WASHINGTON – A coalition of six organizations today issued a letter to Senate President Pro Tempore Patrick Leahy, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and Representative Jamie Raskin, the House’s lead impeachment manager, as well as the House’s other eight impeachment managers, calling for live witness testimony in President Trump’s second Senate impeachment trial. The proposed format for the trial features only pre-recorded video evidence.
“The Senate, and the nation as a whole, need to hear from witnesses who can testify not only about the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6th, but also about Trump’s actions leading up to that attack,” the letter states. “The most compelling case cannot be presented entirely by pre-recorded video.”
The witnesses proposed in the letter include Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger; Members of Congress, their aides, and Capitol staff targeted during the January 6th riot; Capitol police officers attacked by the rioters; and President Trump himself by way of subpoena.
To support their argument, the coalition quotes Senators who voiced their concerns about a lack of witnesses in Trump’s first impeachment trial in February 2020, including Sens. Schumer, Patrick Leahy, Dianne Feinstein, Bernie Sanders, Susan Collins, Chris Murphy, and Joe Manchin, as well as Vice President Kamala Harris.
“President Trump has been impeached on the most serious charge ever levied against a president: that he incited an insurrection against the United States,” the letter concludes. “For the sake of presenting the full case to the Senate and to the American people, the trial must include witnesses to Trump’s high crimes and misdemeanors.”
The signers, led by Free Speech For People, include Free Speech For People, Equal Justice Society, Mainers for Accountable Leadership, March for Truth, Progressive Democrats of America, and the Revolving Door Project.
