they re elected because their constituents chose them for their opinions and views on the record. so to that point, senator mcconnell has also rejected witnesses, specifically, mick mulvaney, john bolton, to appear before the senate. he keeps saying this is a political process but is there a risk for mitch mcconnell that if he does not at least have witnesses, that the exoneration of president trump will be somewhat fallible, given the fact that it s going to come down to numbers and not the actual exoneration? my advise to mitch mcconnell, get this over as fast as you can. looks that s where he s headed. yes. actually, technically, they can do it on a motion to dismiss on the first day without any witnesses, without anything at all, technically, they have the sole power within the senate to set their own rules. but this is a faster trial, a better trial for republicans. there s an argument that it s a better thing for democrats as well. strategically, they want to avoid a long
impartial justice according to the constitution and laws. then you also have leader mcconnell there saying admitting he will not be impartial. and this is actually a political process. is there any concern, danny for the rule of law here? i can see a concern for the rule of law. on the other hand, impartial justice doesn t necessarily mean that the juror, him or herself, will be free of all partiality. it s not the same as the judicial process but that does give reason for concern for the rule of law. at the same time, i think that will be the republicans response, that impartial justice is different for each individual senator being impartial and they re clearly not. i ve been saying this for a long time that as jurors in our judicial system we vet jurors during voir dire, to make sure even though they may have biases, the biases do not affect their ability to judge fairly. and that s very different from what the senate trial looking like because our senators are elegislated fo
prosecution witness during his trial. gates had also testified against a longtime friend of the president, roger stone. gates and manafort were among the first of the president s associates to be charged by special counsel bob mueller, both were charged with financial crimes relating to their consulting work with pro-russia politicians in ukraine. at the time, gates had pleaded guilty and was a key in the contacts with russian officials. prosecutors had informed the judge that gates had provided, quote, extraordinary assistance and had, quote, worked ernestly to provide the government with everything that s asked of him. while gates lawyer requested no jail time, the judge sentenced him to 45 days and said he could serve it intermittently on weekends. and paul manafort who is currently serving a seven-year hospital sentence has been hospitalized. his client has been in the hospital since last thursday but they say, quote, still don t have a full understanding of his
defend president trump under oath in a senate trial? now, speaking to msnbc s chris hayes last night, schumer said he would push for a senate vote to include key witnesses in a trial. i m allowed to ask the votes i will ask during the impeachment proceeding for a vote on whether mulvaney should testify? and whether bolton should testify and whether casey should testify and whether griffin should testify. and many of my republican colleagues will be in a real dilemma. and senator mitch mcconnell also admitted yesterday that in a senate impeachment trial it wouhe would not be an impartial juror. this is a political process. there is nothing impartial about it. impeachment is a political decision. the house made a political decision to impeach. i will anticipate we will have a largely partisan outcome in the senate. i m not impartial about this at
think they re entitled to. but we can expect the same opposition from republicans in the house. also from washington, congressional report from daily beast sam brody, sam, what do you make of the letter s letter to speaker pelosi in which he says more due process was afforded to those accused in the salem witch trials? i mean, it s classic, right. and there s an element of this to speaker nancy pelosi and the president and speaker probably have the most relationship than anybody in washington. but, look, i think this is interesting in the lines of senate republicans are about to take up this impeachment process. and determine the parameters for the trial. and we know that a lot of them are uncomfortable with the president s rhetoric. and a few of them have even said that, you know, the president s conduct, with respect to ukraine was, you know, wrong but not impeachable. so, this is an interesting message to go out on in the house, when, you know,