on Thursday answering questions about the case written down by lawmakers and read aloud by black-robed U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts.
Then, probably on Friday, each side will present what amount to closing arguments, before the senators move to the central question of whether to call witnesses.
Democrats are demanding witnesses in order to shed more light on Trump’s attempt to persuade Ukraine President Volodmyr Zelenskiy to investigate Democratic rival Joe Biden.
To force the issue, they need to persuade at least four Republican senators to vote with them to assure a majority vote in the 100-seat chamber, an effort the top Democrat in the Senate has called an uphill fight.
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