Last updated on September 25th, 2023 at 08:56 pm
Speaker Pelosi has the power to get around Mitch McConnell’s witness blockade by holding on to the articles of impeachment and having Bolton testify in the House.
Benjamin Wittes explained on Twitter:
Here is a card she now has in her hand. She can announce that:
(1) She is not willing to hand over the articles so that McConnell can bury them without hearing from a witness who has suddenly made clear that he is, after all, available.— Benjamin Wittes (@benjaminwittes) January 7, 2020
(3) She will hold the articles pending the completion of that testimony—and whatever litigation may be necessary to obtain it.
And critically, (4) the House reserves the right to pass superseding or amended articles of impeachment in response to new information it obtains.
— Benjamin Wittes (@benjaminwittes) January 7, 2020
This would put McConnell in the position of paying a significant price for not reaching an accommodation—and put pressure on him to do so. The articles of impeachment will dangle over the president and the Senate for some period of time to come if Bolton resists the subpoena.
— Benjamin Wittes (@benjaminwittes) January 7, 2020
Bolton may well end up testifying, either in the House or the Senate. And McConnell will be unable to play his 51-vote trump card until Bolton does so, because the articles will not be in his hand, and his power only kicks in when Pelosi sends them over.
— Benjamin Wittes (@benjaminwittes) January 7, 2020
What's more, such a position would be wholly defensible.
After all, as McConnell knows full well, there is no right and wrong here. There are only tactics and what works.
— Benjamin Wittes (@benjaminwittes) January 7, 2020
Pelosi has options. Mitch McConnell says he has the votes for his sham impeachment trial, but the one thing that he doesn’t have are the articles of impeachment. McConnell can’t do anything until Pelosi turns them over. It would be beneficial for the country to hear what John Bolton has to say.
Speaker Pelosi can have Bolton subpoenaed in the House, and his testimony can be added to the evidence at the Senate trial. McConnell tipped his hand too soon. Nancy Pelosi has the power, and unless McConnell wants the articles of impeachment hanging over Trump’s head during the election, he is going to need to make a deal.
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Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
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