Romney: 'Increasingly Likely' We'll Call Witnesses

Comments come after new John Bolton revelations
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 27, 2020 11:33 AM CST
Romney: 'Increasingly Likely' We'll Call Witnesses
Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, arrives at the Senate on Friday, Jan. 24, 2020.   (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Democrats say new allegations from John Bolton make it essential that witnesses be called to testify in the Senate impeachment trial that resumes Monday. The big question: Will four Republicans—the magic number needed to make it happen—agree? That remains unclear, but the GOP's Mitt Romney suggests the odds are rising. “It's increasingly likely that other Republicans will join those of us who think we should hear from John Bolton," he said, per Politico. "I have spoken with others who have opined upon this." His comments came in the wake of a report in the New York Times about Bolton's upcoming book. In it, the former national security adviser reportedly asserts that Trump directly linked Ukraine aid to an investigation of the Bidens.

Trump has issued a fresh denial of that. Also Monday, another moderate Republican, Susan Collins, sounded like she was even more squarely in the pro-witness camp. "I’ve always said that I was likely to vote to call witnesses, just as I did in the 1999 Clinton trial," she said, per the Washington Post. "The reports about John Bolton’s book strengthen the case for witnesses and have prompted a number of conversations among my colleagues.” A third possibility is Alaska's Lisa Murkowski, notes the Hill, but things get tougher after that. One key Republican to watch is thought to be Lamar Alexander. (Trump's defense team began making its case on Saturday.)

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