On Sunday’s broadcast of “Face the Nation,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) said President Donald Trump could not claim he was “exonerated” if the Senate trial doesn’t have witnesses.
Van Hollen said, “Sure. Absolutely. And first, just to be clear, the conduct we’re talking about from President Trump has no parallel in the conduct of anything that President Obama or President Bush did. And his claim of absolute immunity is unprecedented. No presidents ever claimed that. So Speaker Pelosi is doing exactly the right thing. She is focusing a spotlight on the need to have a fair trial in the United States Senate. And it’s especially necessary when you have Mitch McConnell, Senator McConnell, who you quoted earlier, saying publicly that he’s not going to be an impartial juror, even though that’s what the oath will require, that he’s going to work in lockstep with the president, who’s the defendant in this case, and that he’s already said no to calling fact witnesses that have direct knowledge of what’s at stake in this impeachment.”
He added, “If it’s not fair, there’s going to be no way that Trump’s going to be able to go around and say he’s exonerated.”
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