Senators head to the floor Friday to cast their vote on whether or not witness testimony will be allowed in the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump.
In a press briefing Friday morning, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said, “Trials have witnesses, trials have documents. The vote today is about whether the Senate will have a fair trial of President of the United States. So, it is deeply disturbing that on something of such importance to the future of our democracy, a few of my Republican colleagues announced last night they’d vote against hearing additional evidence.”
Tennessee Republican Senator Lamar Alexander was among those that announced that he would not be voting in favor of witness testimony.
Senate Democrats need four more votes from Republican senators in order for witness testimony to be approved.
Republican Senators Mitt Romney, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski are the other likely candidates to vote in favor of bringing in witness testimony to the Senate floor
If there is a tie, the decision will fall to Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts. (RELATED: Rep. McCarthy Thinks Democrats Are Favoring Impeachment Over The American People)
However, if Senate Republicans win the majority vote, then President Trump is expected to be acquitted as early as Friday night. Senate Democrats may push the vote on impeachment to Saturday if amendments are introduced, though Schumer would not comment on floor strategy this morning.
California Democratic Senator Kamala Harris pushed back on the move to acquit Trump saying, “The end game for them [Republican Senators] is acquittal. But here’s the deal, you cannot have a true acquittal if you’ve not had a fair trial. So, they are not going to get what they’ve been trying to get if they do not allow witnesses to come forward.”
Sen. Schumer expressed his frustration at Republican Senators saying, “If my Republican colleagues refuse to even consider witnesses and documents in this trial, this country is headed towards the greatest coverup since Watergate.”