Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday he would reject Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s request to have four White House witnesses testify in the Senate’s impeachment trial, calling it a “fishing expedition.”
“We don’t create impeachments, Mr. President. We judge them … The House chose this road. It is their duty to investigate. It’s their duty to meet the very high bar for undoing a national election,” McConnell said. “As Speaker Pelosi herself once said, it is the House’s obligation to, quote, ‘build an ironclad case to act.’ If they fail, they fail. It is not the Senate’s job to leap into the breach and search desperately for ways to get to guilty. That would hardly be impartial justice,” he continued.
“The Senate Democratic leader would apparently like our chamber to do House Democrats’ homework for them. He wants to volunteer the Senate’s time and energy on a fishing expedition,” McConnell continued.
Despite Pelosi’s early reluctance to push for impeachment, there are currently 228 Democrats who have voiced support for impeachment or an impeachment inquiry. Pelosi has said she believes Trump is “goading” Democrats to impeach him because he thinks it will help him fire up his base. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: We Asked Every GOP Senator About Impeachment. Seven Ruled It Out.)
Democrats have continued to send congressional subpoenas to those close to Trump for documents related to the ongoing scandal regarding the president’s phone call with the president of Ukraine — specifically whether Trump asked him to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden in exchange for U.S. military aid. The House Intelligence, Foreign Affairs, and Oversight committees are all investigating Trump, his cabinet members and closest allies. (RELATED: House Judiciary Committee Votes To Move Forward With Articles Of Impeachment Against Trump)
The House is expected to vote on the articles of impeachment for Trump on Wednesday.