Feinstein Urges Senate Support for Impeachment Witnesses, Documents

Washington—Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) today called on her colleagues to support Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s call for key witnesses and documents related to the upcoming impeachment trial.

            “This is to request your support for the witnesses and documents requested in Senator Schumer’s December 15 and December 23 letters,” Feinstein wrote in a letter to all senators. “The House collected a significant amount of evidence during its inquiry. However, several key witnesses were prevented from testifying and relevant documents were withheld.”

            Full text of the letter follows:

January 2, 2020

Dear Colleague:

            This is to request your support for the witnesses and documents requested in Senator Schumer’s December 15 and December 23 letters.

            The House collected a significant amount of evidence during its inquiry. However, several key witnesses were prevented from testifying and relevant documents were withheld. Specifically:

• Four key witnesses – Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, former National Security Advisor John Bolton, top budget official Michael Duffey and White House aide Robert Blair – who would provide the Senate with firsthand testimony regarding the withholding of aid to Ukraine; and

• Emails and documents from the White House, State Department, and Office of Management and Budget regarding the request for Ukraine to announce political investigations and the withholding of a White House meeting and military aid.

            During the Clinton impeachment trial, the Senate had the benefit of exhaustive testimony from key witnesses and relevant documents from the start of the trial. Given this, it made sense for the Senate to wait until after presentations from House Managers and the President to decide whether additional testimony from witnesses who had already testified was warranted. Today, however, that is not the case. We know that certain key witnesses have not provided any testimony and that critical documents have been withheld by the White House.

            Agreement on Senator Schumer’s requests for these witnesses and documents requires a simple majority. This should be easy to achieve as all Senators should want this information from the outset to ensure a full and fair trial.

Sincerely,

Dianne Feinstein

United States Senator

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